Joe's Stone Crab raises its famous fried chicken to $14.95
The half chicken, long one of South Beach's best bargains at $8.95, now costs $6 more. The owner told the Herald he raised it rather than stone crab prices.
The fried half chicken at Joe’s Stone Crab, 11 Washington Ave., now costs $14.95, up from $8.95, the Miami Herald reported. The restaurant’s online menu lists the new price.
Owner and CEO Stephen Sawitz told the Herald that rising food and operating costs drove the change, and that frying the chicken takes labor and time and can slow service, especially at the takeaway counter. He said he chose to raise the chicken rather than stone crabs or other dishes, and described the decision as an emotional one because the low price was a rule set by his mother, Jo Ann Bass, who died in January.
The chicken is the restaurant’s second-best seller, and Joe’s sells more than 85,000 half chickens a season, Sawitz estimated, according to the Herald.
Stone crabs on the current menu run from $49.95 for mediums to $139.95 for jumbos. Key lime pie is $14.95, the same price as the chicken.
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