Call Your Mother, the Washington, D.C.-based bagel deli that Bon Appétit nominated among America’s best new restaurants in 2019, will open its first Florida location at 317 Miracle Mile in early December.

Co-owners Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira secured the lease on the former Bodega Taqueria y Tequila space after Dana returned to South Florida in December 2025, he told Miami New Times in an exclusive announcement published Monday, Aug. 24. The team plans to begin serving bagels shortly after Thanksgiving.

Dana, who calls himself “Chief Doughboi,” grew up visiting grandparents in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. Those childhood trips to Jewish delis shaped the brand’s identity, which he describes as “Boca meets Brooklyn.” The chain’s sandwiches are named after South Florida retirement communities, and its visual branding features manatees and flamingos.

South Florida was always the plan. Dana said he has loved the area since childhood and that it kept “calling my name,” drawing him back even after a failed real estate search in Miami in 2021 sent the company to Denver instead.

The Coral Gables shop will feature the brand’s signature pink, yellow and teal color scheme. Menu items include the “Delray Club” (bacon, jalapeño, nectarine, potato chips and peach cream cheese on a plain bagel), the “Jetski” (brisket, pastrami, sofrito, cheese and jalapeño on a cheddar bagel) and the “Sun City” breakfast sandwich. Call Your Mother’s bagels are a hybrid of New York and Montreal styles, boiled in honey water and baked.

Dana and Moreira plan to relocate from D.C. to Miami for the winter to oversee the opening. Dana said if the shop succeeds and the couple enjoys themselves, they may move their family permanently.

The chain operates 23 locations, largely in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Colorado, with six to eight more in development, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The development pipeline includes three Philadelphia locations and shops planned for Chicago and the Washington suburbs. In January 2025, Call Your Mother sold a majority stake to New York investment firm Invus, an early investor in Cava.

Moreira, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and recognized as a James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semifinalist, co-founded Timber Pizza with Dana before launching Call Your Mother at a D.C. farmers market in 2017. Their first brick-and-mortar shop opened in October 2018.

The Miracle Mile lease adds to a wave of commercial activity in Coral Gables. Nearly 100,000 square feet of space was leased on and around Miracle Mile from November 2025 through April 2026, according to the Gables Gazette. Citywide retail vacancy stood at roughly 2% in May.

Dana hinted that Coral Gables may not be the chain’s only South Florida location. “We don’t have a big master plan now,” he told the Miami Herald. “But we love the sunshine, and we’re looking for more great neighborhoods in need of carbs.”