Miami Classic Restaurant Soyka is being sold, what's next for the iconic restaurant and the area

It is the end of an era and beginning of a new for this area of Biscayne, starting with the sale of iconic Miami restaurant Soyka.

Miami Herald writer Carlos Frias recalls, "Mark Soyka called Yardbird founder John Kunkel every three months to ask him the same question: Do you want to buy my restaurant?

Kunkel would say yes, Soyka would say OK, then hang up and not call back for another three months. It went on like that for more than three years.

On Tuesday, Soyka finally finished the conversation.

Soyka, 75, the eponymous restaurateur who used his background in interior design to create some of Miami’s most eclectic and original restaurant spaces, has sold his restaurant of 19 years to Kunkel’s 50 Eggs group. Kunkel’s company will run Soyka under the same name for the next six months before unveiling a new concept in the summer of 2019."

This is not the only change for this area of Biscayne across from Morningside, an upscale residential neighborhood. The lot at 5700 Biscayne is in the planning stages to become Paseo, a complex with 283 apartment units, 35,855 SF of restaurant space and 13,485 SF of retail along with 517 parking spaces. The project has been reviewed and approved by Miami’s UDRB.