{"id":152857,"date":"2026-02-12T11:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152857\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:06:31","slug":"new-restaurant-concept-takes-over-former-bistro-aix-space-in-san-marco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152857\/","title":{"rendered":"New restaurant concept takes over former Bistro Aix space in San Marco"},"content":{"rendered":"

The longtime home of Bistro Aix in San Marco has been transformed into Cafe San Marco and Bar San Marco.<\/p>\n

The former Bistro Aix and most recently, Blue, at 1440 San Marco Blvd. is now a multiuse dining spot operated by Daimi Morales.<\/p>\n

Morales is a Cuban immigrant who married David Revuelta,a Jacksonville native, eight years ago. They met when Revuelta was visiting family in Cuba.<\/p>\n

Cafe San Marco is a breakfast and lunch spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Cuban thing. There\u2019s always a cafe. That is why in Miami you can get it at every corner,\u201d Morales said through an interpreter.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is open from 6-8 a.m., serving grab-and-go items like pastries, coffee drinks and juices. From 8-11 a.m., a full breakfast menu is served with a selection of omelets ($13-$15.50), avocado toast ($9) and a Cuban starter sandwich ($13.50). Breakfast cocktails are available, including Irish coffee, espresso martinis, mimosas and bloody marys ($10-$12).<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/p>\n

Cafe San Marco is open in the former Bistro Aix space at 1440 San Marco Blvd. for breakfast and lunch. Bar San Marco is open there in the evening.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan Macdonald<\/p>\n

Lunch is from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and features bowls, sandwiches and wood-fired pizza. Prices range from $11.50-$26.<\/p>\n

Desserts include la tarta vasca ($8.50), Cuban flan ($7), tarta de Santiago ($8.50) and turrones ($5.50).<\/p>\n

Bar San Marco, the former Onyx Bar and Bar X, will open from 5-10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It is a full bar with a 700-bottle wine selection left behind by former operators. Tapas will be served until 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

The tapas menu is Spanish-influenced and includes serrano ham croquettes ($12), Galician-style octopus ($11), garlic mushrooms ($10), garlic shrimp ($12), chorizo and mushrooms ($10) and a sampler plate ($18).<\/p>\n

There are four charcuterie boards ($14 to $32) and three entrees \u2013 pork tenderloin ($26), grilled salmon ($29) and churrasco steak ($30).<\/p>\n

Although the cafe closes at 2 p.m., the kitchen does not. Pizza will be sold for pickup and delivery until about 10 p.m. Pizzas can be ordered on delivery apps and on the Toast app.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea was to have a small cafe, much like Morales experienced in Cuba. She and Revuelta had looked at several places in the area with little luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was going to be tapas. Just something small. Not something big like a full restaurant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/p>\n

Cafe San Marco and Bar San Marco owner Daimi Morales shows off the $13,000 coffee maker the restaurant bought.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan Macdonald<\/p>\n

When they found that the former Bistro Aix was available, the couple felt compelled to check it out. When they were first dating, they had a favorite table by a window facing San Marco Boulevard.<\/p>\n

The restaurant and bar are a combined 10,703 square feet and were built on 0.63 acre. That includes a parking lot behind the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The space is much larger than what Morales had first envisioned. It has two large, fully equipped kitchens. Off the bar there is a room that was used for meetings and private parties. Revuelta said he wasn\u2019t sure what they were going to do in that space.<\/p>\n

A wall has been erected in the main dining room to close off the once-exposed kitchen. They\u2019ve removed several of the tables and booths for a more relaxed ambiance. The worn carpet has been replaced by decorative tile.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Cafe San Marco and Bar San Marco is located in the former Bistro Aix space in San Marco, shown in this file photo.<\/p>\n

The Bar San Marco changes are more subtle. The wall of mirrors behind the bar has been replaced by a single large mirror in the middle.<\/p>\n

The brick, which had been painted white, is now back to its original red.<\/p>\n

Much of the kitchen equipment remained. A new refrigerator unit, the tile floors and the $13,000 coffee maker were the big-ticket items that brought the startup costs to about $60,000, Revuelta said. The contractor was William Cesery, who owns the building.<\/p>\n

They have a staff of five but expect that to grow to about 15, Revuelta said.<\/p>\n

Morales has some hospitality experience. While Revuelta is involved, he has a full-time job as an information security and privacy professional. They are leaning on General Manager Rene Martinez for restaurant knowledge and experience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The longtime home of Bistro Aix in San Marco has been transformed into Cafe San Marco and Bar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-152857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}