The typical small, low maintenance window crowded with loud Hispanics gossiping while waiting for their cortadito and two croquetas in majority shopping plazas throughout south Florida is not as common elsewhere as you might think.
These Cuban-inspired ventanitas could never be spotted at any other American province, despite their renown with every “Miamian.” Imagine a life deprived of the quickly made Cuban coffees and tequenos sided with exclusive town chisme. Welcome to the rest of the United States.
The creator of this establishment was a Cuban immigrant himself, much like many of the today’s Miami residents.
“Cuban businessman Felipe Valls arrived in Miami and began selling restaurant equipment which led him to open a coffee stand known today as the famous ‘ventanita’,” according to www.cbs.news.
Since the 1960’s, the cafecitos and guava pastelitos served through the small window have been apart of Miami culture, making it a staple for every Latino living on the southeast coast.
It’s this tendency to gather with a group of friends, classmates, family or co-workers which encourages conversation and separates the shop from any of usual American franchises, like Starbucks. Speaking of Starbucks, this behemoth glommed on to the craze opening its Coral Gables venue right on Miracle Mile featuring, you guessed it, the ubiquitous ventanita.
If you’re prone to fits of white-hot internet rage, especially about cultural appropriation, this seems like a fine time to close your laptop, brew some tea and ponder a Buddhist koan to clear your mind wrote Carlos Frias for The Miami Herald in 2019, reacting to Starbuck’s incorporation of this Cuban element. https:
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/restaurants/article225795880.html#storylink=cpy
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While the Starbucks experience can be stale and homogenized, ventanitas provide a sense of community
— Mandy Baca
Los abuelos seen animatedly talking and sitting in the metal black chairs sipping their coffee aren’t just engaging in the latest town scoop, they are the very people fostering community.
By transmitting this essential ritual brought over from their homeland and incorporating alongside conventional American traditions, like fast food outlets, the ventanitas have been met with great success. Today, there are over a 1,000 sprinkled across Miami-Dade County.
“We (US Hispanics) have evolved the conversation and are still holding our traditions and heritage close- but with a twist,” said Latin-American, Jenny Molina.
Next time you drive pass a ventanita, be grateful for those viejitas heard across the street, sweetly sipping their cortadito, because you won’t find them anywhere else on Earth.
