{"id":205042,"date":"2026-03-25T05:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205042\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:56:31","slug":"miami-favorite-babes-meat-counter-expands-after-8-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205042\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Favorite Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter Expands After 8 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami favorite Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter has expanded its popular Palmetto Bay butcher shop with 40 seats and more cheeseburgers and sandwiches.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Photo by John C.\/@soflajohnny<\/p>\n

I first met Melanie Schoendorfer in the summer of 2012, when she competed in the hot dog-eating competition at my event, the Hot Dog Fest. At the time, my Burger Beast blog<\/a> was barely four years old. Not long after, she and her husband, Jason, were setting up a tent at the Pinecrest Farmers Market, selling sausages and sandwiches under the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages. I watched those early days up close, years before the operation grew into the Palmetto Bay butcher shop and sandwich destination now known as Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For years, Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter<\/a> has been one of Miami\u2019s most reliable stops for serious sandwiches and house-butchered meats. It\u2019s the butcher shop where the croquetas make you crave another, the minute you bite into them. The bacon is made in-house, and the cheeseburger has become a benchmark for how seriously Miami should take its hamburgers. It even won New Times\u2018 Best Burger in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, eight years after opening their Palmetto Bay shop, Jason and Melanie Schoendorfer have expanded. For Babe\u2019s, the moment feels less like a reinvention and more like the continuation of a story that started under a farmers\u2019 market tent.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Schoendorfers in 2013 at the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market, where they sold sausages and sandwiches under the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages.<\/p>\n

From Farmers Market Hustle to Butcher Shop<\/p>\n

The Schoendorfers\u2019 journey began in 2013 at the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market<\/a>, where they sold sausages and sandwiches under the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages.<\/p>\n

At the time, neither Jason nor Melanie had formal butchery training. What they did have was curiosity and the stubborn urge to make the kind of meats they couldn\u2019t find in Miami.<\/p>\n

Melanie\u2019s background offered a head start. She grew up in Canada in an Italian family where making meat products from scratch was normal. Her grandparents prepared prosciutto, sausages, pepperettes, and other cured meats at home. Later, she spent 11 years working at Joanna\u2019s Marketplace<\/a>, the South Miami gourmet grocery known for its approach to food.<\/p>\n

Jason\u2019s path was less culinary. He studied audio engineering and later spent more than a decade working in his family\u2019s unusual business, a pet cemetery and crematory. The two met at Starbucks, where Jason worked while attending school, while Melanie worked at the Canada Pavilion at EPCOT. They bonded over their shared love of sausage.<\/p>\n

Once the couple moved to Miami, they discovered the problem: the sausages they wanted didn\u2019t really exist here. Instead of settling, they started experimenting. First came sausages and bacon. Then simple sandwiches built around those meats. The Pinecrest market became their testing ground.<\/p>\n

\"AThe cheeseburger from Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter is one of the best in Miami.<\/p>\n

Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter photo<\/p>\n

A Moment in Miami\u2019s Butcher Revival<\/p>\n

Babe\u2019s arrived during a moment when Miami\u2019s food culture was starting to rediscover something older cities had long embraced: the neighborhood butcher shop.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, places like Proper Sausages in Miami Shores<\/a> and Miami Smokers in Little Havana were proving that a butcher counter paired with serious sandwiches could work here.<\/p>\n

Those shops helped pioneer the idea that Miami diners would line up not just for restaurant food but for carefully sourced meat, house-made charcuterie, and sandwiches built around those ingredients.<\/p>\n

The Schoendorfers were part of that same movement, though their path came through the farmers\u2019 market circuit rather than through culinary pedigrees. In 2018, they made the leap into a brick-and-mortar shop.<\/p>\n

\"\"Co-founder Jason Schoendorfer at the Palmetto Bay shop<\/p>\n

Building Babe\u2019s the Hard Way<\/p>\n

Opening Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter at 9216 SW 156th St. in Palmetto Bay didn\u2019t immediately slow things down.<\/p>\n

The couple continued running farmers\u2019 markets each week while operating the shop and working out of a commercial kitchen. For years, their schedule rarely included a day off.<\/p>\n

