From Miami to 10th Street: The Story of Guajiros 

As a whole, Charlottesville is not a town lacking in brunch spots, with the options all seeming to blend together. But few can match the appeal of Guajiros Miami Eatery in terms of dish quality and atmosphere. Located at 114 10th St. NW, Guajiros offers a variety of family recipes, blending influences from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Miami into their dishes.

The restaurant is a family owned business run by three brothers, Harvey Jr., Nilo, and Sebas, and their parents, Harvey Sr. and Jacqueline. As explained on their website, the family moved from Miami to Charlottesville in 2017, and established their first location at Woodbrook Shopping Center off of 29 North in 2019. Since its inception, interest in the Miami eatery has only grown, and its location has come to reflect that. As popularity grew, the restaurant needed to expand and moved from 29 North to its second location on W. Main Street, transitioning from a small counter service café into a sit-down brunch staple. Interest in the establishment refused to slow, and they eventually needed to expand again to their current location on 10th Street. Since moving to 10th Street, the family business has been able to expand its daytime service hours and even launch its dinner concept, Guajiros After Dark, on Wednesdays through Fridays after 3 p.m.

Guajiros brunch service spans from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and offers everything necessary to get the day started. Examples include their café con leche (small $4.50, large $5.50), an espresso-based, Cuban-style coffee with caramelized sugar and steamed milk, or the El Cubano ($14), a classic Cuban sandwich with sliced ham, their house pork roast, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, and mustard. For brunch goers who wake up with a sweet tooth, Guajiros is not lacking in options, like my personal recommendation, the bread pudding ($8), with the option of adding a scoop of rotating Sugar Bear ice cream flavors. An honorary mention must go to Mama Guajiro’s cake ($6), an assortment of closely guarded family recipes that rotate regularly, with the version I was given being the orange cake. Moist, aromatic, and with a hint of citrus, the orange cake was the perfect addition to the morning routine, which felt like a car battery jumpstart to the day.

So for those who are tired of the run-of-the-mill Sunday brunch options, Guajiros offers a unique taste reminiscent of its Central American and Miami origins that is sure to make you want to come back the next Sunday, and the one after that.