STEPHEN SAWITZ

OWNER, JOE’S STONE CRAB, MIAMI BEACH

A fourth-generation owner, Sawitz is the great-grandson of Hungarian-born Joseph Weiss, who founded Joe’s Stone Crab in 1913 when he and his wife Jennie started a lunch counter on their bungalow’s front porch. Today it’s one of Florida’s most iconic restaurants and is the biggest buyer of Florida stone crab claws, playing a significant role in the industry by financing crabbers and influencing the claws’ wholesale price. Sawitz expanded Joe’s fisheries in Marathon and Everglades City, helped start an overnight retail and wholesale shipping option, and spearheaded the launch of partner restaurants in Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. In May, he announced on Instagram that Joe’s was lowering its prices. “Everyone can come to Joe’s and enjoy a meal, no matter who you are or where you’re from,” he wrote.