Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Darnell.
Adam, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been interested in Craft Beer for about as long as I can remember. My dad was a home brewer (in Wyoming) since I was ten or so and it was always fun hanging out with him on brew days and watching the whole process.
It wasn’t until 2010-11 that Nicole and I started to seriously consider opening a beer bar – something I had wanted to do (prompted by bartending through college and a few years after) for about a decade.
At that point, Miami had nothing even close to a craft beer bar and bottleshop, so we decided to move back down, cash in our 401k’s, get a few friends on board and go for it.
Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not smooth! We had the normal, ever present, issues with permitting and construction in Miami – as most do. The worst of which was finding out the landlord had not run power to our half of the building after being told we were ready to go and were then delayed about three months before we were able to open.
Prior to that, and nearly immediately after we moved back to Miami, we had much larger struggles. Nicole’s father was diagnosed with cancer and passed shortly after. This sent us into a bit of a tailspin as we really started questioning what we were doing, why, and really made us look at life in general.
Faced with the reality that life is indeed short, we ended up traveling through South America for a few months – something we had wanted to do for years. We were able to really reflect on a lot during this time and fine tune what we wanted to do going forward. As soon as we returned to Miami, we went full steam ahead with our plans for Boxelder.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Boxelder – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a bar and bottle shop. This means you can drink on premise as well as purchase bottles to take home. When we opened, there was no one in Miami who had even explored this concept. Of course, as things go, there are now a few places that operate this model of craft beer retailer.
We specialize in serving (what we consider) the best beer we can get our hands on and have been lucky enough to have made many lasting friendships with brewers around the country.
Our proudest achievement as a company is a hard thing to nail down – I’d even say it isn’t a ‘thing’ at all but the friends we’ve made along the way. We’ve really been blessed to have met, and become good friends with, lots of industry folks we respect, our regular customers and our fantastic staff.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Favorite thing about Miami – the people
Least favorite thing about Miami – the people
Contact Info:
- Address: 2817 NW 2nd Ave Miami Fl 33127
- Website: BXLDR.COM
- Phone: 3059427769
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @boxeldermiami
- Facebook: @boxeldermiami
- Twitter: @boxeldermiami
Image Credit:
Julia Rose Photography
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