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Van Dyke Café
846 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 534-3600
News Café visionary Mark Soyka hit
the scene eight years ago with another News Café concept called the Van Dyke, thus
triggering
Lincoln Road’s transformation from a cultural wasteland into the beach’s booming
vortex. Until that time, there really was no town to speak of in South Beach.
Locals and tourists looked to Ocean Drive for restaurants, with a couple good ones popping
up on Washington and Collins on occasion.
With his ingenious factory food formula, Soyka
plugged in the same menu (or close to it) as the News Café, but this time he decked the
place out in a Paris-brasserie-meets-San Francisco-yuppie-hangout sorta style. Everything
under the sun appears on the extensive menu, but not everything is great. Breakfasts are
primo. Burgers too. Sandwiches and salads are fair. Desserts are kickin’, but
mingling with the eclectic crowd and cocktailing in the upstairs jazz lounge are the Van
Dyke’s greatest appeals of all.
Insider Tip:
"Upstairs at the Van Dyke" features live Jazz performances every night of
the week with sets at 9, 10.30 and midnight. For a nominal cover charge,
enjoy the full menu and full bar from the cafe below plus some of the
world's top musicians performing live, straight-ahead jazz til 2am.
Have you tried
Van Dyke Cafe?
Review it
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2-Poor |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
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3-Fair |
Review: We
went to see a fabulous jazz performer at the Van Dyke - Nicole Henry.
We got there early, ordered wine and dessert. Both were good. Kicked
back to listen to the show. After the first set, the waitress came over
to our table and told us to vacate it because we hadn't ordered more.
She ruined what would have been a wonderful evening. Imagine - getting
kicked out because we didn't spend enough money! |
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Review: The
Van Dyke is not what it use to be. They took away the performance stage
and now the performers play on floor level, it takes away from the
visual enjoynment. The management encourages the patrons to converse
during a performance, how disrespectful can you get?
The management and staff were rude
unresponsive and very unprofessional. I heard them laughing and chatting
amongst themselves as the artists were performing, how degrading to the
artist.
The staff has that typical stuck up,
low minded South Beach attitude (No tip for them) Though there are good
musicians playing there, the actual establishment provides a very poor
artist presentation. The food was overpriced, awful and tasteless. The
"Upstairs" at the Van Dyke is a phony NYC wannabe Music Club and it
fails miserably as an original music venue the new ownership should hang
their heads in shame. Whatever happened to the "Stephen Talkhouse" or
"Sandovals" now those were real music clubs. |
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Timothy Harris from Newport
News Virginia |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: This
was our first time in South Beach, it was the best vacation ever. We
will return. We could not believe how good the service and food at Van
Dykes was. Please keep up the great work. |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
Review: My
husband loved the hamburger. My salad was great. Another chill out
restaurant to hang out and chill on a Sat or Sun afternoon. Love it. |
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2-Poor |
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5-Excellent |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
Review: While
I go there often, I must admit that the service is very mediocre. The
staff has way too much attitude and could not care less. Pretty typical
for South Beach. |
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Ryan from Coconut Grove, FL |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: The
best restaurant experience I've ever had, hands down. Last night me and
the woman decided to go down to south beach and we randomly chose Van
Dykes because of the beautiful atmosphere. We sat at the bar downstairs
and talked to the friendly bartender then had a few drinks. We asked
what was upstairs and he told us there was live music, and once we got
up there we never wanted to leave. |
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4-Good |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: Amazing.
The desserts are excellent. I had pasta late one night on the second
floor while listening to Jazz. Absolutely wonderful. |
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MStewart from Bedford, NY |
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4-Good |
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4-Good |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: The
truth of the matter is, I luff this place. I could eat here every day
when in Miami. |
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South Beach Magazine Reader from
California |
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1-Bad |
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3-Fair |
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3-Fair |
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2-Poor |
Review: We
were there on the night of 9-30-06. The waitress never checked back
with us. The drinks -including water- were never refilled. The entrees
were barely warm and 1 of the fish entrees tasted like it was made with
old fish. This entree was returned minus one bite, but they refused to
remove the charge. We were there for over 2 hours and finally gave up
on asking for a dessert menu as well.
The tab said you could leave more or
less than the tip that was already added, so we left less than the full
tip and were literally chased down the street by the waitress. NO, we
weren't drunk or obnoxious...just extremely disappointed and ripped off. |
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Steven from London, England |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: A
warm and inviting atmosphere, well worth visiting. Friendly staff and
very reasonably priced food. Whether sitting outside or in, this is a
fantastic place to sit, eat have a couple of drinks and soak up the
atmosphere. I would definitely come back if I\'m going to be in Miami
again |
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5-Excellent |
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4-Good |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: My
girlfriends and I go to Van Dyke for Brunch every Sunday afternoon -
breakfast is absolutely the best. I always stick to the baked Brie with
fruits but their Waffles are OUT OF THIS WORLD. |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: This
is a very lovely place, quite sophisticated but not intimidating. I went
for lunch and it was almost full. The food was great and service was
excellent as well. Do expect to wait for table, especially outdoors. But
it's worth it, really. |
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Brittney from
Rochester, NY |
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4-Good |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: I
have been to VanDyke Cafe on several occasions and absolutely love it
there. Not only is the food great but the atmosphere is outstanding. A
definite must when in the Miami area. |
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4-Good |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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4-Good |
Review: This
place is great for a romantic dinner or just to go solo and listen to
jazz upstairs and have a couple of cocktails,
a must for tourist and a great place for locals looking for something
different. The desserts are amazing I recommend the Crème
Brulee on a
Sunday night when you can listen to
Brazilian Jazz. |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
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5-Excellent |
Review: After
doing a little shopping on Lincoln Road my boyfriend and I stopped in to
the Van Dyke for a bite to eat. The inside restaurant is absolutely
beautiful with dark-wood finishings and red awnings covering the outside
tables. It has a very homey New York feeling to it. We both had fish and
it was - to my surprise - cheap! The portions are a good size (filling,
but not super-sized) and our waiter was good.
I always judge a restaurant on how clean the restrooms are and the Van
Dyke passed with flying colors! We also learned that there is an
upstairs bar with live jazz on certain nights of the
week. |
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1-Bad |
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4-Good |
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2-Poor |
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2-Poor |
Review: On
a recent long weekend trip, I ate at Van Dyke's with a friend. Terrible
service, basic-basic food for such an international city. Can't
understand what all the hype is about. Maybe the automatic 15% tip to
any bill sets up every customer for a bad experience. The only positive
that I can say is the large patio service. |
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