NEWS CAFE

In its heyday, News Cafe brought a taste of European café culture to South Beach. Then a relative Miami Beach newcomer, Mark Soyka opened the café and newsstand in 1988 on what was then a sleepy oceanfront boulevard. (Soyka had moved down from New York with his friend, real estate developer Tony Goldman, of Goldman Properties.) Within a year, it was a magnet for locals and tourists alike. Expatriates from other countries would stop in daily to purchase a newspaper from their home country at the newsstand and stay to read it over breakfast. The most famous of these daily patrons was fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was known to walk to the café each morning from his Ocean Drive mansion. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, News Cafe was as constant as the ocean across the boulevard. And like the tides, the café changed its scene multiple times a day. In the early morning, locals would stop in for a coffee. Afternoons saw sunburnt tourists seeking a cold drink after a beach day...

Also known as: News Cafe Restaurant

Primary location: Miami Beach United States