Gilbert’s Coffee Bar

Gilbert’s Coffee Bar sits on SW Anchorage Way in the marina district just off downtown Stuart, right along the same stretch of harbor as Sailor’s Return, and it markets itself as the only waterfront coffee shop on the Treasure Coast. Whether or not that claim holds against every small shop up and down the coast, the location itself is genuine, a coffee counter with a water view in a part of Stuart otherwise dominated by restaurants and marinas rather than cafes.

The shop’s own description centers on fresh and organic coffee, smoothies, tea and toasts, along with baked goods made using local ingredients where possible. Beyond the coffee menu, Gilbert’s also pours craft beer and wine, a combination that lets it function as a morning coffee stop and an early evening drink spot without needing to change its identity, useful for a location that sees both breakfast boaters and sunset watchers.

This Stuart location, sometimes referred to by the shop as its Sunset Bay location, keeps hours from 7am to 6pm Monday through Thursday, extending to 9pm Friday and Saturday, and a shorter Sunday schedule from 9am to 3pm. Gilbert’s also operates a second location in Port Salerno on SE Dixie Highway, but that location sits outside Stuart’s city limits and is a separate stop from the waterfront shop on Anchorage Way. For anyone exploring the harbor district near downtown Stuart, the Anchorage Way location offers a genuine water view coffee break within walking distance of Sailor’s Return and the rest of the marina area.

The harbor around Anchorage Way, where Gilbert’s sits alongside Sailor’s Return, is part of Stuart’s working waterfront, dotted with marina slips and boat related businesses rather than the shops and galleries that fill the Osceola Street side of downtown. A coffee shop with an actual water view is a genuine rarity along the Treasure Coast, where much of the waterfront in nearby towns has been built up with condos and private docks rather than public facing businesses, which is likely why Gilbert’s leans so heavily into that distinction in how it describes itself. Gilbert’s second location down in Port Salerno on Dixie Highway shares the name and likely a similar menu, but falls outside Stuart’s city limits, so visitors specifically looking for the waterfront branch need to confirm they are heading to the Anchorage Way address rather than the Port Salerno shop.

The shop’s name nods to the historic Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge, a nineteenth century lifesaving station on nearby Hutchinson Island, a piece of Martin County maritime history the coffee bar references without being physically located at the historic site itself.