The former Bistro AIX space at 1440 San Marco Blvd in San Marco has reopened as a dual-concept venue: Cafe San Marco by day and Bar San Marco at night. Owners Daimi Morales and David Revuelta have transformed the 10,703-square-foot space into a breakfast-and-lunch café, a pizza operation, and an evening tapas bar. The menu features Cuban dishes during the day and Spanish offerings in the evening, providing a full-day dining option for the neighborhood.
Menus, hours and how to order
The morning crowd gets first dibs. Breakfast and grab-and-go offerings start at 6 a.m., followed by a full breakfast menu from 8 to 11 a.m. Lunch runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and pizza is available for pickup and delivery until about 10 p.m. Next door, Bar San Marco clicks on in the evenings from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with a Spanish-influenced tapas lineup and a sizeable leftover wine selection.
On the food side, menu items include a Cuban starter sandwich, avocado toast, omelets, serrano ham croquettes, Galician-style octopus and desserts like tarta vasca and Cuban flan, per Cafe San Marco's website.
Who’s behind it and what it cost
Morales and Revuelta say the concept grew out of Morales’s memories of small Cuban cafés, the kind of neighborhood spots that keep regulars fed from breakfast through late night. Revuelta, who works full time in information security, helped oversee the buildout.
The pair reworked the 10,703-square-foot dining room, kept much of the existing kitchen equipment, and invested in a new refrigerator, tile floors and a $13,000 coffee maker. They estimate startup costs at around $60,000. Building owner William Cesery handled the buildout, and the restaurant opened with a staff of about five that is expected to grow to roughly 15, according to Jax Daily Record.
San Marco’s changing dining room
The address comes with a lot of culinary history. Bistro AIX held the space for decades before more recent operators cycled through. Online listings now mark Bistro AIX as closed, a reminder of how much turnover the block has seen. MapQuest lists the old Bistro AIX entry as “Permanently closed,” underscoring that the property has gone through several reinventions in recent years.
Neighborhood fit and what's next
With a full kitchen that continues service through the afternoon and into the evening for pizza, the owners say they expect to ramp up staffing and settle into San Marco’s mix of classic and newer restaurants. The setup is aimed at daytime workers and nearby hospital staff, and the restaurant will take delivery orders through apps and its Toast point-of-sale system, per Cafe San Marco's website.
For now Morales and Revuelta are keeping the focus on consistent service and letting San Marco decide whether the Cuban-by-day, Spanish-by-night formula becomes the neighborhood’s next long-term fixture.
