Juici Patties Miramar celebrates one year. How Jamaican staple found its US home
Every time Annette Kidd and her husband Robert visit Jamaica, they come back wanting to own something there.
But the best combination, Kidd says, is to “have something that’s purely Jamaican, but have it here.”
Miramar Town Center is still fairly empty when it comes to restaurants, with a few on the way to fill those spots in 2026.
Juici Patties filled a need, became a community hub and the flagship U.S. location for the Jamaican food chain.
On Feb. 1, it celebrates one year of operation.
“[City officials] were not going to rent it out unless it was a perfect candidate,” Kidd told the Miramar News. “They looked at us going, ‘We want you in Miramar.’”
This location had a big reason to be named the flagship — it’s sitting on prime real estate in one of the largest populated Jamaican communities in the state.
“We are thrilled to welcome Juici Patties to Miramar Town Center. The opening of this franchise in such a central location is a testament to the diversity and cultural richness that our city thrives on,” City Manager Dr. Roy Virgin said at its opening, according to the South Florida Caribbean News.
Juici Patties offers the usual beef patty, spicy and mild, but Kidd insists on the spinach patty with bacon, plantain and egg, which Jamaicans would regard as highly non-traditional.
“It’s like patties came to America and grew up,” Kidd said.
And despite initial skepticism over a bacon, egg and cheese patty, Kidd has seen positive responses to the innovation.
What most regular customers don’t know is that the Hibiscus Room in the back hosts parties, dinners and brunches.
Instead of being the usual storefront, Juici Patties has found more ways to contribute to Miramar, in addition to the Hibiscus Room.
When Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica in October, the city started collecting donations to send to the country. Kidd decided to make Juici Patties a drop-off site, leading the rest of the locations to become drop-off locations as well.
Though the restaurant stopped collecting donations to keep it a safe place to eat, “We tell people that they can donate by rounding up their bill,” Kidd said.
Kidd is often helped by the Jamaican Women of Florida, an organization involved in Miramar issues of which she is a member.
Kidd spent most of her career in marketing and advertising for newspapers and radio stations. After she and her husband sold their first restaurant business, they looked for more franchising opportunities.
They met strict criteria in April 2022 to be among the first Juici Patties U.S. restaurants, and have now become trendsetters, assisted by Kidd’s marketing background.
The shop held a one-year anniversary party on Jan. 23, toasting to the future. As long as they can increase awareness of the store, Kidd said, they are achieving their main goal — besides opening more locations in the future.
Mainly, she wants the neighborhood “to have fun, and for them to experience a bit of Jamaica right here in the U.S.”
You can catch Juici Patties Miramar at Afro Carib fest on Feb. 28.
