Popular L.A. Restaurant 'The Nice Guy' Eyes A New Location in Florida

Photo byBEILINSON GOMEZ ARCHITECTS

The H.wood Group, the Los Angeles hospitality team behind Delilah, is planning to bring its trendy mafia bar-inspired restaurant, The Nice Guy, to Miami Beach! The idea is still in the works, but it looks like this hot spot could be making its way to 1657 Michigan Ave, a site that previously housed the beloved Icebox Cafe.

The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board is set to review the land use application, letter of intent, and architectural plans for the restaurant on October 8. Michael Larkin, a local attorney with Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin + Tapanes, is representing The H.wood Group for this project.

The Nice Guy is expected to undergo some serious renovations if the plans go through. This property, which stretches out over 7,500 square feet, is a bit of a historic gem – it’s a 100-year-old structure that sits right in the Flamingo Park Local Historic District. With a one- and two-story design, it was originally crafted in a Mediterranean Revival style by architect William F. Brown. Later, in 1938, L. Murray Dixon gave it a Streamline Moderne makeover, giving the building the unique character it has today.

Back in 2017, the Historic Preservation Board approved a partial demolition, renovation, and restoration of this building, but the project stalled, and it's been sitting empty for the past five years. Now, The H.wood Group hopes to breathe new life into it with their 198-seat restaurant plan, complete with a 54-seat dining room, a 14-seat bar, and a private dining area. They’re even proposing a show kitchen that faces Lincoln Road to catch the attention of passersby.

Miami-based architect Jose L. Gomez from Beilinson Gomez Architects PA is set to design the project, and they’re making sure everything’s in line with the city’s historic preservation standards. They plan to keep the building’s original charm, painting the existing stucco in a city-approved Dove White and adding removable window coverings to maintain privacy without altering the historic windows.

And here’s the cool part: The Nice Guy would be built to handle Miami’s unpredictable weather, with hurricane-proof impact windows and elevated mechanical systems to meet the city’s climate change and storm resilience requirements.

Michael Larkin described this upcoming project as a way to bring “a sophisticated dining destination” to the corner of Lincoln Road and Michigan Avenue. It’s clear The H.wood Group already knows the Miami scene pretty well, especially since they’ve got their Delilah supper club rocking Brickell.

If all goes as planned, The Nice Guy could be a stylish new addition to Lincoln Road – an eight-block-long pedestrian mall that’s home to over 200 shops and restaurants, attracting about 8.1 million visitors each year. It sounds like Miami Beach is about to get a whole lot tastier!