Cafe Curuba

Phenom! Stop looking and go. Get the iced coffee with sweet milk and Naomi cookie. Parking lot right there.

Most creative and delicious breakfast I had in years. The chilled oats were like having dessert and the egg pastries were excellent and superbly unique. Next breakfast meeting, I am buying egg tarts instead of the usual muffins and doughnuts that most people buy. The coffee here was awesome; thanks to the ambiance, presentation and freshness of the coffee. Before I left, I purchased three more egg tarts for my family to try and other items. That’s how commendable they are.

tl;dr AMAZING, quaint coffee shop. I would recommend this to anyone in the area :)
— Drink: Roman Holiday ⁹⁄₁₀ (sweeter), Iced Marcado with Sweet (Condensed) Milk ⁸⁄₁₀
— Pastry: Pan de Bono with Guava ⁹⁄₁₀
I want to preface my review by saying 2 things:
1) I am not a true coffee drinker. I enjoy coffee and coffee shops, but I definitely prefer my drinks to be sweeter. I like to drink my coffee with cream, sugar and/​or syrup with hints of coffee flavor in there.
2) I do not give 5 star ratings unless I have been to a place twice and have loved it both times. I have only visited this place once so far so I will update this place upon return.
Review:
Pan de Bono with Guava: DELICIOUS! I would definitely get this again. It is served warm with a crunchy shell and chewy inside (kind of like mochi but softer and with a creamier taste). The barista described it as a type of cheese bread. Inside, it has a guava filling that was a perfect hint of sweet and fruity to go with the bready shell.
Iced Marcado with Sweet (Condensed) Milk: I would rate the coffee flavor as moderate and the sweetness level as low-​moderate. It has a strong coffee taste which I can definitely see ppl enjoying. I personally prefer things to be a little sweeter.
Roman Holiday: YASSSS (my first impress upon taste). Coffee, half & half, lemon, brown sugar, and ice mixed in a shaker (I might be missing some ingredients here). This provided a nice sweet & creamy profile to the espresso with hints of lemon shavings. I am definitely getting this the next time I return!
Service: Awesome! :) The baristas were all very nice and accommodating.
Atmosphere: Great place to catch up with friends over coffee or just relax. Might be a bit cramped if you want to study or do work. Free wifi is available and fast. No outlets.

Yes actually 5 stars, even in comparison to better spots in Miami. Really friendly service instead of the effete barista insouciance one too often finds alongside high end espresso. Excellent coffee comparable to the better espresso bars anywhere in the US. A

Came here several times after lunch. I have ordered the latte, their ‘cold brew’ and most recently, the Milo shake with shot of espresso. I must say, it’s probably the best milk shake I have ever drank, I think it’s that good! Perfectly rich and creamy and the espresso shot gives that perfect kick your looking for. Please also try their chocolate coconut cookie. This is a great little café for relaxation and I will definitely continue to come back.

Café Curuba singlehandedly transformed my vacation to Miami. I had arrived in town the night before, and had felt a little lost… and Curuba became my new home for the next week. It’s a beautiful, sleek, peaceful setting, sort of zen, with fresh flowers. I ordered everything on the menu:
Freshly baked granola straight from the oven, a fascinating egg salad roll with unusual spices, two different guava rolls, I can’t remember it all.
AND, most importantly, the coffee was so fresh and memorable. I sat for long periods or took it in the car.

Went to this location randomly on a weekday afternoon. The customer service you get when you come inside really makes you feel welcome. I hope that they keep this up as they keep growing.
The coffee was really good and they have a nice, vast selection of products. Not just coffee though. They have food to eat, pretty fresh looking even though I did not try. Will definitely be coming back here. I love the little coffee shops.

