{"id":262466,"date":"2026-05-07T20:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262466\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:13:24","slug":"beloved-wynwood-cafe-is-starting-over-in-miami-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262466\/","title":{"rendered":"Beloved Wynwood Caf\u00e9 Is Starting Over in Miami Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBeloved Miami coffee shop Suite Habana Cafe has closed its Wynwood location after eight years and will relocate to Miami Beach with a new menu.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Suite Habana Cafe photo<\/p>\n

After eight years of serving some of Miami\u2019s most beloved cafecitos<\/a> in Wynwood, Suite Habana Cafe has closed its tiny shop and is preparing for a fresh start in Miami Beach.<\/p>\n

The Cuban-inspired specialty coffee spot shuttered its Wynwood location<\/a> at the end of April after losing its longtime lease. However, there\u2019s good news. The beloved coffee shop and caf\u00e9 will reopen in June inside the boutique Crest Hotel Suites, just off 17th Street and Collins Avenue. The new location will come with more seating, an expanded food menu, and weekend brunch in collaboration with Cuban chef Osmel Gonzalez of EntreNos and Emelina.<\/p>\n

For co-owner and co-founder Nayelis Delisle, the move represents the end of a difficult chapter, but also the beginning of something bigger.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving from Wynwood was very delicate for me,\u201d she says. \u201cAfter eight years, it\u2019s hard to start again. But seeing that our customers are buying our coffee online and drinking it at home, waiting for us, willing to follow us during the transition\u2026it\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Co-owners Nayelis Delisle and her husband Manny Lopez founded Suite Habana Cafe in Wynwood in 2018 to bring authentic, nostalgic Cuban coffee culture to the area. <\/p>\n

Beyond the Ventanita<\/p>\n

Delisle and her husband, Manny Lopez, opened Suite Habana Cafe in Wynwood in 2018<\/a>. Their mission was to create a place centered around hospitality and really good coffee. Born in Cuba, Delisle grew up drinking coffee with her grandmother, who brewed what Delisle describes as carefully guarded \u201creal\u201d coffee during the country\u2019s difficult economic years in the 1990s. <\/p>\n

Some of her earliest memories involve sitting beside her grandmother as she described the smoky, chocolatey flavors of the coffee she drank daily.<\/p>\n

The caf\u00e9 was also inspired in part by Cuba\u2019s \u201cpaladares\u201d, informal, family-run restaurants that people opened in their homes during the economic crisis of the 1990s. \u201cMy mom had one in my grandmother\u2019s patio,\u201d Delisle says. \u201cI remember the noise, the people talking, the food coming out of our kitchen. That was real hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Instead of recreating Miami\u2019s coladas and ventanita culture, Delisle wanted to introduce people to another side of Cuban coffee culture, one focused on quality beans, careful brewing, and long conversations around the table.<\/p>\n

Another Side of Cuban Coffee Culture<\/p>\n

Those memories became the inspiration for the caf\u00e9. Instead of recreating Miami\u2019s coladas and ventanita culture, Delisle wanted to introduce people to another side of Cuban coffee culture, one focused on quality beans, careful brewing, and long conversations around the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Cuba, coffee culture goes back 300 years,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen people think of Cuban coffee, they automatically associate it with Pil\u00f3n or Bustelo, but we wanted to put specialty coffee on the table while keeping the Cuban soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

That philosophy is what guided Suite Habana from the very beginning. The caf\u00e9\u2019s signature house blend, developed and roasted by Delisle and Lopez, combines Brazilian and Colombian Arabica beans chosen to recreate the bold flavor profile Delisle remembers from childhood. Lopez, who previously worked in high-end coffee, says the pair experimented with multiple roast profiles before landing on a darker roast with notes of chocolate and tobacco. \u201cI wanted the coffee to be smooth, velvety, and leave that tobacco note in your mouth, almost like smoking a cigar,\u201d adds Delisle.<\/p>\n

Here, you will not find matcha lattes nor the latest TikTok trend in coffee drinks. Delisle says the caf\u00e9 was never interested in chasing fads, and instead, she wants to follow tradition.\u201cWe come from a culture of \u2018give me a dark roast, pon la cafetera, y vamos a chismear,\u2019 and that\u2019s the feeling I wanted to recreate here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

A Cult Following Built on Coffee and Community<\/p>\n

The result has quietly earned the caf\u00e9 a devoted following over the years, along with national recognition from Bon App\u00e9tit and Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler. Just last year, New Times featured it as the best coffeehouse in Miami<\/a>. In 2021, Joe Jonas spotlighted the caf\u00e9 <\/a>in a pandemic-era docuseries supporting small businesses and bought coffee for the next 500 customers after sharing the shop with his millions of followers.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Suite Habana also built a fiercely loyal local following with its espresso drinks, cold brew, salted chocolate chip cookies, vegan banana bread, and caf\u00e9 bombon, a layered espresso drink with condensed milk. The caf\u00e9\u2019s small but popular pastry program is also a family effort, with the couple\u2019s 20-year-old son helping develop and bake many of the goods in-house.<\/p>\n

But Delisle says what has stayed with her most is the community support that followed. As the caf\u00e9 prepared to leave Wynwood, customers stepped in to help. One offered warehouse space to store the caf\u00e9\u2019s furniture and equipment during the transition, while another connected them to the Miami Beach location.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community came to the rescue,\u201d she says. \u201cAfter all these years, I still believe in this city. Miami is home to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Co-founder Manny Lopez and Cuban chef Osmel Gonzalez of EntreNos and Emelina. Gonzalez is collaborating on a new menu for the shop.<\/p>\n

A Bigger Second Chapter<\/p>\n

The new space will allow Suite Habana to expand beyond the six-item pastry menu it currently offers. Delisle says the food program will roughly double in size, with brunch becoming a major focus.<\/p>\n

The caf\u00e9 will also continue selling its coffee beans online, which has quietly become a major part of the business. Delisle says she loves seeing customers recreate the experience at home using traditional Cuban coffee makers.<\/p>\n

That philosophy has shaped the business from the beginning. \u201cWe\u2019re not a caf\u00e9 that sells coffee with food,\u201d Delisle says. \u201cWe\u2019re a coffee company.\u201d
And if Delisle is right, her customers will follow her wherever she goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we do something very good for the city,\u201d she says. \u201cI just want to see Miami shine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suite Habana Cafe. 1670 James Ave., Miami Beach, at Crest Hotel and Suites; suitehabanacafe.com<\/a>. Opening June 2026.<\/p>\n

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