A 24-Hour Laundromat Cafe Might Serve Miami's Tastiest Sandwich

In a city full of overhyped spots and $28 cocktails, one of Miami's best bites can actually be found beneath a blue awning just off of U.S. 1 and 27th Avenue near Coconut Grove. Known just as much for its spin cycles as its cafecito, Mary's Cafe and Coin Laundry is a Cuban café and laundromat that secretly makes one of the best pan con bistec sandwiches in all of Miami.

And it's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Here, it’s not just a sandwich — it's a rite of passage. Their pan con bistec sandwich, which translates to "bread with steak," features thinly sliced skirt steak, which is cooked juicy and marinated to perfection. The steak is then layered with sautéed onions, crisp potato sticks (what Cubans call papas fritas), and a generous smear of mayo and ketchup, all tucked into buttery pan Cubano (Cuban bread) and pressed to golden perfection. You can order it with all the fixings, like sliced tomato and shredded lettuce, but I actually prefer it as basic as it comes.

It's the kind of sandwich that makes you question every other version of a pan con bistec you've ever had. And yes, you can get it at 3 a.m. while you wait for your clothes to dry or as you recover from a night out in Grove or at Space in downtown Miami (it's a complete judgment-free zone where folks come as they are, and it's the best).

A Delicious Miami Landmark Since 1982

Mary's has been feeding the Magic City since 1982, when owner Victor Sanchez, a construction worker with an entrepreneurial gut feeling, realized people loved washing their clothes at night. So he added a coffee window. Fast forward a few decades, and that ventanita (order window) now serves some of the city’s most beloved Cuban staples, from crispy croquetas and pastelitos to rich café con leche and batidos so good they should be illegal. But the crown jewel? The pan con bistec.

Mary's is a Miami institution because it reflects who we are. Cops, viejitos, club rats, and insomniac University of Miami students all gather here at every hour of the day. Some are folding laundry, while others are sipping batidos de mamey. Others are at the ventanita ordering their daily cafecito, while others are just posted here to people watch. It's Miami culture at its finest. Oh, and about those batidos (milkshakes). I had the malted one, and my boyfriend had the mamey batido. We're still talking about them.

At Mary’s, it's detergent, cafecito, pan con bistec, and love, 24 hours a day. Where else but Miami? P.S. - The medianoche and Cuban sandwich are also to die for. Tell them New Times sent you.

Mary's Cafe and Coin Laundry. 2542 SW 27th Ave., Miami; 305-443-6672; instagram.com/maryscafemiami.