The last time Creative Loafingspoke with Community Cafe founder Mandy Keyes, the project was still in search of the "perfect location." A few months ago they found it inside the former Mayster's Cafe at 2444 Central Avenue.
"It took us a little while to get there but this place is perfect for us," Mandy Keyes said Monday.
The cafe has a full kitchen, and Keyes says the menu is filled with vegan and vegetarian options (she recommends the trio of dips or the Wisconsin beer cheese soup). Community Cafe celebrated its grand opening Friday, January 10 with live music from Jun Bustamante and Geri X.
"It was crazy to look down a huge line of people going right out the door," she said. "It's so surreal. And to get this kind of response, everyone loving the food and the ideas and the place. We've been waiting so long for something like this to come along."
[jump]Community Cafe was inspired by the closing of St. Pete's Globe Coffee Lounge, leaving a void in late-night (and non-bar) spots in town. Keyes says late-night traffic has picked up a bit since the grand opening, but hopes word will get out that there is a such a place in the Grand Central District now.
"Midnight to 3 a.m. had been a little dead until this Saturday," she said. "We had some vegans come from Sarasota at midnight. Some coffee and tea drinkers at 1 a.m., and our friends came by at 2 a.m. for some food. It was our first night that we were full through the late-night hours."
In keeping the spirit of Globe alive, the cafe is hosting monthly drink and draw nights, a tradition made popular by a group of friends at the Lounge.
"We get a beer or cup of coffee and sit around with our sketchbooks and draw," she said. "I guess we're trying to do everything we can to bring people together here and really create this sense of community."
Community Cafe, 2444 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-222-6989. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-12 a.m., Friday 11 a.m.-3 a.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-3 a.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-12 a.m., closed on Mondays.