Great coffee and café brewing Counter Culture beans.
Too tired to actually muster from my mouth anything other than the words «coffee please» to the kind lady taking orders at the counter, I ended up with just a regular Ready To Go drip coffee that still tasted great and didn’t require any buffers. Ah, I wish the kind cashier had suggested the clever option after serving my order– but my bad for not reading the coffee menu hung high on the wall behind her (my cervical vertebrae refuse to work after a long night out).
There is a good hot food selection and the egg puff pastry square thingie is delicious. As I people watch here and see orders delivered to the neighboring tables, I will try the avocado toast next visit and the clever method which nice counter lady describes as a mash up of pour over and French press… interesting.
It’s a charming café, small– but open and bright. Three tables line a window wall and counters flank the solid side walls; Hitchcock and Woody Allen movie posters are a nice touch.

Delicious breakfast!
We were late and they were closing at 6 min. But the costumer service was still pleasant and amazing!
Will definitely come back here, but next time earlier:)

Debbie, owner of Café Curuba, is easy to speak with and shows a genuine interest in her customers. I think this is the first and foremost thing she has done to establish her authenticity and develop a solid following. Originally from Colombia, I learned a few things about her home country before participating in the Medellin Marathon with Nicole last September. But even if you don’t get to meet Debbie, you can feel her passion in the atmosphere that she created in this intimate little space of a coffee shop where everyone is a neighbor to you.
Come here to meet locals and enjoy one of the in-​house made sandwiches or pastries she carries. I personally recommend the lemon polenta pound cake, breakfast egg sandwich or her BLT, not to mention she or any of her hand picked staff can brew up a very fine caliber coffee for you.
This is definitely one of Coral Gable’s little Gems and should be on your list to try.

Found this cute little place as I searched for guava pastries while visiting Miami.
They have all sort of delicious breakfast items to choose from.
The coffee… YUM! Great place to start your day. The ladies have wonderful happy energy!
Thank you Café Cruba!

Had a great experience here today. Small, comfortable spot with very friendly staff/​owner. Although not the best latte in the world, it was still good and I’d go back. Also tried the spinach soufflé and the banana blondie. Both excellent and the soufflé was pretty big so that was good. My total was $ 14.
Overall

Awesome little cute place love it !! The latte is awesome and yummy !! The owner is super sweet and I adored her she was super attentive to us .
Totally recommend coming here. Love it!!!

The owner is awesome. She’s so sweet and welcoming! The café is small yet cozy. Great customer service is big, and from the get go she gave us outstanding service. I ordered the latte, it was very delicious and I loved the little designs. Also, we had the lemon polenta cake, it literally melts in your mouth. You have to have a slice! The icing was truly the service, and if you’re an avid worker and in need of Internet the wifi is free.
Continue to support small business like this, this truly is a diamond in the ruff!

This is a fabulous little café just a couple blocks off of Miracle Mile in the heart of Coral Gables and just steps from Ponce de Leon Blvd. If you’re not paying attention you’ll walk right by it!
Great staff… great energy… great vibe… and of course fabulous coffee! I like scheduling my Coral Gables-​based meetings here so I can experience their cappuccino.
I used to do Starbucks on Ponce and Miracle very often, but it’s a total nightmare to find parking. At Café Caruba though… parking is plentiful at any time of day! Stop by and stay for a latter or a cappuccino. I have no doubt you’ll enjoy it!
Been visiting regularly since early 2015

I just loved this place. It’s a small hidden gem in the corner of a very unknown street… the last place where I expected to find a nice coffee place. It’s really small, maybe just 10 seats in total plus some benches, and they don´t have a large menu to choose from, but the coffee was super good, tasty, full of aroma, rich and lovely made. I was impressed by the Americano, much more tasty than other versions I have tried around, and their «marcado», an espresso with a spot of steamed milk. The staff was lovely, all of them, smiling and very kind. We chose some pastries, which seems to be made in the place, and they were so good too! Don‘t miss their Polenta lemon cake, my husband also loved the banana blondie. Prices are not so cheap but fair for what you are eating, we payed $ 13 por the 2 coffes and the 2 sweets.
A very good coffee spot for breakfast or afternoon if you love a good coffee in a local atmosphere!

