After operating in a small 800-square-foot space on Biscayne Boulevard for over 12 years, Blue Collar is moving into a 4,000-square-foot venue across the street at 6789 Biscayne Blvd. next month. The expansion plans include a full bar, more menu items, and proper indoor and outdoor patio seating.
“I’m the first guy who complains that when a small, awesome place expands, it loses that original magic,” Danny Serfer says, the chef/restaurateur behind Blue Collar and its sister Mignonette. “So this move and what it means for Blue Collar and its fans weighs heavily on me. But the ability to expand the restaurant’s menu offerings by virtue of the new space’s much-larger kitchen, as well as increase seating and offer proper bar service was too good to pass up. I can assure folks that ‘The New Blue’ will embrace the same spirit, menu concept, and pricing as ‘Classic Blue’ but will bring just enough of the right ‘new’ to make it work.”
Guests at Serfer’s “New Blue” can expect seating for 140 between the dining room and outdoor patio, a full bar emphasizing classic cocktails such as Martinis, Old Fashioneds, and Cosmos.
“People looking for handlebar mustached mixologists and drinks that take 30 minutes to make should get their kicks elsewhere,” Serfer says jokingly.
The menu has been expanded to include Blue Collar classics as well as new items, with daily offerings of soups, chops, and pasta. Some pasta will be made fresh in-house, and the soups will include Matzah Ball soup year-round and a ‘soup of the day.’ Additionally, the restaurant will bake bread in-house. Lastly, guests can also look forward to a fabulous Happy Hour that they may even want to leave work early for.
The expanded menu at the restaurant will remain affordable, approachable, and generously portioned. Although it is still in development, a few dishes are likely to be added in April. These dishes include eggroll trio, which comprises cheeseburger, Cuban sandwich, and pepperoni pizza; mushroom and goat cheese croquettes with fig jam; shawarma with lamb shoulder; Israeli couscous, saffron, pita, hummus, and tahini; Swedish meatballs with toast and gravy, and sticky toffee pudding.
In addition, most of the signatures from the restaurant’s current menu will remain, including The Billy Corben Sandwich, Blue Collar’s legendary Dry-Aged Cheeseburger on a Portuguese muffin, and The Big Ragout. Serfer offers his Miami completa version, a composed meal featuring a protein, carb, side, and a non-alcoholic drink. This meal is available for $15 during breakfast and $20 during lunch.
“Part of Blue Collar’s success has been its pricing, and I’m not looking to change that in the new space,” he says. “A larger menu and more seats did not indicate, for me, a chance to spike our prices. The New Blue will maintain that spirit of accessibility; it’ll just offer more for people to access.”
Blue Collar will close at 6730 Biscayne Boulevard sometime in late March/early April for its official transition to 6789, which will open by the end of April 2024. Lunch, Happy Hour and dinner will be served initially, with breakfast and brunch rolling out shortly after. Free lot parking and street parking abound.
And what of the original space?
“It’s staying in the family,” Serfer says. “The space is precious to me and I’ll be introducing something 100% new there when the time is right.”
For more information, call (305) 756-0366 or visit www.bluecollarmiami.com.
(Photo Credit: Blue Collar)
