Joe's Stone Crab Celebrates 105 Years Of History

MIAMI BEACH, FL — When Joe's Stone Crab of Miami Beach served up its first dish of flaky, sweet crustaceans, President William Howard Taft was winding down his second term as leader of the then 48 U.S. states and Americans were still warming to the notion that New Mexico and Arizona had joined the republic one year earlier.

Fast forward to Friday night as the Miami Beach fine dining establishment kicked off its 105th season with a legacy as long as the line of tuxedo-clad waiters waiting to escort the very first diners of the 2018-2019 season to their linen-draped tables.

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C0-owner Stephen Sawitz was there too. The affable face of Joe's was preparing for Friday's opening and his never-ending challenge to carry on the level of service that continues to draw new and old customers back to this family-owned restaurant season after season.

"Every year is significant, but this one is more because it's one more than last year," quipped Sawitz. "Each day counts. Every moment counts. Every meal, every customer, every employee counts right now."

Last year, Joe's was named the most popular restaurant in all of Florida by People Food and Zagat for its "killer seafood stone crabs, as well as its famed key lime pie and fried chicken."

This year, Joe's has made some tweaks to the menu, but nothing to be alarmed about.

"Not the major items," Sawitz assured. "We're not going to change the way we crack the crabs, or the mustard, the hash browns, the coleslaw, but the grouper, the snapper, the tuna, we're going to play around with the menu a little bit — and our chef has some surprises even for me — with our daily specials."

With such a rich legacy, the restaurant has become part of U.S. history itself, having served the Florida delicacy year in and year out as 19 U.S. presidents have come and gone, as the political tides have ebbed and flowed and as America tested its military resolve in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, the invasions of Grenada and Panama, the Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq war.

Great-Grandparents

The restaurant was started by Sawitz ' great-grandfather, Joe Weis, and his wife Jenny, hence the name Jenny's Stone Crab. Just kidding. It really was a man's world back then.

Joe was looking for a place to escape the cold weather and was looking to move somewhere he could breathe easier with his asthma.

"My grandfather was something like six-years-old," recalled Sawitz. "Joe and Jenny worked hard and my grandfather played around the restaurant."

Growing up during prohibition and the Great Depression, his grandfather learned the restaurant trade almost as soon as he could walk. He befriended a number of celebrities along the way who frequented the restaurant.

"Al Capone ate here and at the same time, J. Edgar Hoover," recalled Sawitz, who said that the two were regulars, even showing up at the same time on at least one occasion. "My grandfather did embellish a little but, but I think it's probably true."

All About The Crabs

Through it all, Joe's has kept its focus on the one thing it can control — the quality of stone crabs it serves. For those who are new to the experience, stone crabs produce a lobster-like meat tucked inside each oversize claw.

In Florida, only the oversize claws can be taken, and those claws must be at least 2 3/4 inches long. The rest of the crab is returned to the water where it can generate its claws three to four times, making stone crabs a renewable seafood.

"We haven't missed a year," Sawitz insists. "We've missed days here and there. We opened late actually back in February of '95 — when I say late, it was after 5 p.m. — because one of our employees passed away, and everybody went to the funeral."

Stone Crab Season Starts Oct. 15

Florida's stone crab season begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday Oct. 15. That means the first fresh catch of the season will be arriving at Joe's from the Florida Keys on Tuesday.

Joe's freezes some stone crab claws every year to use during the following season's opening, which is traditionally the Friday before the start of the stone crab season.

Not everyone eats the restaurant's signature dish, particularly children and landlubbers. For them, there are assorted steaks from which to choose, along with the restaurant's second most popular dish as well as its most affordable — the fried chicken.

For stone crab lovers, Joe's has its own fisheries along the Florida Keys, which help keep the quality of the catch high.

"The fishermen have to know what the good claws are when they're on the body and that's very hard to do, but the really good fishermen know that," Sawitz shared. "The ones that are filled with meat, you can feel it when you lift up the crab.

"You can't see it, but you can feel it. We don't serve what they call in the industry, floaters. Floaters are the crabs that when you boil them and cook them, they float to the top, because they don't have enough meat in them."

Watch below as Joe's stone crabs are harvested:

Little Grayer

Moses Battle is a little grayer since he jointed the staff of Joe's in 1977, just after the end of Vietnam.

"A lot of nights here," he said, picking up a tray in the kitchen of the restaurant. "George Bush came in, Mohammad Ali — all the stars. I can say I've seen them."

But his favorite memory was the day he was hired.

"I had just gotten out of the service," he recalled. "I came to Miami just for a little while to have some fun."

He had no idea it was going to turn into a career, particularly considering his condition.

"I didn't mean to stay this long," he confided. "I'm allergic to seafood."

Good News, Bad News

General Manager Brian Johnson says he also planned to stay only one season when he started three years after Moses. But he came back after the first season from upstate New York only to be told that his bosses had good news and bad news for him.

That was around the same time that President Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term as president.

"I said,' so what's the good news?' They say: 'You're going to be a captain.' I go, 'What's that?' They go, 'Don't worry. We'll teach you everything.'"

Call Me Charlie

It's not uncommon to see stars when you walk into Joe's. The Rolling Stones, Tom Cruise, Elton John, Bill Murray, Matt Damon and John Travolta have all eaten at the restaurant.

Indeed, there have been too many stars to count.

But among the biggest and brightest was Barbra Streisand, who still gets deliveries to her LA home.

In addition to the stone crabs, Streisand loves the fried chicken. About halfway through her 2017 Netflix concert video, which was shot in Miami, she featured Joe's in a backstage scene titled "Intermission."

Babs called Joe's to place her own order during the 2016 concert at AmericanAirlines Arena.

She remembered almost everything having to do with her order except maybe one thing.

Watch the trailer for the concert video below:

The scene opens with the general manager of Joe's picking up the phone to personally take Streisand's order.

General manager: "Good evening. Thank you for calling Joe's Stone Crab takeaway," he says. "How can I help you?

Streisand: "Hi. It's Barbra."

General manager: "Oh, Miss Streisand. How are you? I didn't realize it was you on the phone."

Streisand: "I'm in between acts Charlie. But I want to make sure you got my order for after the show."

General manager: "Yes, five orders of large stone crabs, mustard sauce, one of Joe's famous coleslaw."

Streisand: "You know the fried chicken you have on the kid's menu, a few orders of that too. And then can you deliver it to the hotel?"

General manager: Not a problem. We'll have the order sent up and ready for you very shortly. Enjoy your stay in Miami, and we always look forward to seeing you here at Joe's."

Streisand: "Take care Charlie."

Johnson suggested that Patch interview Charlie.

"Did you get a chance to interview Charlie," he asked. "That's who she talked to, Charlie. I'm Charlie."

And that's the restaurant biz.

Photo gallery by Paul Scicchitano. Video courtesy Joe's Stone Crab.