On Grand Avenue's New Main Street, Saturday Is When Everything Lines Up

"We're building the plane as we're flying it," Gener Romeo told the Coconut Grove Spotlight in October. Romeo directs Miami Dade College's Gibson Center on Grand Avenue and helped secure the corridor's new state designation. His comment fits the street right now. Since September, the stretch of Grand Avenue between Margaret Street and Brooker Street has been the "Little Bahamas Grand Avenue Main Street," and its formal goals won't be written down until next fall. Until then, the district is made up of the businesses already open on it. Their posted hours overlap fully on only one day of the week, and that day is Saturday.

What the designation started, and what still has to be built

The program is part of Florida Main Street, which the Florida Division of Historical Resources runs to support economic development and preservation in historic downtowns. With this designation, Coconut Grove became one of 58 Main Streets in Florida. Miami already had two, in Allapattah and Overtown. The district starts at Margaret Street, a block west of the U.S. Post Office, and ends at Brooker Street, a block east of Armbrister Park. During segregation, this part of Grand Avenue was the West Grove's commercial center. Restaurants, grocery stores, shops and the Ace Theater all lined the street.

Miami Dade College is the anchor institution. It provides space, runs community meetings and handles administration during the startup phase. The college has held two meetings so far, focused on recruiting a nonprofit board, an advisory council and committees. When that nonprofit is in place, it will write a work plan for Florida Main Street. Katherine Beck, the program's state coordinator, expects the plan by next fall. Romeo said the program will ultimately be led by the community, and that people who take part will shape what comes next.

That leaves about a year in which the district has a name and boundaries but no agenda. Beck described the corridor as having "good bones" along with vacant buildings. Until the plan exists, the open storefronts are the clearest picture of the district.

The week, storefront by storefront

The Spotlight names Dogtown, Fookem's Fabulous and ARRAE as businesses on the corridor's west end. Garin Art Caffé sits at the district's Brooker Street end, and the Saturday farmers market is at the Margaret Street end. Here is how their posted hours fall across a week:

Friday comes closest after Saturday. Three of the four are open between 12:30 and 6 p.m., but the market isn't. On Saturday, all four are open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., which gives you six and a half hours to cover the whole district. Sunday drops the gallery, and Monday leaves only Fookem's. Dogtown runs grooming, daycare, boarding and training. Its site lists weekday drop-off and pick-up from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and says weekend hours vary by location, so call ahead before you plan a Saturday groom around your walk. Small businesses change their hours often, so check each one's own page before you go.

A Saturday from Margaret Street to Brooker Street

The addresses run in a straight line, which makes the walk easy to plan in one direction.

1. 10 a.m., 3300 Grand Ave. at Margaret Street. Glaser Organic Farms runs the Coconut Grove Farmers Market every Saturday, rain or shine. It sells organic produce, raw-vegan prepared food and goods from local vendors. The Miami & Beaches listing shows the weekly schedule running from Oct. 31 through Jan. 30, 2027.
2. Late morning, 3606 Grand Ave. Fookem's Fabulous opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. It's known for key lime pies and also sells jerk-chicken melts if you'd rather eat something savory.
3. After 10:30 a.m., 3680 Grand Ave. ARRAE Gallery is showing Lauren Jane Clancy's "In The After," which opened Oct. 22 and is listed through Nov. 7. That means Saturday, Nov. 7 is the last day to see it.
4. Lunch or a late dinner, 3870 Grand Ave. at Brooker Street. Garin Art Caffé is in a blue, Caribbean-style building that it shares with Lux Hair Salon. According to the Spotlight's January report, the storefront had sat empty for nearly a year before the café opened, and the menu covers coffee and matcha, tapas and burgers, and wine and mojitos, with a shaded patio under mature oaks. Original art covers the walls, including several paintings by owner and chef Carlos Garin. The café's own site lists live shows and private events. On Saturdays, the City of Miami's listing has it open until 10 p.m.

Clara Garcia, an architect who co-owns the café with Garin, designed and built the two-story building at 3870 Grand. She has also finished a pastel-yellow building next door, which she plans to use as an art gallery with residential space above it. If you walk to the end of the route, you'll see both buildings.

The landmark that hasn't reopened

The Ace Theater opened in the 1930s as a "colored-only" movie house. Over the years it hosted graduations, proms and concerts, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Restoration has been underway for a while. In April, the Miami City Commission voted unanimously for a $200,000 grant to pay for new plumbing and an elevator, the Spotlight reported. In May, co-owner Denise Wallace said grants and private contributions together covered about half of the estimated $2.5 million cost, as reported by the Coconut Grove Spotlight. At the time, Wallace described the reopening as not imminent.

Wallace went to the most recent Main Street meeting. "The Ace Theater is the oldest landmark in that section of Grand Avenue, and it is the only one in that sector of Coconut Grove that's on the National Register for Historic Places, so it could play a role in helping revitalize the area," she told the Spotlight in October. For now, the Saturday walk passes a building whose role in the district is still being worked out.

If you'd like a break from the sidewalk, Elizabeth Virrick Park at 3255 Plaza St. is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its Verneka Sturrup Silva Aquatic Facility is temporarily closed until further notice.

Two November Saturdays to plan around

The Grand Avenue walk can anchor a full weekend this month, because two Saturdays line up with events elsewhere in the Grove.

Saturday, Nov. 7. Start early with Electronics Recycling Day at Regatta Park at 9 a.m. The Coconut Grove BID calendar also lists a free Perler-bead activity at the Coconut Grove Library at 11 a.m. Then head to Grand Avenue for the market and the last day of "In The After" at ARRAE. The next morning, Sunday, Nov. 8, the Museum of Miami's "History in the Grove" walking tour runs from The Barnacle to El Jardin from 10 a.m. to noon, led by historian Paul S. George. Tickets are $35 for nonmembers, $25 for members and $15 for children 14 and under.

Saturday, Nov. 14. The Barnacle Society's Fifth Annual Holiday Barkzaar runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Barnacle. It overlaps Grand Avenue's full-overlap window for most of the afternoon, so you can do both. The night before, Friday, Nov. 13, The 18 Wheelers play The Barnacle's Moonlight Concert Series. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7. Tickets start at $10, picnics and BYOB are welcome, and pets aren't allowed. The concert is a no-pets evening and the Barkzaar is built around dogs, so leave the dog home Friday and bring it Saturday.

If you want a say in what the district becomes, the Gibson Center is the place to start. Romeo has invited residents to get involved while the nonprofit board and committees are still forming.

At Gilman Group, we keep up with the small openings and long restorations that change how a Coconut Grove block feels from week to week. If you're wondering how changes like the ones on Grand Avenue might affect what your own Grove home is worth, call us or get your free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.