Pura Vida restaurant group plans major Florida expansion

Pura Vida opened its first restaurant in 2012, and nearby a decade later it is in major growth mode.

The restaurant group, led by owners Omer and Jennifer Horev, is opening its 10th location and could double its store count this year, Omer Horev told The Real Deal. And in 2023 and 2024, Pura Vida — which now has about 450 employees — hopes to expand outside of Florida.

The 10th location, opening this week, marks Pura Vida’s first in Brickell, a neighborhood that has seen rents and condo sales soar as more companies open offices there. It took about a year to build out the 2,400-square-foot cafe at 1100 South Miami Avenue. Horev said he plans to open a second Brickell location, of about 5,000 square feet, later this year on Brickell Avenue.

Pura Vida

Fabio and Sebastian Faerman of FA Commercial brokered the first Brickell lease.

Pura Vida also plans to open a 4,000-square-foot space at 1920 Alton Road in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour, in a building owned by Wayne Boich and the Related Group, Horev said. The restaurant is expected to open in the second quarter. Restaurateur Tonino Doino sold the building to a company led by Boich in December for $21.3 million, records show. It was previously home to the Sunset Juice Cafe.

In Coral Gables, Pura Vida also inked a 10-year lease on Miracle Mile. Terranova Corp. leased the 2,675-square-foot space at 244 Miracle Mile to Pura Vida, and the restaurant is expected to open in the fall. A South Miami location, next to The Salty at 6022 South Dixie Highway, is also in the works.

Pura Vida

Horev said he hopes to open a second location in Fort Lauderdale, as well as a second eatery in the Palm Beach/West Palm Beach area, sometime this year. The first Fort Lauderdale outpost, a 4,442-square-foot space, opened in December at 221 Southwest First Avenue.

Unlike other fast-casual restaurants, Horev said Pura Vida’s primary source of revenue is from dine-in business. He said he is exploring raising capital for the restaurant’s out-of-state expansion.

The health and wellness-oriented restaurant concept, with all-day breakfast and lunch, has seen the landscape for landlords and restaurant tenants shift during the pandemic. Rents have gone up and a number of out-of-state groups have expanded to Florida, encouraged by the lack of restrictions and abundance of outdoor dining.

“Pre-Covid we were very appealing to landlords,” Horev said. “It’s still the case for the most part, but obviously there’s a lot of competition.”