A Very Special Moment In Time: The Legend Begins

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By Seth H. Bramson

Although the exact date has been lost in the mists of the intervening 106 years, it appears that one Joe Weiss, with wife Jenny and son Jesse in tow, arrived on the shores of Biscayne Bay sometime in 1912. It is evident that they stepped on to the sands of the island on the east side of Biscayne Bay for the first time prior to the completion of the then-longest wooden bridge in the world, which, upon its opening to traffic, would be named for John S. Collins and would connect what would eventually become Northeast 15th Street on the Miami side with Dade Boulevard on the beach side.

Joe Weiss was an asthmatic, and the long, cold, bitter New York City winters brought him untold distress. Hearing of a distant place, where, it was said, summer spent the winter, Joe determined that he, Jenny and Jesse would leave New York, taking his cooking skills, (Jesse was approximately six at that time) to that far-off tropical clime, intent on bettering his health, if not their lives.

The uneventful train trip, at that time, required two full days and a night and the Weiss family was well prepared, bringing a large basket of comestibles which they could enjoy during the journey as the dining cars of those days were operated by The Pullman Company and the cost of seventy-five cents for a complete dinner was, at the time, not inexpensive. Arriving at the Miami depot, then located on Avenue E and 11th Street (later number 200 Northwest First Avenue), they were stunned by the bright sun, the warmth and the marvelous tropical fragrance that was a part of and enriched the day. Apparently Joe had made some arrangement for living quarters on the Miami side (Miami Beach was then known as Ocean Beach) and after a day or two began to have asthmatic discomfort.

Hieing himself across the bay via the Biscayne Navigation Company ferry (there is no record of whether he was transported on the Lusitania or the Mauretania) he was stunned to note that he was in a state of complete relief upon arriving on the east side of Biscayne Bay: the symptoms simply disappeared. Realizing that he would have to seek work on what, even then, was a budding beachfront destination, and being relatively unskilled in areas other than the one in which he was proficient, he strode across the sandy path to Smith’s Casino, owned and operated by the previously-mentioned in this column Avery Smith and his partner, Jim Warr. (It should be noted that the casinos on Ocean Beach were not gambling casinos, but, rather, served strictly as bathing casinos, the only exception being the Harvey Baker Graves-owned Sunny Isles Casino which will be discussed in a future column and which did not open until 1925 or ’26.)

The only known eating places on the beach side at that time were in Hardie’s and Smith’s two casinos; the historical record does not reveal whether or not the then-extant third casino, Cook’s, had any kind of eating facility at that time, although it would later on. Joe was directed to Mr. Smith, whereupon he informed the owner that not only was he a superb cook but that his food was so good that he could assure him that the bulk of the restaurant or lunch counter business then in effect on Ocean Beach would find its way to Smith’s. Agreeing on a modest salary, with Jenny serving as a waitress (which she had done in New York), Joe went to work.

Joe kept his word, and over the five years that he cooked at Smith’s it became the magnet for those seeking food and refreshments on the beach side. The former Ocean Beach, incidentally, would, in 1915, become the incorporated town of Miami Beach, becoming a city two years later.

It is uncertain whether or not the Weiss family took residence on the beach or continued to live on the Miami side (although the latter is most likely) but one thing is certain: in 1918 Joe left Smith’s. This writer has hypothesized (in Sunshine, Stone Crabs and Cheesecake: The Story of Miami Beach) that after five years of employment at Smith’s, Joe approached his employer and proposed some sort of partnership, at least as far as the food business—which Joe had made immensely successful and profitable for Smith and Warr—side of the casino operation went. Smith must have refused, for it was on that day that Joe took off his apron, called Jennie out of the dining room, and together departed Smith’s Casino for the last time and walked west on what, even then, was Biscayne Street.

Just two blocks west of the casino he would come to a small wooden cottage and what occurred at that moment was reminiscent of Brigham Young coming over the hill into the Salt Lake Valley: Joe stopped, gazed at the building for a moment, turned to Jenny and said, “this is it!” They purchased the building, set up tables in the front with cooking area toward the rear and their living quarters upstairs. A few days later a sign was erected which read “JOE’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT/Shore Dinners a Specialty.” And the rest, as we and they say, is (almost) history.

“Why almost?” you ask, and the answer, dear readers, is simple. Our beloved friend, Joanne Weiss Bass wants to include her grandfather’s five years at Smith’s Casino as part of the restaurant story, but truth be told, it is absolutely not. Joe and Jenny worked at Smith’s from either late 1912 or early 1913 until 1918, when, as noted above they left Messrs. Smith and Warr, and, as it turned out, opened Joe’s, but in 1918, NOT 1913, so the fact and truth of the matter is that Joe’s Stone Crab Restaurant is 100 years old, THIS year, not 105 years old. (Now I do not want Joanne upset with me, but the truth must be stated and the truth (NOT alternative facts, but the truth) is in this very paragraph.

We leave you, as we always do, with all good wishes and I must share with you that this past weekend was made all the more joyous as my beloved brother, Bennett, Beach High Best All Around and vice president of his senior class of 1970, was here for almost a week. We spent grand times with him and Yackov Frack, his dear and long-time and now our good friend, along with his daughter, Myrna’s and my incredible niece, Dara. As always, we will be back with you in a few days, and expecting you all to—with only a few loutish exceptions and they know who they are—be good and kind to each other, so until then, stay well and we’ll be back with you shortness.

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