Review #700. I try to save these «milestone» reviews for businesses that are exceptional and/​or near and dear to me. Café Curuba qualifies on both counts.
Many of my loyal readers will know that I rarely write much about «service» in my reviews, unless said service is either exceptional, or godawful. Well, if there was a customer service award for the Miami area, Curuba would win it. Debbie, the owner, just gets it. She has such an intuitive grasp on the customer service aspect of running a small business — it’s not something that can be taught in a school of hospitality management. She has an innate ability to remember her customers, and really goes out of her way to treat them as honored guests. Also, there is no adversarial relationship with Unilocal or other social media — in fact, she expertly uses it as a tool to promote the business and respond to any customer complaints that may arise (though, as a brief sampling of reviews can attest… there aren’t many of these).
As for the coffee, most of the coffees on offer are high-​quality beans from Counter Culture or Panther. Ask the helpful baristas for guidance. I usually go for the pre-​prepared drip coffee or cold brew, as sometimes I am impatient… but they have the tools and skill to do a pour-​over preparation of their more-​complex coffees. It is a «real» coffee lover’s coffee shop, not the kind of place where women in puffy vests and furry boots walk in asking for caramel mocha Frappuccinos with whipped cream.
In all honesty, I may be even more impressed by the baked goods here than the coffee, which is saying something as I am not typically a baked-​goods guy. The garbage found in the pastry cases of most coffee shops is usually way too sweet and cloying, too bready, too lowest-​common-​denominator-​palate all around. Not here. There are two items here in particular I am obsessed with. First and foremost is the lemon polenta cake. it’s made with corn meal, is lush and moist, and is topped with almond slivers. It carries an amazing lemon flavor, and pairs extraordinarily well with the coffee. Two, is the now-​famous Guava Pandebono. A pandebono is a little nugget of goodness made with corn flour and cassava. Plain, they have a pleasing slightly chewy character about them. At Curuba, they get stuffed with guava. This elevates the humble pandebono to something transcendental, and dare I say it, life-​changing. And, on Thursdays, call ahead, and you can get a dozen of these for $ 14. Trust me, do it.
Here’s to Curuba keeping me caffeinated, and in lemon polenta cake for years to come!

Café Curuba
LOCATION
Coral Gables, on Ponce De Leon, south of Coral Way.
AMBIANCE
Small and simple, but clean and you can tell there’s good care for this place. Wish we had these little spots in Palm Beach County as well.
SERVICE
We had breakfast at the small counter; the girl serving us was nice, attentive and fun. We had a good chat and good service.
FOOD
Good and strong coffee. We had the manchego and chorizo sandwich (one is enough to share), a tasty way to start the day. Forget Panera, it’s small places like these that make the difference.
VALUE
Very good value, low prices, good quality, a genuine and nice atmosphere. You won’t have a huge menu, but you won’t need it. Try also their guava and cheese pastry.
Final comment
I am very glad and found and tried this small place. It’s really places like these that I like the most. I wouldn’t change this for a Panera or Starbuck, ever.
Prices are on the low end, the quality is good, and really there is nothing to complain here. I will surely stop by again.

So delicious — incredible coffee, awesome overnight oats, and a helpful staff (who pointed me in the direction of the overnight oats when I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood to order).
The staff had great interactions with the customers, the coffee was fresh and so good that I’m kicking myself for not asking if they sold their beans by the pound to bring home.
I wish I had found Café Curuba sooner, as this would have replaced morning Starbucks visits during my business trip.

I have found myself coming here a lot lately and it’s an awesome little coffee shop. The owner is so awesome. All the coffees, teas, and treats are great. And I’ve tasted quite a variety of everything.
One morning I had an egg sandwich and the other afternoon I had this amazing cookie they have! I’ve also tried their cold brew coffee, a coffee from Kenya, one from Nairobi, and even their vanilla latte. I’ve never had a bad coffee here or one that wasn’t as good as another.
I highly recommend this place. Bring your laptop or bring a friend. It’s a great vibe for any time of they day and it’s always so brightly lit!

Tremendo café… Tremendo desayuno.
El yogurt griego con higo estuvo delicioso. Las galletas de chocolate con coco se veian espectaculares.
Will be back frequently!