Mexican cuisine chain Coyo Taco is slated to open two new eateries in South Florida.
The Miami-based concept, which currently has three locations open in the tri-county region, signed leases to open Coyo Taco in South Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Both restaurants will debut within second-generation spaces, meaning the venues were previously occupied by other eateries.
Jenny Gefen, director of retail services at Colliers International South Florida’s Miami office, represented Coyo Taco in these deals. She said both restaurants are expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Coyo Taco in South Miami will open within a building of about 3,800 square feet at 1514 S. Dixie Highway.
The building was previously occupied by Spring Chicken, which seemingly closed in early 2020.
“This is a rare, freestanding second generation restaurant space with excellent visibility to U.S. 1 in a highly sought-after submarket,” Gefen said. “These transactions highlight continued broad optimism over the future of the South Florida restaurant industry, and the robust strength of the market for prime retail space as we continue to move forward with positive momentum out of and past Covid-19.”
Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield, which has an office in Miami, represented the landlord in the lease agreement. Weston-based Sager Management Corp., led by Wendy Sager Pomerantz, owns the property, according to county records.
The second Coyo Taco is slated to debut at 401 E. Las Olas Blvd. in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It’ll be the company’s first location in Broward County.
Coyo Taco in Fort Lauderdale will occupy 2,900 square feet at the former Suviche space at Bank of America Plaza. Suviche is still open on the ground floor of the 23-story office building.
Jeff Evans and Michael Silverman of Miami Beach-based the Comras Co. represented the landlord in the lease deal.
Sven Vogtland, co-founder of Coyo Taco in 2015, said securing these second-generation spaces was a priority as he looked to expand the concept.
“I just think there’s an opportunity right now coming out of Covid-19 for some second-generation spaces rather than building one from the ground up,” he said. “These are both beautiful locations that just need a little bit of touching up.”
He added that the Coyo Taco in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood is also a second-generation space, so these venues have been a priority for the ownership team since before Covid-19, too.
Moving into second-generation restaurant spaces saves hospitality groups both time and money, as they don’t have to commit as as much money and resources to build out the interior and kitchen at these spaces. Additionally, the permits are already in place, which means these restaurants can often open sooner.
Although the Coyo Taco concept is expanding elsewhere, business partners Vogtland, Scott Lindquist and Alan Drummond closed their location in Palm Beach earlier this year. That restaurant debuted in the city in early 2018.
The duo founded Coyo Taco in Miami’s Wynwood in 2015. The duo is also behind local concepts including food halls 1-800-Lucky and the Oasis in Miami’s Wynwood.
Matthew Arrojas, South Florida Business Journal
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