Best Breakfast in Coral Gables: 13 Places to Start the Day

Coral Gables eats breakfast in more registers than almost anywhere else in Miami. In a few walkable blocks you can find a Cuban bakery counter, a pastry chef's flagship, an Australian style cafe, a golf course diner, and a specialty coffee shop you can work from all morning. This guide rounds up 13 places to start the day in the Gables, what kind of room each one is, and who it suits. Hours and menus change, so check each venue's own listing before you go.

GROU Coffee + Cowork

GROU is a specialty coffee shop, a breakfast kitchen and a coworking space in one building at 4100 Salzedo St STE 5, Coral Gables, FL 33146, four minutes on foot from Shops at Merrick Park. Doors open at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday and 8:30 AM on Saturday and Sunday, and it is walk-in, so there is no reservation to make. The breakfast list runs from a toasted sourdough bagel with cream cheese at 3.99 to the sourdough bagel lox with smoked salmon at 14.99, with the house favorite avocado toast at 12.99, an acai bowl at 11.99, overnight oats at 6.49, a Greek yogurt parfait at 6.99 and the best selling chia pudding at 7.99. The garbanzo toast at 13.49 and the tuna toast at 12.99 are each served as a toast or as a salad bowl for the same price, which is the sort of small flexibility that makes a place easy to return to. GROU holds 4.8 stars from 1,089 Google reviews, the patio is dog friendly, and because the room is also a cowork you can stay after the plate is cleared instead of quietly being turned over. Browse the full menu or reserve a desk at GROU Cowork. Best for: an early weekday start, a laptop morning, and breakfast near Merrick Park.

Threefold Cafe

The Australian style cafe on Giralda Avenue that did more than any other room to define what Gables brunch looks like. Flat whites, ricotta hotcakes and avocado toast, served in a bright, busy space that fills up fast on weekends. If you are benchmarking Coral Gables breakfast against the rest of the city, this is the reference point. Best for: a proper sit-down cafe breakfast.

maman

A French inspired bakery and cafe on Miracle Mile, with the vintage florals and pale wood interior the brand is known for. Pastries, tartines, sandwiches and coffee, plus the chocolate chip cookie that built its reputation. One of the most photographed rooms in the Gables, and a comfortable place to linger over a morning pastry. Best for: a pastry and coffee morning on the Mile.

Bachour

The flagship bakery and restaurant of pastry chef Antonio Bachour on Salzedo Street, a large room built around a glassed-in kitchen so you can watch the work happen. Viennoiserie, tartines and egg plates, and a pastry case that is worth the trip on its own. It carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Best for: the best pastry counter in Coral Gables.

Bistro Café

A brunch focused kitchen on Laguna Street, in the same southern pocket of Coral Gables as Merrick Park rather than up on the Mile. Pancakes, omelets and the full plated breakfast repertoire, in a smaller neighborhood room. A useful option if you are staying near the mall and want a sit-down plate. Best for: a plated breakfast south of downtown Coral Gables.

CAO Bakery & Cafe

If you want a Cuban breakfast in Coral Gables, this is the one. CAO is a Cuban American bakery and cafe on University Drive, part of a South Florida group with locations across the region. Cuban coffee, croquetas, empanadas and Cuban loaf, ordered at the counter the way it should be. Best for: cafecito, croquetas and a Cuban breakfast.

Pura Vida

The Miami wellness brand's Miracle Mile location, built around breakfast plates, avocado toasts, eggs, smoothies and acai. There is a second Coral Gables location near the University of Miami on Stanford Drive, which makes it the easy default for the campus crowd. For more in this vein, see our guide to the best healthy breakfast in Miami. Best for: a health minded breakfast with eggs on the menu.

Carrot Express

Healthy fast casual on Miracle Mile, and a Miami fixture for more than twenty years. Salads, wraps, bowls, juices, smoothies and avocado toasts, ordered quickly and eaten quickly. This is the one to know when you want breakfast in Coral Gables without sitting down for an hour. Best for: a quick breakfast on the Mile.

Crema Gourmet

An espresso bar and gourmet cafe on Miracle Mile whose primary category on Google is, literally, Breakfast Restaurant. Full breakfast plates, pancakes and eggs alongside a proper coffee program, in a room that works as well for a solo morning as for a table of four. Best for: a full American breakfast plate downtown.

Birdie Bistro

A family owned breakfast and lunch spot on Granada Boulevard, sharing space with the Granada Pro-Shop at the Granada Golf Course and carrying on from the much loved Burger Bob's that preceded it. Diner cooking, green views, and none of the Miracle Mile crowd. Best for: an unfussy breakfast away from the shopping streets.

Tina in the Gables

A small, minimalist breakfast and lunch room on South Le Jeune Road from the team behind Miami Slice and La Latina, working with organic eggs, fresh bread and empanadas. It sits in a compact strip plaza where parking is genuinely tight, and it keeps a shorter week than most, so check the listing before you drive over. Best for: a considered, design led breakfast.

