Jumbo's was a restaurant in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

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neighborhood, in the

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. It initially was named Jumbo Frank's before a family from

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bought the business and was subsequently renamed to Jumbo's. Its owners identified it as the first white-owned restaurant in Miami to employ and serve black people, having done so in the late 1960s. The restaurant closed in July 2014 after nearly 60 years of business serving foods including conch, fried chicken, and shrimp.

History

After having previously operated under the name Jumbo Frank's, the restaurant was then bought by a family from

Gibsonia, Pennsylvania Gibsonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Richland Township, Allegheny County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, north of the city of Pittsburgh. It had a population of 2,785 at the 2020 Census. Its ZIP code is 1 ...

, in 1955; it was then renamed and operated as Jumbo's. The diner was located near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Northwest 75th Street in

. According to the owners, Jumbo's became the first white-owned restaurant in Miami to employ and serve black people, beginning in the late 1960s.Multiple references have different years that this integration occurred. ''

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'' has it in 1966, ''

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'' and ''

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'' includes it in 1967, while the ''

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'' states that it occurred in 1968. Notably, three black people were employed there, and thirty white employees quit as a result of this move. The restaurant was not affected during the 1980 Miami riots, and some people who participated in the civil unrest went to Jumbo's after it concluded. In 2005, the diner's dining room was substantially damaged following

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, with damage totaling in excess of $400,000. Seven years later, the restaurant was again damaged after a pickup truck crashed into a parked vehicle in the restaurant's parking lot; the impacted car was pushed into the entrance and dining room, killing two people who were just outside the restaurant. The restaurant was included in the ''

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'' in 2005, and was named one of

America's Classics Since 1998, the James Beard Foundation has awarded the title of America's Classics to multiple restaurants. The award focuses on family-owned restaurants across the country that have been operating for at least a decade. According to the ''Washin ...

by the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

in 2008. The ''

'' described the restaurant as "the Temple of Fried Shrimp". It notably served conch, fried chicken, and shrimp. It closed after nearly 60 years in business during July 2014, and sold to a developer for $490,000 to convert the site where the restaurant stood into an affordable housing complex.

Notes

References

{{Reflist 2014 disestablishments in Florida Defunct America's Classics winners Defunct restaurants in Florida Restaurants disestablished in 2014 Restaurants in Miami

History

See also

Notes

References