Pura Vida Adds Flagship, Ice Cream and Fisher Island Location in Major Expansion
By Julia Echikson March 21, 2024 9:30 am
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Pura Vida, the fast-growing health cafe from Miami, is once again on the prowl with five new locations in South Florida set to open in the coming six months, including the concept’s biggest location yet, Commercial Observer has learned.
Pura Vida’s first flagship restaurant is expected to open this Summer in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood at 3034 Grand Avenue, next to the corner of McFarlane Road.
The 6,000-square-foot restaurant — Pura Vida’s largest to date — will house the brand’s regular all-day cafe, as well as a new venture, an ice cream parlor.
“It’ll be a gelato concept with a healthy spin to it,” Omer Horev, CEO and co-founder of Pura Vida, told Commercial Observer. “It doesn’t exist here in the States. [Our gelato] will have alternatives to sugar.”
Founded in 2012 by husband and wife duo Omer and Jennifer Horev, Pura Vida has become somewhat of an institution in South Florida, offering smoothies, pastries, salads and all-day breakfast items such as bagel sandwiches and omelets made from locally sourced ingredients.
Since 2020, the chain has more than quintupled its location count, bringing the total to 22. This year alone it opened cafes at the Dadeland Mall and the University of Miami’s main campus in Coral Gables.
“We have taken calculated risks and signed quite a few leases when people were scaling back,” Omer Horev said. “That was, in hindsight, a very smart decision for Pura Vida.”
The expansion has not yet slowed down. On the docket is a 1,600-square-foot cafe on Fisher Island, the manmade island just south of Miami Beach that boasts one of the country’s wealthiest ZIP codes, counting supermodel Karolina Kurkova and tennis grand-slam champion Caroline Wozniacki as residents.
The cafe will be the community’s first restaurant not operated by the Fisher Island association. Residents wanted more casual food options to complement the island’s three restaurants.
The Miami-based chain is also deepening its footprint into Palm Beach County, adding two cafes four years after opening its first location in the county at Related Companies’ The Square mixed-use development.
First on tap will be a 1,900-square-foot location in Jupiter at 147 Soundings Avenue, just off Route 1. It’s expected to open next month. The second will be in Delray Beach, facing the ocean at 6 South Ocean Boulevard. The 3,200-square-foot cafe is expected to open this spring.
Miami-Dade County will also get another location. A Pura Vida cafe will share space with Prestige Auto Spa at 15180 Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami. The outpost is slated to open in May, though Horev stressed that all opening dates are subject to change.
Pura Vida has never permanently shuttered a location. “I can’t say that I regret any of my openings,” Horev said.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
