This ‘no Wi-Fi’ coffee shop is a hit in the Gables. Will it succeed in Miami Shores?
Tinta y Café nurtures a different kind of cafecito crowd.
With fluffy French whipped eggs, Latin-inspired sandwiches on baguettes instead of Cuban bread and a lighter-brew coffee, the restaurant developed a following over the last 15 years, from their original Calle Ocho spot to their newer home at the northern edge of Coral Gables. Now they hope to expand their audience with a new location.
The restaurant opened a Miami Shores spot Jan. 4, at 9840 NE Second Ave., in a quickly developing downtown strip that includes Proper Sausage butcher shop and the French-style bistro Coté Gourmet.
“We set the place up to be the perfect Tinta y Café,” co-owner Carlos Santamarina said.
Their menu will remain the same, from their creative riffs on sandwiches like the Madurito (roasted pork, grilled onions and diced sweet plantains) to their mellow café con leche — not to mention some of the best ham croquetas in Miami-Dade. And, as always, a low-tech spot where laptops are discouraged and Wi-Fi isn’t available.
“The no-technology, I think it should be more of a thing. It brings people together,” Santamarina said. “I’ve seen it happen. Strangers become friends. We even had one couple who met at
Tinta and ended up getting married.”
The original restaurant was founded in 2005 by
siblings Neli and Rafael Santamarina. After Rafael died less than a year in, his son, Carlos, and Neli’s daughters, Malu and Sachi Statz, jumped in to the family business to help their aunt make it a success.
The family started working on the new location in mid-2019 and was deep into construction when coronavirus shutdowns stalled their progress. But “we were just too far in to give up,” Carlos Santamarina said.
TINTA Y CAFÉ
Address: 9840 NE Second Ave., Miami Shores Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday