The Globe Cafe & Bar

The Globe Cafe & Bar has been family owned on Alhambra Circle since 1997, run by Danny and Lorraine Guiteras through nearly three decades of a Coral Gables dining scene that has changed dramatically around them. The restaurant describes itself as channeling the spirit of fin de siecle Paris or old New York, and stepping inside does feel a bit like entering a different era, with dark wood, vintage touches, and a warm, slightly worn in elegance that no design firm could fake in a single renovation.

The kitchen turns out a menu built around European bistro classics with American touches, and dishes like steak frites and conch fritters have become genuine signatures over the years, the sort of orders regulars make without needing to look at the menu. The bar program leans into well made classic cocktails, and the wine list has been built up over years rather than assembled all at once, giving it a personality that feels earned rather than curated by committee.

One of The Globe’s defining features is live jazz on Saturday nights, a tradition that has turned the restaurant into something of a cultural anchor for downtown Coral Gables. In a neighborhood full of restaurants that open with big investment and disappear within a few years, having a place that has consistently offered live music for this long says something about the owners’ commitment to running the business as a genuine neighborhood gathering spot rather than a purely transactional dining operation.

The Globe earned Miami New Times’ Best Restaurant honor for Coral Gables in 2022, recognition that reflected decades of steady, careful work rather than a single flashy opening season. That kind of institutional respect tends to go to restaurants that have proven their staying power, and few independent restaurants in the area can match The Globe’s tenure at a single address under the same ownership.

The building itself, with its worn wood floors and walls covered in old photographs and memorabilia, contributes as much to the experience as anything coming out of the kitchen. Regulars often describe the feeling of stepping inside as something closer to visiting an old friend’s home than dining at a commercial restaurant, an atmosphere that cannot be manufactured quickly and that reflects nearly three decades of the same family shaping the space one small detail at a time.

The restaurant works well for a relaxed dinner, a late night drink at the bar, or a Saturday evening built around the live jazz set, and its Alhambra Circle location puts it within easy reach of the rest of downtown Coral Gables’ restaurant row. For visitors and longtime residents alike, The Globe offers something increasingly rare in a fast changing neighborhood, a genuinely independent restaurant with a consistent identity that has not been diluted by expansion or ownership change over more than a quarter century in business.