Seafood market and restaurant named best in Florida opens second location in Kendall

After years of delay, the tiny seafood restaurant named the best in all of Florida has opened its second location in West Kendall.

FreshCo Fish Market & Grill in Kendall, called the best seafood restaurant in Florida by national website Eat This, Not That earlier this year, opened its long-awaited second restaurant in the Hammocks this week.

Located in the same shopping center where Chef Adrianne’s first opened, the new FreshCo Fish had been scheduled for a 2020 opening but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its first week, the new spot is doing well, says owner Mario Palazon.

“We had a pretty good first day,” he says. “We’re just trying to figure out how this is going to end up.”

The new space is only about four miles from the first FreshCo Fish, but it’s much bigger and able to accommodate families and larger parties. Space is always at a premium at the first restaurant, which was originally conceived as a market and takeout spot. After the Eat This, Not That ranking, FreshCo began to draw seafood lovers from as far away as Brazil, Germany and Australia, who had spotted the story on different travel apps, and things got a little crowded (in a good way).

Though the menu is mostly the same, the new FreshCo Fish is more of a traditional restaurant. Instead of ordering at a counter and getting a number, customers will be seated and order at their tables. The new FreshCo will also serve beer and wine and offer a daily special, and there are plans to open an outdoor dining area.

“It’s going to be a lot more comfortable,” Palazon says.

In a few weeks, the new restaurant will also start serving Sunday brunch (think shrimp and grits and crab cake Benedict).

Best news of all for Miami-Dade seafood lovers who live outside Kendall? Palazon says the family-owned business is in negotiations to open a third location sometime next year in Downtown Doral.

FRESHCO FISH MARKET & GRILL

Original location: 12700 SW 122nd Ave., #113, Miami

Hammocks location: 11510 SW 147th Ave., Miami

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

More information: freshcofish.com