Sebastian’s Café

I came here once for a group lunch meeting.
SERVICE:
The staff was impressively warm and welcoming. You order at the register and then wait for them to call out your name when your food is ready — which took about 7 – 10 minutes — and then you bring it back to your table. When she asked for my name, she even said it back to me to make sure the pronunciation was correct! For those of you with an uncommon name, you are probably familiar with people mispronouncing your name, calling you by a wrong name, or just not writing or saying your name at all because it’s too complicated and takes too much time in their already busy day of serving customers. So I was impressed that she made the effort to make sure she got my name right. In any case, that is neither here nor there. So on to the review…
FOOD:
I ordered the $ 7 Santa Fe salad and it was wildly delicious! The salad had lettuce, tomatoes, corn, black beans, chicken, tortilla chip flakes, fresh guacamole, and a fresh-​made salsa dressing. The salad was huge (about the size of a frisbee), full of flavor, and the vegetables were crisp. You can tell the ingredients were fresh and high quality. At times I’m wary about ordering a salad because it might not be filling, but this was not the case with this salad. It was actually more food than I can eat! But it was too good to not finish, so I cleaned my plate.
Overall, great customer service and delicious food. I will be coming back for sure!

Before grad school, I used to hear people talk about being so busy that they forgot to eat, and I would just shake my head. I couldn’t understand the idea of forgetting one of my favorite daily activities. However, the sad truth is, as a grad student sometimes things really do go haywire and food is not always at the top of your mind.
Sebastian’s has really saved me a couple times when I have forgotten to grab breakfast when leaving my place in the morning, or accidentally left my lunch on the counter at home.
Sebastian’s is in the Alumni Center, which is great because it’s a nice location and there’s always parking (at least when I stop by!). For breakfast, I always intend to get a bagel but end up getting one of their yummy bagel sandwiches with ham and cheese that are just a couple bucks. For lunch, I had a panini that was recommended to me – a fajita panini, that was absolutely delicious… until my stomach decided it did not appreciate whatever was in it. A couple friends of mine regularly have it, so I would only steer clear if you have a sensitive stomach.
They also offer Starbucks tea and coffee, which is pretty nice. The service is good, and typically pretty quick, although if you come at lunchtime there will be a crowd! I definitely think as far as college campus eats go, Sebastian’s is a step up.

This is in no way meant to be a gourmet sandwich shop. It’s an average, easily accessible place near the university campus meant to satisfy your hunger with an easy fix. Their sandwiches are just okay, but they do serve Cuban as well as Starbucks coffee which is a plus. One word of caution – be sure to make it a point to have them pour very small amounts of condiments whether it’s mustard or mayo as you’ll be eating a soaked chancleta (flip-​flop) of a sandwich otherwise. The servers are amazingly sweet however and willing to help. Sebastian’s should just begin to provide better quality foods, that’s all.

great spot! walkable from the frat houses and a Zach Tobin favorite.

Best thing on their menu is their potato soup with the home made seasoned croutons!
They serve Starbucks coffee but it’s mild and I love bold. Their sadnwiches are small especially their paninis. They are pricey and will not likely visit this place again.

When I’m busy on campus, the thought of leaving to grab food is a rare one. After all, if you leave your parking spot at UM during lunch time, you can kiss your chances of being on time to your next class or meeting goodbye– and don’t even get me started on the madness that is US1. So it was with great excitement that I tried Sebastian’s Café in the hopes that there would finally be an answer for my midday hunger that didn’t involve the overcrowded food court or Rathskeller. While the first few months of its opening had disappointing hours (only open til 2:30 pm), the Café is boasting extended hours starting in the next few weeks.
While you’ll find Sebastian’s Café nestled inside the brand new UM Alumni Center, you really get the sense that you’re at a high-​end deli downtown as soon as you step in the door. This place is truly state of the art since the Center opened this past fall– which also means it typically doesn’t see too many crowds since the word hasn’t seemed to get out quite yet about its existence.
With signature sandwiches, toasted salads, and paninis for $ 5.99, you’re certainly not saving money if you typically brown-​bag your lunch– but you’re not likely to get a better deal many other places on campus. I’m not sure how much the menu will change once the hours are expanded til 7pm, but it’s nice to know there’s somewhere new to grab a great lunch OR dinner on campus this spring.

There’s been lots of buzz behind the new alumni center that recently opened on the University of Miami campus. I chose to stay oblivious to all the chatter until I heard that it would include a café. Then they had my attention.
Sebastian’s café has a very limited menu and hours of operation. You can grab breakfast or lunch here Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 2:30. With lots of other dining options around the area it seems like it might be difficult for this place to really thrive but only time will tell!
I headed to the alumni center today for no other reason than to try this place out. I opted for a Hurricane Toasted Salad which sounded exactly like something I like to order at Niko’s at the UM foodcourt. It’s one of those items that throws the word «salad» in the titel to make it seem like what you’re getting is healthy, when it’s really not. It’s foccacia bread laid out, topped with mozarella cheese, chicken, and olive tapenade that is toasted. Then that is capped with mixed greens and balsamic vinagerette. While it may not be the idyllic salad, it certainly is delicious! Although this one was drier and not as tasty as the one from my beloved Niko’s…
I opted to take mine to go but there is plenty of seating inside this place and a TV if you’re looking to catch some news in the morning. Although the menu is small, it offers tasty subs, grilled sandwiches, wraps, and toasted salads. Their breakfast menu is quite extensive too and they even have cortadito’s!
Would I go out of my way to grab lunch from her again? Probably not. But I’d definitely come hungry to a meeting or event that I ever had to attend at the alumni center and swing by here before!