Then, the pandemic arrived.<\/p>\n

While restaurants across the country struggled, butcher shops suddenly found themselves in demand. Grocery store meat cases were empty, and customers began searching for local sources.<\/p>\n

Babe\u2019s demand exploded.<\/p>\n

The shop\u2019s focus on house-smoked and house-cured meats suddenly made it one of the most reliable places in South Miami to buy quality protein.<\/p>\n

\"\"The delicious, flaky, and hearty baked goods made with premium meats at Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter in Palmetto Bay<\/p>\n

What Babe\u2019s Does Best<\/p>\n

Today, Babe\u2019s functions as both a butcher shop and a sandwich counter, with the two sides feeding each other.<\/p>\n

Inside the refrigerated case are premium cuts, house-made sausages, artisanal bacon, and cured meats. In the kitchen, those same ingredients become sandwiches, burgers, and sides that have helped build Babe\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBabe\u2019s Burger,\u201d made from a blend of prime and Wagyu beef, has repeatedly been recognized as one of Miami\u2019s best burgers. The Cuban sandwich is another standout, featuring house-smoked ham and roasted pork.<\/p>\n

Melanie\u2019s Canadian roots show up on the menu as well. Babe\u2019s is one of the few places in Miami that serve Montreal-style smoked meats and authentic poutine topped with real cheese curds.<\/p>\n

And then there are the croquetas, which regularly disappear as quickly as they hit the counter.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Simone, who has grown up in the business, and her mother, co-founder Melanie Schoendorfer<\/p>\n

The Team That Got Them Here<\/p>\n

Growth like this rarely happens with just two people. Over time, the Schoendorfers have assembled a team that now seems perfectly positioned for Babe\u2019s next chapter.<\/p>\n

Mike Leon (@gonzomike440<\/a>) runs the kitchen. His approach leans creative without losing sight of what makes Babe\u2019s work: solid meat, simple ideas, and good execution. Katherine Alvarez (@naansolo<\/a>) is the creator of all baked goods, including their addictive sausage rolls and a cinnamon roll bread pudding that is as good an excuse as any to not share with friends.<\/p>\n

Out front, Eric Cordo helps manage the flow of customers moving between the butcher counter and the sandwich orders.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Simone. Jason and Melanie\u2019s daughter has grown up in the business, watching Babe\u2019s evolve from a farmers market operation into a neighborhood institution.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Melanie, Simone, and Jason Schoendorfer at their newly expanded butcher shop and restaurant<\/p>\n

The Expansion<\/p>\n

The expansion will bring about 40 seats to Babe\u2019s, something the shop has never really had. Until now, most customers grabbed sandwiches to go or ate quickly at the counter. The additional seating will finally allow people to sit down and enjoy what they ordered rather than eating in the car on the drive home.<\/p>\n

The project will also expand the butcher counter and create room for more local products.<\/p>\n

For the Schoendorfers, the butcher side of the operation remains the core of everything.<\/p>\n

The sandwiches and burgers might grab the headlines, but they\u2019re built on the work happening behind the glass case: curing, smoking, grinding, and breaking down meat the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n

\"\"Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter is beloved for its Montreal smoked meat sandwich.<\/p>\n

Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter photo<\/p>\n

The Long Game<\/p>\n

The food industry is known for restaurants that often expand quickly and disappear just as fast. Babe\u2019s has taken the opposite approach.<\/p>\n

The Schoendorfers spent years grinding through farmers\u2019 markets before opening their shop. They spent another eight years refining the operation before deciding it was time to grow again. That patience has helped Babe\u2019s become something Miami doesn\u2019t have enough of: a true neighborhood butcher shop.<\/p>\n

Along the way, the shop has picked up accolades including Best Burger and Best Sandwich honors from New Times<\/a>, a StarChefs Rising Star Award for the owners, and an appearance on Good Morning America\u2018s \u201cUltimate Burger Spot\u201d competition.<\/p>\n

But the real measure of success shows up every afternoon. The butcher\u2019s case stays full. The sandwich line keeps moving. And the regulars keep coming back.<\/p>\n

For a business that started with two people and a farmers\u2019 market tent, that\u2019s not a bad way to grow.<\/p>\n

Babe\u2019s Meat & Counter. 9216 SW 156th St., Palmetto Bay; babefroman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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