A Homecoming, a Whiskey Bar and a Cypress Cottage on Sunset Drive's Red Road End

Within about four blocks of Sunset Drive around Red Road, three places now share the same stretch of sidewalk. One is a 1932 cypress cottage in its 50th year under the same nonprofit. One is a Spanish market and bakery that came back to the neighborhood almost eight years after a fire closed its first home. The third is a restaurant whose concept started in Rochester, New York. Each one runs on a long timeline, and together they make this end of downtown South Miami a place to spend a full Saturday instead of a spot to drive past on the way to US 1.

Here is what is open now, what is on the calendar through December, and how to put the pieces together.

The oldest clock on the block started in 1932

The Tidewater Red Cypress cottage set back in the trees at 5530 Sunset Dr. is the Doc Thomas House. It has been the headquarters of the Tropical Audubon Society since Arden Hayes "Doc" Thomas left the property to the group decades ago. This fall the Society is celebrating 50 years of looking after the house and the 2.2-acre Steinberg Nature Center around it, according to a Community Newspapers report from October 13.

The preservation work is recent. The Society describes interior restoration that included refinishing the woodwork, the living room's built-in bookshelves and the mahogany-pegged oak floor. It also restained the front porch's cypress and pine ceiling.

The bigger visible change is out front. New native pollinator gardens, designed with help from 3o5 Gardens and installed by their staff and volunteers, replaced plants that had grown too big or too close to the house. Amy Creekmur, the Society's events and grounds director, guided the work. The new plantings include:

• Coontie
• Havana skullcap
• Swamp milkweed
• Quailberry
• Wild petunia

The landscaping also protects the house. A new three-foot border of crushed clam shell and lower plantings let more sun and air reach the wood exterior, which helps cut down the moisture that leads to mold and mildew. A grant from The Villagers Inc. helped pay for the project.

That is why the 50-year mark matters. The Society is still putting money into the house, and the work shows from the street.

Delicias de España took the long way back

Delicias de España is at 5600 Sunset Dr., one block from the Doc Thomas House. It opened there this summer, and Miami New Times listed it as open on July 21.

Many longtime residents will remember the business at its original corner. Here is how it got from there to Sunset Drive:

1. Winter 1997. The original Delicias opens at 4016 SW 57th Ave., at Bird Road and Red Road.
2. October 16, 2018. A fire guts that building overnight, as the Miami Herald reported that day.
3. The years after. The business keeps serving customers from its Bird Road store and hopes to rebuild the original.
4. July 2026. The Sunset Drive market opens, joining the Bird Road and Downtown Dadeland locations.

The new space is part restaurant and part gourmet market. Delicias' own locations page calls it the Delicias Sunset Market Place. It serves Spanish breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner, along with house-made pastries and imported products from Spain. New Times mentioned the imported cheeses, serrano ham and olive oils in the cases.

The hours suit an afternoon plan. The market is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is 305-686-6880.

A Saturday afternoon tour at the Doc Thomas House lets out with hours to spare before the market closes. A tortilla de patatas or a box of pastries is a block away.

Rochester's whiskey list lands at 5894 Sunset

The third anchor is the newest arrival. Flight West is at 5894 Sunset Dr. on the downtown side of Red Road. The Miami Herald describes it as the second location of a restaurant from Rochester, New York, and Flight West's own history page calls the Miami restaurant the next step for the Rochester original.

Executive Chef Juan Suazo, who has cooked at KYU and Komodo, runs a live-fire kitchen. According to the same New Times roundup, the menu runs from a 32-day dry-aged ribeye and charred octopus to whiskey-glazed dishes and house-made whiskey ice cream. The Art Deco-inspired room holds about 350 spirits, and the restaurant planned to host whiskey tastings and classes.

The next event on the books is a Flight West and Macallan pairing dinner on November 17, 2026, listed on OpenTable. The restaurant was taking reservations through the same page in mid-October. Its main line is 786-703-5529.

The calendar from Halloween to December 19

The first date is Saturday, October 31, two days after this post goes up on Thursday. After that, the schedule settles into a pattern built around the Doc Thomas House.

The city's event calendar lists the Halloween route along Sunset from US 1 to Red Road, so it passes the Flight West block. Delicias and the Doc Thomas House are on the 5600 and 5500 blocks just east of Red Road.

The full schedule for the Society's gardening days and tours is on the Tropical Audubon Society calendar.

How to put the afternoon together

The tour Saturdays, November 7 and December 5, are the easiest days to do all three. Here is one way to plan it.

1. Park once. The Doc Thomas House has on-site parking through the SW 55th Avenue auto gate. Signs on Sunset Drive point the way.
2. Take the 1 p.m. tour. Tours run about 75 to 90 minutes. Dan Jones leads them. He is a retired educator, a Tropical Audubon Society board member and the group's resident historian, and other volunteers help. Expect to hear who Doc Thomas was, who designed the Arts and Crafts-style cottage, and what makes its wood and limestone details distinctive.
3. Walk the grounds. The Society invites visitors to stroll the Steinberg Nature Center on their own before or after the tour. The tour also covers the pollinator gardens and demonstration forests.
4. Stop at Delicias. It is one block west and open until 7 p.m. on Saturdays.
5. Cross Red Road for dinner. Flight West at 5894 Sunset finishes the day. Book ahead through OpenTable.

If the 3 p.m. tour fits better, flip the order and shop at Delicias first. The tours are free, and donations go straight to preserving the Doc Thomas House and the Steinberg Nature Center.

Anyone who wants to help with the new gardens can come on November 21 or December 19, from 9 a.m. to noon, when the Society holds its Bird-Friendly Gardening Days at the same address.

If you live near this end of Sunset Drive and want to know how blocks like these figure into what your home could sell for, Melva Garcia can go over it with you, block by block. Request a Concierge Consultation.