WGM Weekender: Carrot Express, Miami’s 30-Year Overnight Success
Our series about Miami's transformation to an exporter of ideas and creativity.
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Overnight Success 30-Years in the Making Goes National
Every “overnight success” that actually matters takes about 30 years.
To understand what Carrot Express is becoming today under CEO Abraham Chehebar, you have to rewind to 1992—long before “clean eating” was an industry, let alone a trend. Founder Mario Laufer was already deep in the work, experimenting, failing, relocating, and rebuilding. What began as The Gourmet Carrot in Downtown Miami survived market shifts, a move to South Beach, and even a bankruptcy in Aventura—moments that would have ended most entrepreneurial stories.
Then came the chapter that feels like pure Miami folklore: a 250-square-foot stand inside a Texaco gas station on Alton Road. It was an if-you-know-you-know operation—so good people would sit through a car wash just to grab a wrap. The food got so popular that Mario was eventually evicted by his landlord (and relative) for disrupting the gas station’s business. When Carrot Express reopened across the street—hidden, unpermitted, and hoodless—the cult followed.
The Architect of the Empire
In this week’s What’s Good Weekender, we sit down with Abraham Chehebar, the man who saw what Carrot Express truly was: not just a healthy lunch spot, but a high-performance ritual. While Mario remained the culinary soul, Abraham brought the vision, discipline, and ambition to scale it—transforming a gas-station secret into one of Miami’s most beloved brands, now officially expanding to New York City.
AND NOW AN INTERVIEW WITH ABRAHAM CHEHEBAR THE CEO OF CARROT EXPRESS
What is your name and what do you do?
Abraham Chehebar and I am the CEO of Carrot Express.
How long have you lived in Miami?
30 Years
Where do you live?
I live in Miami Beach.
What’s your morning routine?
I wake up and then wake my daughter up to go to school.
How do you take your coffee?
Brewed, I think now they call it drip coffee but black no sugar.
What’s a hidden gem in Miami that more people should know about?
In Wynwood there are several taco places, I love tacos. This one I think is the most Mexican of all it’s very very lively and it’s called Tacos Atarantados. The best tacos in Miami.
What do you love most about Miami?
The beach, I get to go with my daughter and she likes it as well.
How do you share your creativity?
I am very entrepreneurial and business oriented so all my creativity always goes into the business.
What personal experience has shaped your creative journey the most?
The failures, I have started a few businesses in my life and I have had several failures.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
Don’t treat money like you can waste it. Be more careful with your money.
How do you define your success?
The growth of the company both profitability and revenue, and how the people in the company feel and how we are growing.
If you could collaborate with any artist, entrepreneur, or creative, who would it be and why?
Howard Schultz the Starbucks founder because of our industry and Elon Musk could be very interesting also.
What do you believe?
I believe in God, a positive attitude, manifesting and looking at your future in a positive way.
What’s your happy place?
Being with my daughter, seeing my family and my daughter and my wife as well.
Do you have a favorite quote?
It is what it is.
Carrot Express didn’t win by chasing trends, it outlasted them.
Mario Laufer’s relentless commitment to food that actually tastes good laid the foundation, but it was Abraham Chehebar who recognized the bigger truth: Carrot Express wasn’t about dieting or labels—it was about how high-performing people eat every day. Since stepping into the CEO role, Abraham has quietly replaced folklore with infrastructure, building a sophisticated operation capable of sustaining 30 locations and counting without sacrificing what made the brand magnetic in the first place.
As Carrot Express opens its doors in New York City, it does so not as a newcomer, but as a veteran—battle-tested, flavor-obsessed, and deeply Miami at its core. From a downtown experiment to a gas station cult to a national expansion, this isn’t a story of luck. It’s a story of patience, conviction, and a 30-year “overnight success” finally getting its moment.
See you at the beach,
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Created by: THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
For less than the cost of your matcha, subscribe to get full access to the intel that matters. Cement your status as an insider and support your community. We love you Miami.