As life often teaches us, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. So when beautiful Miracle Mile and Downtown Coral Gables started construction for the highly-anticipated “Streetscape” project—which will renovate Coral Gables’ public works systems, sidewalks, and landscaping and turn it into a destination location—affected restaurants had to face the reality that their streets would be closed-off to cars for weeks. Fortunately, the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, the City of Coral Gables, and other partnering organizations have come up with a way to support these restaurants while simultaneously indulging in good company and great food: an activation initiative called DineOut!

Launched to get community members to do just that, DineOut! encourages Coral Gables residents and employees to show their love for the affected restaurants by dining at them during their lunch breaks. A re-boot of a successful 2009 program, when the Chamber wanted to stimulate tourism after 9/11 and during the Great Recession, this activation project will not only support the restaurants themselves, but will deter any notion that they’re closed during construction. To bring it to a reality, leaders of the initiative are urging businesspeople to host breakfast meetings and dinner appointments over lunch, move date-nights up to lunchtime, and switch their weekend plans to take friends and family, colleagues, and co-workers out to lunch on Miracle Mile and its surrounding streets.

Having kicked-off on Wednesday, July 13th, and continuing weekly through summer, DineOut! is already off to a great start. And you can do it, too! So where should you go when you join the fun? Some of our favorite spots include: The Local Craft Food and Drink {150 Giralda Avenue, Coral Gables; 305.648.5687}, Bulla {2500 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables; 305.441.0107}, Cibo Restaurant and Wine Bar {45 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables; 305.442.4925}, Ortanique {278 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables; 305.446.7710}, and Talavera Cocina Mexicana {2299 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables; 305.444.2955}.

And when the construction is all over, Coral Gables businesses and residents are excited to see the change and beauty the Streetscape project will inevitably bring. “Miracle Mile is Coral Gables’ ‘Main Street,'” says Mark A. Trowbridge, President and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. “In the end, we’re putting the ‘miracle’ back in Miracle Mile.”

See you there, diners!

By Jennifer Agress | Miami Editor