Café Surfinista helps locals step back in time and enjoy the simplicity of the surf lifestyle.
To many locals and passersby, Surfinista stands out as a Space Coast staple. As soon as you walk into the café, it is apparent that Café Surfinista is as much an art display and tribute to Florida’s history as it is a restaurant. You will find yourself wandering through room after room, each different from the last. One room is filled with sunlight, another dim and intimate, but all are alike in that they contain surf memorabilia and speak to Kelly Slater’s incredible career.
“Surfinista feels like home for me,” shares local lifestyle writer, Abby McHenry. “It is the first place I want to go when I come home from college.”
Many of the items on the menu take on the name of infamous surf spots, including my go-to order, The Frisco gourmet bagel. You choose the bagel (I always choose the everything), which is then topped with cream cheese, spinach leaves, avocado slices, tomato and sprinkled with a cracked pepper seasoning.
Of course, Surfinista’s acai bowls tend to take the spotlight. These large smoothie bowls are topped with granola, fresh fruit, and depending on the bowl, finished with coconut, honey or bee pollen. A couple years ago, acai arose to be one of the most popular health superfoods. Full of antioxidants with a universal taste that can be paired with any other fruit, Surfinista led the charge in making these bowls both delicious and picturesque.
Each of the breakfast or lunch items pair well with Surfinista’s coffee selection. More often than not, I pair my bagel with a hot caramel latte. The Sumatra blend is my recommended blend, and for those who prefer to avoid dairy, milk alternatives are offered too, including a rare find, mocha hemp milk.
Café Surfinista also offers its own gift shop. Surf boards, logo T-shirts and tanks, coffee mugs and other miscellaneous merchandise are available for purchase. And, in the corner of the surf shop, 10 mini retro televisions sit stacked upon one another, all playing surf videos. You can hear the hum of the static when you get close. The nostalgia is real.
Cocoa Beach is famous for its simplistic surf lifestyle, and it is apparent that this popular imagery so often associated with the area was the inspiration behind Café Surfinista. You can enjoy fresh foods as classics from The Beatles and The Mamas and The Papas play overhead and be reminded of a simpler time.
You can find Surfinista at 86 N Orlando Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931.
(321) 613-3864
Facebook: The Surfinista
Instagram: @cafesurfinista
