Recently Revamped Amelia’s 1931 Unveils Expanded Space and New Menu

Miami favorite chef and restaurateur Eileen Andrade has officially debuted her revamped and reimagined Amelia’s 1931, marking the restaurant’s three-year-long transformation from a small Cuban diner into a larger, more sophisticated restaurant with a new menu and design.

The revamp began when Andrade took over the adjacent space to Amelia’s 1931 once occupied by a dry cleaner. She used that space to expand the restaurant, with the original restaurant area now serving as a lounge. Embracing its past as a dry cleaner, the restaurant’s entrance masquerades as a vintage drycleaners’ front door, leading to a reception area styled as a cleaner’s store. Beyond the ‘dry cleaner curtain’ is a dining room that seats 127 people and features handmade tables, terrazzo-style flooring, hand-painted designs, and handmade chandeliers that are meant to evoke a Parisian atmosphere. The piece de resistance of this space is the tables, each featuring a hidden drawer for presenting fresh silverware whenever a diner needs it.

To cuisine has also gotten revamped, no longer focusing on Cuban diner fare. The new menu blends Cuban and Asian cuisine with dishes like escargot served with umami butter and Cuban bread points and kimchi clam chowder. Main dishes include boniato gnocchi with rocoto cream sauce, gochujang paella with an array of seafood, and steak frites with guajillo black bean pepper sauce. The dessert list features Dirty Dee’s Peach Cobbler with Azucar apple pie ice cream, coconut cheesecake with an Oreo crust, and a unique take on Cuban timba, made with coconut cream cheese mousse, guava, and a Maria cookie. Plenty of drinks created by beverage director Alex Aportela, boasting whimsical names like Yass Queen, Machu Pikachu, and the Cereal Killer, round out the menu.

“With Amelia’s 1931 I wanted something not quite ‘fine dining’ with all the trappings that come with that term but certainly something more elevated,” said Andrade. “I loved what we did with Amelia’s when we originally opened but this menu, the new look, and the cocktail list feels right for a restaurant with my grandmother’s name. It’s a little more dramatic, a bit grander but still feels in sync with what people in this neighborhood, which is my neighborhood, are looking for.”

Amelia’s 1931 is at 13601 SW 26 Street. Dinner is served Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more information call 305-554-4949.