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There are cafeterías, and there are ventanitas, and both will pour you a cortadito fast and hot. But warm service and a warm cup don't always add up to a place that actually feels warm and cozy enough to linger in. Tinta y Café, a Bib Gourmand-holding family business now in its 21st year, does that. The Coral Gables original was started in 2005 by Cuban-born, Miami-raised siblings Neli and Rafael Santamarina. Their daughters and sons now run it, one of them bringing a formal culinary background to a menu that has largely stayed intact but is always bent on elevating breakfast and lunch classics with the highest-quality ingredients and a delicate creativity that can still be filed under Cuban comfort food.
The vibe: Laptops are not welcome here. A scrapbook, on the other hand, is fine. The woman at the end of the counter when I visited had hers open, scissors in hand, completely at ease. That unhurried quality is the whole point. On a Thursday around 4pm, my fellow diners included kids and caretakers at Tinta’s small outdoor courtyard, Miami locals conversing in Spanglish at the tables inside, and a few out-of-town teenagers getting an honest immersion in Cuban coffee and sandwiches by a local uncle at the long counter, as it offers a perfect view of the sandwich-making station. The building is midcentury modern, furnished to match: peg-legged chairs, walnut shelving, cane barstools and teak details in a room that has the feel of a well-curated intellectual’s living room. The playlist moves from a funky reworking of Cuban standards to a Lauryn Hill deep cut without missing a beat. The servers and baristas inside are young, in-the-know, and friendly in a cool and collected way.
The drink: The coffee at Tinta is not your ventanita model, neither aggressively sweet nor scorched and bitter. It's new-wave Cuban: high-quality beans and just the right amount of sugar for a perfectly balanced, comforting cup. Don't come looking for flat white complications; they stick to the Cuban standards here, done expertly well. Whether you go for an iced café con leche or the communal colada, know you’re getting the best of the best. This year the family released their own dark roast coffee blend, Rafa’s Blend, after co-founder Rafael. You can attempt to whip up your own Tinta y Café experience at home, but the ambiance just won’t be the same.
The food: Start with the pastelitos. The pastelito de queso is genuinely flaky and fresh, not the dense, oily version you've probably suffered through elsewhere, and the empanadas match it. Croquetas are not to be missed; that’s why there’s never any left as the day nears closing time.
The sandwiches are pressed to order from pork that sizzles in a pan minutes before being stuffed in. It’s citrusy and flavorful, so you may be tempted to eat it on its own—without complaint. I went for El Madurito, a rich and deeply savory sandwich, stuffed with pork and cantimpalo, a cured Spanish sausage with a spicy saltiness that’s highly addictive. Caramelized fried plantains (maduros) and onions bring sweetness to the sandwich without overwhelming the two meats that are already doing considerable work. El Tinta y Café is the subtler route; you can really appreciate the baguette here, as well as the citrusy pan-fried pork. Roasted red peppers and caramelized onions fold in a gentle sweetness and soft acidity. You'll feel indulgently spoiled eating it.
El Patría, their Cuban sandwich and a fixture on our list of Miami's best, is built on restraint: ham, pork, mortadella, Swiss, pickle, and mustard. The mortadella adds a fatty richness that the standard Cuban typically skips. What makes it isn't a secret ingredient. It's that everything in it was made or sourced that day. Sandwiches come in regular and mini, and are always accompanied by plantain chips. The mini is a half portion that, when paired with a pastelito and a coffee, is enough to satisfy you for a few hours.
Time Out tip: Craving a heartier evening out? Tín Tín on Calle Ocho is the big sister restaurant from the same team, where Cuban dishes get infused with French and Italian influences and techniques for something a little more ambitious after dark. And if you can’t make it to Tinta y Café in the Gables, there’s an outpost in Miami Shores.