This Palmetto restaurant brings ‘funky, nostalgic, bright’ vibes. Take a look
Eleven smiley faces fit on the Palmetto cafe’s sign.
“The smiley face is iconic and just a symbol you can kind of put anywhere on any poster that we do and very eye-catching,” Megan Harkinson said. “... Everyone remembers the smiley face. So we thought if we named the cafe that, people (would) unintentionally remember, ‘Yeah, that’s the smiley face place.’”
The Smiley Face Cafe opened in September at 923 10th St. E. in Palmetto.
Harkinson, the owner-operator, serves a menu featuring breakfast sandwiches, toasts, lunch sandwiches, bowls, smoothies, coffees and more.
Smiley Face Cafe opens in Palmetto
One signature item is the Smiley Face Sando, which is a bacon, egg and American cheese sandwich on a Martin’s potato roll.
“That was the OG sandwich here and it’s really popular,” Harkinson said.
Other popular menu items include avocado toast, ham and cheese croissant and a Japanese breakfast.
“People are always asking about (the Japanese breakfast),” she said. “And I love the ones that take a chance and get it.”
The Japanese breakfast consists of rice, butter, soy sauce, kimchi, jammy egg, miso soup and smoked salmon, said Harkinson, who previously worked for a Japanese chef during her culinary career in Austin, Texas.
The Lone Star State capital is a popular foodie spot. Harkinson and husband Nick, who helps at the cafe on the weekends, were inundated with coffee shops during their time in Austin.
“We just kind of missed the food and coffee culture that was over there, and we thought Palmetto needed an alternative coffee shop that’s just a little bit different.”
Restaurant offers coffee, meals and more
Harkinson said they make chocolate chip cookies, croissants, syrups, whipped cream and cold foams in-house, while sourcing ingredients and items from Dakin Dairy, Jersey Girl Bagels and St. Petersburg coffee roaster Look Alive.
Inside the roughly 1,200-square-foot Smiley Face Cafe, cassette tape cases are arranged in the shelving in front of the cafe’s counter, upbeat music plays in the background and a kid’s area is in the front.
“The vibe is just funky, nostalgic, colorful, bright,” Harkinson said. “We intentionally put the little kids corner, because we have small kids and we know how important it is for them to be entertained. So when a parent comes in, they can get a cup of coffee and their kid can play, and they can sit on the couch, relax and not have to clean up a toy mess.”
For beverages, all the espresso drinks have been popular since the September opening, Harkinson said. Other popular drinks include the honey lavender latte, maple vanilla latte, cold brew and a cortado that is equal parts espresso and milk.
“I do a Cereal Killer cold brew, where it’s cold brew, cereal, milk, cold foam and Cinnamon Toast Crunch on top,” Harkinson said.
Menu items cost less than $10 as a base price, with housemade cold foam, whipped cream and syrups costing anywhere between $0.50 and $1 per addition to drink orders.
Alternative milks such as oat, soy and almond are also available.
“This is a one-woman show,” said Nick Harkinson, who is from Manatee County. “I have a whole other job … and I support her on the weekends. … Our busiest days of Saturday, Sunday, and I’m here doing the food and she’s doing the drinks. But she wrote the menu.”
Hours of operation
Smiley Face Cafe is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays. It’s open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays and closed on Tuesdays. Delivery and online orders are available through the Toast.
For more information, visit www.SmileyFaceCafe.org.
