Kefi Streetside Café
Kefi Streetside Café seems like a mirage among the office buildings of Downtown Bradenton. I assure you it is very real. Described by power couple and co-owners Jason Simpson and Eleni Sokos as sorta like a food-truck-sans-wheels, I’d say the outdoor-café concept is more like an oasis—catering to lunch breakers and beyond.
“For those 30 minutes a day, they can come and sit outside, and it’s colorful and beautiful, and there is music playing,” says Simpson. “We try to give people a good feeling in the mundane day many people tend to have.”
Kefi offers a place to snag a quick, healthy lunch. Or a relaxing place to chill and listen to music with breakfast and a good cup of coffee. And a perfect spot to meet a friend for a delicious Mediterranean- inspired lunch after the Saturday farmers’ market.
And yet, it’s hard to believe Kefi sits in a repurposed bank teller drive-thru.
“We took the lease on this place without ever really having an idea and made it grow from there,” says Simpson, whose background is in craft beer sales and distribution. “We had no real plan, no money, no nothing,” says Sokos, who grew up in the family restaurant business but has made a career in marketing.
Although the previous tenant had converted the walk-up order window and the inside of the space was almost turnkey, the Kefi couple was responsible for the astonishing transformation to the exterior. It boasts fun furniture, live plants and greenery, brightly painted walls, and a relaxing ambiance.
“There was a lot of need for creativity out here to make it a comfortable space, so you didn’t feel like you were sitting in a parking lot,” says Simpson.
And you truly don’t.
With only a 450-square-foot “kitchen” and no option for ventilation for a range, the menu took an immense amount of ingenuity when it came to cooking methods and storage. When they first opened in 2021, they stuck to coffee and pastries. In March 2022, they launched a regular breakfast and lunch menu. Three months later, they leveled up again, bringing chef Dalida Rojas on board, which allowed them to get even more creative and offer weekly specials.
“We wanted to have a small menu, and that was great, but the people coming here were burning through it quickly,” says Simpson. “We decided to keep it fresh.”
Kefi offers three food specials a week plus one drink special, which consists of coffee (Pecan Pie Latte, anyone?) or tea. Although the Mezze platter is spot on and the O.G. Greek salad boasts a tasty family-recipe dressing, Kefi does not serve typical Greek food. Sokos’s Greek heritage and love of all places Mediterranean combined with Simpson’s Tennessee roots and love of fresh flavors brings the menu a unique vibe.
“It’s about giving the people what they want but our way,” says Sokos.
Take “The Zeus,” for example. Greek-style shredded pork (a Kefi custom creation), bacon, tomato, onion, homemade tzatziki, and feta cheese on a pita. Or the Kefi Avocado Toast, loaded with tasty avocado mash, Greek-style cucumbers, and arugula on sourdough multigrain with eVOO and oregano.
Simpson and Sokos have successfully offered customers what they desire regarding food and the respite they might crave during a busy day.
“It’s almost like a vacation,” says Sokos. “When you are working all day, and you have 10 minutes to swing by to pick up lunch, we hope you leave here being, like, ‘Wow, that made my day,’” she says. “That interaction and spending even a few minutes looking at something totally different—that’s what we are going for, and we can back that with excellent food.”
Kefi also caters!
>Kefi Streetside Café: 1201 6th Ave W, Bradenton. kefistreetsidecafe.com
