Paterson's Cafe Welcomes Liquor License
Eleni Snider Photos By Oivia Otten
Issue date: 12/12/09 Section: Scene
What cures a Saturday morning hangover better than … a Patterson’s Bloody Mary?
Just last month, Patterson's started serving various alcoholic beverages as standard brunch drinks.
The long list on the "create your own Bloody Mary" menu includes various types of liquor ranging from flavored Smirnoff, Grey Goose, Tanqueray gin and even Jägermeister. In each 20-ounce glass, there are two shots of your choice of liquor, then you pick what type and brand of tomato juice you want. Top the drink off with a full list of garnishes including celery stalks, A1 steak sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and horseradish sauce.
"I just think it's a nice option for people to have a mimosa in the morning," says Meaghan McAvoy, a Patterson's waitress who has worked for the restaurant in both locations for just over a year. "As a server, there are more profits to be made when you're serving liquor."
Also coming soon to the brunch menu is the "café man-mosa," made of Blue Moon beer, fresh-squeezed orange juice and a shot of orange vodka. Irish coffees with Baileys and Kahlua, along with spiked hot chocolates with scotch and Baileys will be added as well.
Despite the alcohol additions, owner Mike Patterson insists he doesn't want his six-year old restaurant, formerly known as Uptown Café, to turn into an Uptown bar.
"I need to protect the integrity of what we are doing here," Patterson says.
All staff members have been trained and will card everyone who orders an alcoholic drink from them. The café still closes at 3 pm on weekends and 2 pm on weekdays in order to retain its "brunch mode," as Patterson puts it.
However, as early as next year, Patterson's may extend its hours (and options) by adding a dinner menu. But before he comes out with a dinner menu, Patterson says by January customers can expect to see an expanded brunch menu with lunch salads, fish sandwiches, oatmeal and biscuits & gravy.
According to Patterson, the decision to relocate the restaurant from High Street to Spring Street "wasn't a frivolous move on our part." In fact, the café's business has tripled since leaving the quaint, smaller Uptown location.
Before moving, Patterson considered the pros and cons of moving his business to the larger location at Stewart Square (in the same plaza as CVS). He decided that having 100-plus seats and a parking lot right outside was enough of an upgrade to move, compared to the former location's 24 seats and hard-to-find Uptown parking. "
Everything is on pace to really being spectacular here," he says.
Miami senior Mary-Marshall Gallant agrees. She lives above the café in the Stewart Square apartments and loves to visit Patterson's for her favorite meals: lobster bisque, pancakes with blueberries & bananas and eggs benedict.
Since the café's relocation, Gallant has witnessed its success firsthand.
As long as she's not in line to be seated herself, "It's nice to look out of the window and see how long the wait at Patterson's is," Gallant says.
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