About Us

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. In the wee hours of the morning, clubgoers would visit to cap off a night of revelry. The café has survived several hurricanes, not to mention changes in Ocean Drive’s tastes and culture. Sadly in January 2021, News Cafe closed its doors for the last time……..or so they thought.

Now, the restaurant is reopening at its original spot on the ground floor of the newly renamed Tony Hotel South Beach. The hotel, formerly known as the Hotel of South Beach, was given an upgrade and a new name. Goldman Properties purchased the News Cafe brand from Mark Soyka. Operated by V&E Restaurant Group, the restaurateurs behind Havana 1957, Cafe Americano, Paperfish Sushi, and others, the new News Cafe will stay as close to the original version as possible.