Michael Beltran, chef-owner of Miami destination restaurants Ariete, Nave and The Taurus, has always loved diners for their simple food and comforting atmosphere.
During the pandemic, the chef-owner created a popup called Chug’s to serve the kind of Cuban-American cooking he grew up with—tweaking it with modern twists. “I called it Chug’s after my childhood nickname,” Beltran said.
One year later, Chug’s 1.0 evolved into Chug’s 2.0, he said, reopening as a brick and mortar restaurant in the same lively Coconut Grove neighborhood that’s home to his higher-end spots. The place, “a cross between a Cuban café and American diner,” is open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., serving everything from oversized cast-iron pancakes to a Cuban tamal and guava-gimlet cocktail.
As with Beltran, the pandemic spurred other chefs and restaurateurs to re-evaluate the kind of place they wanted to run. When COVID hit, many were forced to change their business models, turning restaurants into retail markets, recasting beautifully plated food for takeout and paring down menus to focus on simpler, more comforting items.
As restaurants returned to more normal service, some operators kept all or parts of those models or relaunched them as new concepts. All-day cafes or “modern diners” are one model with staying power that seems to be filling a niche.
For pandemic-weary consumers, many of whom are primarily still working from home, these neighborhood restaurants provide hangouts and gathering places—much like the “third place” Starbucks envisioned years ago.
The big difference: These are not cookie-cutter spots with the same decor and limited menu. They are independent concepts offering a changing roster of chef-driven food and drinks throughout the day and night in a relaxed but inviting environment. And the price for hanging out is deliberately low.
A good fit for the neighborhood
“Miami really wanted something like Chug’s Diner,” said Beltran, and the indoor and outdoor dining areas are busy throughout the day. Breakfast and dinner draw pretty similar crowds on weekends and lunch is big on weekdays.
“Customers typically spend $20 to $30 for food and drink and leave happy,” said Beltran. For those looking for a smaller tab, the bar does 99-cent martinis during daily happy hours.
A sampling of the menu at Chug's Diner; photo courtesy of Chug's Diner
To make diner classics “a little more Miami,” Beltran added Cuban accents and modern twists. In addition to the cast-iron pancake, Beltran created several breakfast signatures, a selection of which are available until close. The breakfast sandwich features Taylor ham—a New Jersey deli staple—on a Cuban roll with an egg and potato sticks. There’s a Lechon Hash with carne asado, mojo and eggs and Beltran’s Bacon, thick-cut with sazon seasoning crumble and smoked maple syrup.
Lunch and dinner run the gamut, from a Chug Burger to Snapper Escabeche. A big draw are the house-baked pastelitos, a Cuban pastry turnover and Miami specialty.
Built around a baked good
Another pastry, this time a donut, was the inspiration behind milkbread, a new all-day café that opened in January in Davidson, N.C.
Joe and Katy Kindred started making milk bread donuts at their full-service restaurant, Kindred, during the pandemic. “We had to shut down Kindred and rethink how to operate as a takeout concept,” said Katy.
The restaurant’s milk bread, served warm in a tin at each table, developed a cult following, she said, so she deep-fried the recipe and turned it into a donut. “We took over the restaurant’s driveway and started selling coffee and donuts to go,” she said. The team also used the milk bread to create travel-friendly sandwiches.
“People really liked the food, so we kept making and selling it seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” said Katy.
Interior of milkbread; photo by Blake Pope
That was the impetus for the more casual milkbread restaurant, a 50-seat spot with counter service and a warm, inviting vibe. The couple renovated an existing space and rounded out the menu with a few more items.
“We tried to make the menu a size that offered something for everyone but didn’t cause storage issues,” said Katy. In addition to the donuts, there’s crispy fried chicken on a biscuit or dipped in Eastern Carolina barbecue sauce on a potato bun, toasts (roasted mushroom toast with tahini and berbere sauce is a favorite), vegetable-focused bowls, salads and a wide selection of non-alcoholic drinks and coffee. Everything can be packed to go.
The Kindreds are committed to working with local and small producers and partnered with Summit Coffee for their drip version, a former employee who started an espresso company for specialty brews and local kombucha and beer brands. A rotating selection of wines come from small wineries.
“We’re a little over three times as busy as we thought we would be,” said Katy. “Our strongest daypart is lunchtime, followed by breakfast, and then dinner. We’re eager to gather our community into our sunny new place that was conceptualized during a dark time in our world.”
Creating a gathering space
To capture the all-day customer, ambiance is as important as the menu. Chug’s boasts an airy, open design scheme with plenty of natural light, a ventanita (outside coffee window) for a morning, afternoon or late-night pick-me-up, an inside grab-and-go counter, a bar and full dining room as well as tropical-themed outdoor seating.
Ryan Hardy, head of New York City’s Delicious Hospitality Group, said the team went back to the drawing board during COVID to redesign Bumble Brew, a cafe that opened in December in Manhattan’s downtown Nolita neighborhood next door to Hardy's flagship restaurant, Pasquale Jones.
“The space morphs easily from morning to night, but COVID awareness changed the flow slightly,” he said.
About one-third of the 3,700-square-foot space is a lounge area with a bakery and long bar. The area sports fancy espresso machines to craft coffee drinks for morning and afternoon guests, then converts into a cocktail and wine bar for the evening. Comfy lounge chairs and coffee tables fill the floor.
The cafe layout and decor, created by design firm Float Studios, also features an indoor dining room that seats 85, faced by an open kitchen, as well as a winterized outdoor patio. The pandemic spurred the addition of heated vestibules to the outdoor space.
Menu items from Bumble Brew; photo courtesy of Bumble Brew
“The menu also promotes the conviviality that we’re seeking,” said Chef Hardy. “There are shared plates and small plates and guests can glide in and out. They don’t have to commit to sitting for two hours.”
The focus is on vegetables, pasta and seafood—“the way I like to eat,” he said. Fifteen wines are offered by the glass. By sharing dishes like Agnolotti with Sunchoke and Sheep’s Milk Ricotta and a Grilled Little Gem Salad “you can be in for $20.”
Bumble Brew’s name comes from the dating app, Bumble, which partnered with Hardy’s group to create the concept. While couples can potentially meet for a coffee, wine or a dinner date, flexible seating makes the space just as suitable for a group holding a business meeting or friends getting together for drinks or dinner. The open floor plan can accommodate large events, like the speaker series Bumble Brew is planning.
“The main goal of the cafe is to foster community connections, said Hardy.