Café Demetrio

Billed as the first coffee house in Coral Gables, open since 1997 on Alhambra Circle in the 1920s premises of the city's first newspaper. A European coffee house in the old sense: a courtyard, chess boards, no hurry and no pressure to leave. It opens later in the morning than most of this list, so treat it as a slow start rather than an early one. Best for: a long, unhurried late morning.

The Café at Books & Books

The cafe inside the independent bookstore on Aragon Avenue, where you can eat among the shelves or out in the open-air Mediterranean courtyard under the arches. There is a live music series, and the bookstore itself is reason enough to build a morning around it. Like Café Demetrio, this is a later start. Best for: a bookish, courtyard breakfast.

How to choose your breakfast in Coral Gables

Most of this list sits in 33134, the downtown Coral Gables grid around Miracle Mile, Giralda and Ponce de Leon Boulevard, where you can park once and walk to several options. GROU, Bistro Café and Tina in the Gables are the exceptions, all in 33146 to the south, which is the practical answer if you are staying near Shops at Merrick Park or the University of Miami and do not want to drive into downtown.

For a cheap breakfast in Coral Gables, GROU's sourdough bagel with cream cheese at 3.99 and overnight oats at 6.49 are the lowest entry points on this guide that are still a real breakfast rather than a snack. For a gluten free breakfast, GROU's arepa at 6.99 is gluten free, and gluten free toast is available as a substitution on the toasts. If you want to add protein to any of it, scrambled egg, hard boiled egg, avocado, smoked salmon, prosciutto, turkey, ham and chicken are all available as add-ons, which is covered in more detail in our guide to a protein powered morning. Oat, almond and lactose free milk are all on hand for the coffee.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get breakfast in Coral Gables that opens early?

GROU Coffee + Cowork opens at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday and 8:30 AM on Saturday and Sunday, at 4100 Salzedo St STE 5, Coral Gables, FL 33146, near Shops at Merrick Park. Several spots around Miracle Mile and downtown Coral Gables also open early in the morning, including bakery counters and fast casual cafes. Opening times change, so check each venue's own Google listing for current hours before you set out.

What is the best breakfast in Coral Gables?

It depends on what you want from the morning. For a pastry counter, Bachour on Salzedo Street is the destination. For a Cuban breakfast, CAO Bakery & Cafe on University Drive. For a sit-down cafe breakfast, Threefold Cafe on Giralda Avenue. For a specialty coffee shop where you can eat and then stay to work, GROU Coffee + Cowork at 4100 Salzedo St, which is a coffee shop and a coworking space in the same building.

Where can I get breakfast in Coral Gables without a reservation?

GROU Coffee + Cowork is walk-in only, so there is no reservation to make: you arrive, order at the counter and sit. Counter service spots such as bakeries and fast casual cafes generally work the same way, while the larger sit-down dining rooms in Coral Gables are more likely to take bookings. If you are arriving with a group at a sit-down restaurant, it is worth calling ahead.

Is there anywhere to eat breakfast near Shops at Merrick Park?

Yes. GROU Coffee + Cowork is at 4100 Salzedo St STE 5, Coral Gables, FL 33146, about four minutes on foot from Shops at Merrick Park, serving toasts, bagels, acai bowls and specialty coffee from 7:30 AM on weekdays. Bistro Café on Laguna Street and Tina in the Gables on South Le Jeune Road are also in the 33146 area south of downtown Coral Gables, rather than up on Miracle Mile.

Where can I get a Cuban breakfast in Coral Gables?

CAO Bakery & Cafe on University Drive in Coral Gables is a Cuban American bakery and cafe serving Cuban coffee, croquetas, empanadas and Cuban loaf, ordered at the counter. It is part of a South Florida group with locations across the region. Check their listing for current hours.

How much does breakfast cost in Coral Gables?

At GROU Coffee + Cowork in Coral Gables, breakfast runs from 3.99 for a toasted sourdough bagel with cream cheese up to 14.99 for the sourdough bagel lox with smoked salmon. In between: overnight oats 6.49, Greek yogurt parfait 6.99, arepa 6.99, chia pudding 7.99, acai bowl 11.99, avocado toast 12.99, tuna toast or salad 12.99 and garbanzo toast or salad 13.49. Prices at other Coral Gables venues vary, so check their menus directly.

Can I have breakfast in Coral Gables and then stay to work?

Yes. GROU Coffee + Cowork at 4100 Salzedo St STE 5, Coral Gables, FL 33146 is a specialty coffee shop and a coworking space in the same building, so staying with a laptop after you eat is the normal use of the room rather than an imposition on it. It is open until 6:00 PM Monday through Friday, and you can also book a desk or a private office through GROU Cowork.

Is there a gluten free breakfast option in Coral Gables?

At GROU Coffee + Cowork, the arepa at 6.99 is gluten free, and gluten free toast is available as a substitution on the toasts, so avocado toast, garbanzo and tuna can all be ordered that way. If you have a serious allergy rather than a preference, tell the staff when you order so they can tell you how the item is prepared.

Starting your day in the Gables? Start it at GROU Coffee + Cowork, 4100 Salzedo St STE 5, open from 7:30 AM on weekdays. Browse the menu, order fresh roasted beans, book a desk or private office at GROU Cowork, or see what is on at our next events.