The longtime South Miami restaurant formerly known as Café Pastis underwent a name change this week. The management posted a photo of the South Miami storefront on Instagram with a new name: "Café Panisse by Café Pastis."
The post states, "So, as you all know, we had to change our name. But just the name. Same chef. Same boss. Same menu. Same team. Same love."
The bistro has been a staple in South Miami for over two decades, serving delicious French cuisine inside a small yet intimate restaurant in an unassuming, blue awning-lined strip mall on Red Road. The restaurant immediately transports its guests across the Atlantic with its bistro tables, French ambiance, and lovely decor.
The crowd favorites include mussels in white wine sauce, duck a l'orange, and objectively the best soupe à l'oignon gratinée in the Magic City. Patrons can always expect a sliced baguette inside a brown bag and service that makes them feel like family.
So, why did the name change after 24 wonderful years?
Café Panisse by Café Pastis, formerly just Café Pastis, is known for its French cuisine and mussels in white wine sauce.
Photo by George Martinez
The Battle of the "Pastis." Who Came First?
In April 2023, James Beard Award-winning restaurateurs Keith McNally and Stephen Starr opened the posh Pastis Miami in Wynwood. Although the New York-based restaurant opened in Miami years after the longtime French bistro opened in South Miami, the Wynwood spot immediately confused patrons due to its similar name, which frustrated Café Panisse's owners.Just recently, a New Times contributor made a reservation at the former Café Pastis, and the hostess on the line had to confirm that they were calling the South Miami bistro and not the Wynwood restaurant.
Pastis Miami, owned by the restaurant group Starr Restaurants, opened in New York City and then expanded to South Florida last year, with plans to open a West Palm Beach location. It offers a grand interior and full bar; as a New Times writer wrote in her review, Pastis Miami "is the little black dress of restaurants: It's simple yet elegant. It's perfect for a glass of wine with friends, a romantic date night, or when you simply need a good martini after a long work day."
Nonetheless, it is a separate entity from the locally owned Café Panisse. The owners of Café Panisse (Panisse is a fried chickpea dish from the south of France) decided to give up their original name and keep itself completely disconnected from Pastis Miami.
An Instagram user commented on Café Panisse's Instagram post asking the restaurant why they had changed the name, to which Café Panisse replied, "Pastis from NYC has opened in Miami and holds the name Pastis before us. No big deal. People love us even more." Another user commented, "Still the very best, and always Café Pastis for me!"
Fans immediately took to the comments to express their support for the small restaurant, writing, "We love your place! Best French food in Miami!" and "You guys are the real deal! Favorite!"
Café Panisse opened in August 1999 by French native Philippe Jacquet and Scott Price, just a few blocks down the road from Sunset Place in South Miami. The bistro has won New Times' "Best Of" awards numerous times over, including this past year's "Best French Restaurant 2024" and the coveted "Best French Restaurant in a Strip Mall" in 2002.
Whether you are a Café Panisse old-timer or a newcomer, the restaurant is a quintessential French restaurant, offering French delicacies for a reasonable price that cannot be matched.
As one Instagram user put it perfectly: Café Panisse is "often imitated, never duplicated!'
Café Panisse. 7310 SW 57th Ave., South Miami; 305-665-3322; cafepastissomi. Open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 to 9:30 p.m.
