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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Miami Area RESTAURANTS, Drive-Ins, Bars, Lounges, Liquor Stores, Clubs, Strip Joints, etc. Gallery - All Years - click to view >> Smitty's Barbecue and Smitty's Wishing Well Images Gallery - click on image to view the gallery > Mid to late 1950's - Smitty's Wishing Well restaurant at 3601 N. Miami Avenue, Miami (comments below)
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Mid to late 1950's From a postcard

Mid to late 1950's - Smitty's Wishing Well restaurant at 3601 N. Miami Avenue, Miami (comments below)

3601 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida


"Smitty's Wishing Well Restaurant. New, modern, air-conditioned, seating 125 people. Located at one of Miami's most important intersections. Catering to both tourists and local people. Serving good food at moderate prices. You'll like the Wishing Well!"

I had numerous meals in this restaurant in the late 50's/early 60's because my aunt's boss liked to go there and he took us there fairly often. They had a wishing well located in the grass by the parking sign and I dropped many a penny into it and none of the wishes came true of course.

The forerunner to Smitty's Wishing Well was Smitty's Barbecue which operated in the 1930's and 1940's. Larry Wall contributed an image of the barbecue restaurant at the same location and it is located in this same gallery at http://www.pbase.com/image/124053021 Larry's mom and dad owned the barbecue restaurant from 1949 until 1955 at which time the old restaurant was torn down and this restaurant built on the same site.


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Leighton 09-Apr-2017 23:47
A huge tower with hotel/retail/condos has been planned at this spot for several years - Triptych Miami. The Jan 2017 Streetview still shows the empty lot, with the tower info on the fence. The web site is triptychmiami dot com.
Jay Sanet 13-Jan-2016 15:14
I can recall a very funny Candid Camera gag that Alan Funt filmed at the restaurant. A man eating a grapefruit took his spoon and started to remove a small section. Instead, a long hard stream of grapefruit juice shot out of the side and hit another patron in the face.
Cadillac McDaniel 27-Aug-2014 21:21
My Mom and Dad owned McDaniel Motors just down the street from there. I remember breakfast with my Dad there. Good times :-)
Luann S. Jones 26-May-2013 22:17
Yes the wishing well remnants are still there. My grandparents owned and operated the Smitty's Wishing Well Restaurant. Archie and Pearl Partin who later moved to Sanford Florida and owned orange groves.
Don Boyd19-Apr-2010 05:43
Thanks Larry (and Guy too!) for the info on Smitty's Barbecue being there first. I'd love to have a pic of it, Larry, whenever you have the time to send it to me.

Don
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Larry Wall 19-Apr-2010 03:39
Yes, this is the location of the original Smitty's Barbecue of which I have a photo from the 40's. I'll try to get that photo to you, Don. The old building was torn down in 1955 to build Smitty's Wishing Well. My parents worked in the original Smitty's in the 30's. My dad was the short order cook and my mom a car-hop. They fell in love and were married in 1936. From 1949 until the old building was torn down my parents owned the restaurant. I have many fond memories of that place.
Jerry Snyder 06-Mar-2009 18:28
I worked across the street at GFC. Had breakfast there every morning for several years. Many fond memories.
Don Boyd22-Feb-2009 18:37
Thanks Guy, that was before my time so I appreciate the additional information; I only remember the Wishing Well restaurant as depicted. Don
Guy Vinson 22-Feb-2009 12:42
If my memory serves me, this was originally the location of Smittys Bar B Que, a drive-in and a sit down restaurant. The old building had a slot machine till sometime in the 40's.
Martha Pierson 30-Sep-2008 19:03
This now a vacant lot. The wishing well was the last to go. So sad.
Jeff 30-Sep-2008 00:21
If memory serves me right, the circular remnants of the wishing well are still in the parking lot...