Sadelle's Coconut Grove — Restaurant in Miami

Beyond their role as vehement restaurateurs, Major Food Group (MFG) are somewhat of trendsetting disruptors. The creative force behind Carbone and HaSalon—to name a few—turned simple vodka-sauce pasta into a buzzy food trend and made stalking a reservation system totally normal. Oh, and membership dining? They’ve made that a thing, too.

The all-day breakfast seems like a natural next step, and let us be one of the many to emphatically say they’ve nailed it. Sadelle’s, Coconut Grove’s new outpost of the popular New York City restaurant, is a breezy, pastel-colored space where folks unapologetically tuck into Pancake Stacks, Bagel Towers and heaps of French Toast at all hours. (Which, in Sadelle’s case, is breakfast, lunch and early dinner.)

Parts of the menu read like a list of Jewish deli classics—with a MFG twist, of course. There are several large salads (we tried the Waldorf and the Freddy, both tasty and fresh if not slightly similar), regular sandwiches and triple-deckers where you pick two types of meat and pray your heart doesn’t give out going to town on the massive sandwich. But breakfast is why you’re here.

Ease in with an order of the Crispy Latkes—small and fried just right, they’re made all the better by the optional caviar topping. The Pigs in a Blanket are like the black-tie version of the pedestrian cocktail party snack. Do not sleep on these. Veal Dumplings are tasty but we’d save room for the aforementioned tower—the most arresting brunch platter you’ve ever laid eyes on.

It’s not only one of Sadelle’s signature items but also highly Instagrammable. At $125, sure, the Bagel Tower is expensive, yet it’s a steal if you consider all that goes into it: beautifully arranged cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and capers; slices of various smoked fish; whitefish salad; salmon salad; cream cheese; and, alongside it, a stack of perfectly toasted bagels. While Sadelle’s hails from New York, these bagels are smaller in size and crunchy, similar to what you’d find in Montreal. Once you’ve taken all your pictures (of which you’ll snap many, we’re sure), it’s on to assembling. We suggest ordering extra bagels to really make use of all of the toppings at your disposal.

Dessert can only go one way here: Pancakes and French Toast. We wouldn’t suggest ordering them as an entrée, rather get the table involved and go for a sweet send-off.

The French Toast is perfectly underdone in the center making for a gooey, custardy middle with crisp, toasted edges. While the Blueberry Pancakes are sweet and tangy with lots of fresh berries.

Breakfast Cocktails are standard—think your usual Mimosas, Screwdrivers, Bellinis, and an Espresso Martini—but the Bloody Marys offer a choose-your-own-adventure type of experience with three types of flavored vodka: olive, horseradish, and black pepper. Vodkas can also be ordered as frozen shots, if you dare. Perhaps the most unique drink was the Spicy Matcha Margarita with jalapeño and matcha powder mixed in. It’s the kind of upper you need to stick around and enjoy breakfast at Sadelle’s for as...

Love the NYC location.

This one needs a lot more TLC — especially on the staff training front.

Highlights of my experience:

When we arrived, the other members of our party had already arrived but instead of being directed to the bar where they were, the host told us to go into the coffee shop. It was empty.

-When we were shown out to the table, the surface was still greasy and not cleaned properly.

-Their speciality burger patty was overcooked and overall dry. Salad and latkes were good though.

Waitress forgot my husband’s glass of wine twice.

-Waters needed to be refilled about three times throughout the meal and only upon request. Servers could not keep track of filtered tap versus bottled water. (Bottled water also showed up to our table without anyone ordering it.)

-I made the mistake of bringing a cake for a birthday and the cake slicing fee was $45. The cake itself was $30 from Whole Foods. I asked the manager if we could drop it to $30 and he disappeared into the back saying “let me check” but came back and said “sorry, nothing I can do.”

-When the waitress brought out our cake she brought it out with candles already in it, but not lit. This was the biggest disappointment because it took away from the whole “surprise”.

She was not trained properly — it’s supposed to be lit in the kitchen and brought out so the happy birthday song could be sung immediately the moment the birthday person saw the cake. Instead we stared at it awkwardly for 3 minutes while she fiddled with the lighter.

She also left once we began singing the song. Afterwards we were not sure what to do with the cake there since she also didn’t bring out a knife or plates. (Well trained staff hang around to help take pictures and then whisk the cake away to the back immediately for slicing and serving.)

When she finally came back she asked honestly if we wanted them to slice it. I was a bit taken aback because we didn’t have an alternative. I was being charged $45 for me to possibly cut my own cake and needing to request the tools to do so…?

-We needed to ask for cutlery twice (once for the bagel towers and again for entrees.)

-Overall slow service and we ended up being the last ones in the restaurant around 5 pm.

Music was turned off but we also couldn’t close out because nobody came to the table. We felt forgotten.

When we asked for waters at the end there weren’t enough for everyone. They brought out enough for half.

We spent over $100 per person here and expected more. A lot of the clientele didn’t seem to speak English so I feel staff don’t have to stay...

I recently visited Sadelle’s for breakfast, drawn by its prime location in the heart of Coconut Grove and its tranquil atmosphere. The setting is undeniably beautiful—lush greenery, a peaceful ambiance, and thankfully, no blaring music. However, my experience with the restaurant’s service left much to be desired.

Upon arrival, the hostess guided me to a table but failed to notice a major obstacle—a large dog, possibly an Irish Setter mix, lying directly in the path of my chair. The only way for me to reach my seat would have been to step over the dog, which was not only impractical but also posed a safety risk. If I had tripped or startled the dog, it could have ended very badly.

I found it baffling that the hostess expected me to either straddle over the dog or ask the owner to move it myself. It should have been her responsibility to handle the situation appropriately, either by requesting that the owner keep the dog positioned at their own table or by immediately offering me another seat. Instead, I had to request they find another table which the hostess seemed to be upset at. But I could not get to the chair!

When I raised my concern with the General Manager, Janice Lopez, I was met with an even more frustrating response. She seemed irritated by my question and instead of handling the matter discreetly, she spoke so loudly and boisterously that the entire restaurant became aware of the issue. The irony was not lost on me—she claimed she didn’t want to inconvenience the dog owner by asking him to move the dog, yet she had no issue making me feel uncomfortable as a customer. Meanwhile, the original table remained unusable because the dog continued to block access.

Overall, this experience left a very bad impression. Sadelle’s used to have better-trained staff who understood the importance of ensuring a safe and pleasant dining experience for all customers. Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be the case. I doubt I’ll be returning.

Food: We were served coffee without any creamer. The coffee was over boiled and tasted burned. Two cups of coffee were placed on our table and when we mentioned we only ordered one coffee, the waitress realized she had placed the next table's coffee on our table. She picked it up and placed it on the next table. I've never seen consumables switched from tables after a misplacement. This made me wonder if the rest of the meal would be safe to eat.

There was no salt or pepper on the tables and no ice in the water.

Beautiful setting, but poor service and management choices ruin...