St. Augustine

Maison Louis Cafe Now Soft Open in St. Augustine

Soft opening underway in St Augustine cafe featuring French viennoiserie, sandwiches, and full brunch and lunch offerings.

Image from Maison Louis Cafe on Facebook

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA — Maison Louis Cafe is now in a soft-opening phase at 2401 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd., Unit B, St. Augustine, FL 32084, where owner Jerome Bensimon is welcoming guests while final city and health approvals are finalized.

Bensimon told Business Debut he expects the cafe to be ready within about two weeks and said the team is already serving customers daily as it works through final adjustments.

What to Expect

Maison Louis Cafe is a counter-service cafe with 18 indoor seats and a bright dining room finished with French bistro tables, French bistro chairs, and marble details, Bensimon told Business Debut. He said the goal is to bring a big-city cafe experience to St. Augustine with a menu that goes beyond coffee and pastries into brunch and lunch offerings made in-house.

The cafe serves Lavazza coffee drinks, chai, and matcha, along with viennoiserie including croissants, pain au chocolat, apple turnovers, raisin swirls, beignets, and canelés. Bensimon told Business Debut the team uses French flour and French butter to recreate the flavors he grew up with.

Guests can also expect house-made sandwiches on house buns and baguettes, plus quiches, salads, and desserts. Menu items include Le Dauphin with poached egg and cheese, Le Normandie with smoked salmon, and Le Parisien on baguette, according to the cafe’s online ordering page and Bensimon’s interview with Business Debut.

“For me, it was a dream to host people, to make people happy through food,” Bensimon told Business Debut. He said the concept is meant to bring the same level of daily cafe experience found in cities like New York or Paris to St. Augustine.

Opening Timeline

Bensimon told Business Debut the cafe is targeting a full opening within about two weeks, pending final permit and health approvals. In the meantime, he said Maison Louis Cafe is already welcoming guests during its soft opening.

Hours

Maison Louis Cafe is currently operating from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week, with Sunday hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bensimon told Business Debut. The cafe’s Toast page currently shows ordering beginning at 7 a.m.