The salty, cool breezes of Santa Monica’s historic Main Street are poised to carry a brand-new aroma of comfort and morning indulgence this summer, as the beloved culinary storytellers Mindy and Vinny Kinne prepare to launch their newest venture. In August of this year, the dynamic husband-and-wife restaurateurs will officially open the doors to a quiet yet eagerly anticipated breakfast and lunch destination, introducing the seaside community to their signature blend of authentic Belgian waffles and La Colombe coffees. Located along one of Southern California’s most iconic thoroughfares, this upcoming coastal cafe is designed to serve as a warm harbor for locals seeking refuge from the frantic pace of modern life, anchoring themselves in a cozy, neighborhood-oriented atmosphere. For the Kinnes, this fifth restaurant represents far more than just a typical commercial expansion; it is the physical realization of a long-nurtured personal dream. Years ago, Mindy harbored a simple yet profound vision: to open a small, welcoming shop or cafe where her friends and community could gather to share stories and a hot meal. When they stumbled upon the perfect, sun-draped location in Santa Monica, the couple made the courageous decision to risk everything they had built, jumping headfirst into the unknown with nothing but their shared passion and a firm belief in their concept. This brave leap of faith marks a milestone moment in their lives, establishing a new beachhead for their growing culinary family, which began back in 2017 with their flagship location in Miracle Mile, Los Angeles. By introducing their beloved waffle-and-coffee concept to the coastal crowd, Mindy and Vinny are not merely expanding a business—they are extending an open invitation to a new neighborhood to partake in a dream that has spent years in the making.
To truly understand the essence of the Kinnes’ restaurants, one must examine the deeply romantic foundation upon which their entire culinary empire is constructed. Their story is a modern-day fairy tale that began in the most classic of ways back in 2014, when Mindy and Vinny quite literally met at a bar. This serendipitous encounter quickly blossomed into a deep, enduring partnership, leading them to marry in 2019, just two years after launching their flagship cafe on South La Brea Avenue. Over the decade, they have meticulously crafted a portfolio of five distinct dining destinations, with each restaurant serving as a beautifully named chapter of their shared life history. From Met Her at a Bar and Met Him at a Bar to Her Thai and The Night We Met, their businesses are intimately intertwined with their personal love story, transforming their commercial ventures into a public archive of their romance. Vinny openly admits that their journey has been defined by high-stakes vulnerability, recalling how they risked absolute financial security to back Mindy’s dream. “It’s quite a moment for us. It was always Mindy’s dream to open a café or a small shop for her friends. She found a place, and we risked everything. But in the end, this is just a love story,” Vinny explained, capturing the beautiful, high-stakes nature of their shared path. In an industry often dominated by sterile corporate groups and profit-driven conglomerates, the Kinnes have chosen to build their livelihood on the unpredictability of love and the human spirit. This romantic transparency has resonated deeply with Angelenos, who do not just visit the couple’s restaurants for the exceptional food, but to be passive participants in an ongoing, tangible love story.
The extraordinary, consistent success of the Kinnes’ establishments—which have consistently drawn packed crowds and long lines since their very first days of operation—is rooted in a refreshingly simple philosophy regarding the art of hospitality. Vinny and Mindy have purposefully rejected the complex, over-engineered strategies that often bog down modern restaurant groups, choosing instead to focus entirely on basic, heartfelt human connection. Vinny frequently shares with his employees a fundamental truth: running a great restaurant is not a difficult concept, but rather an exercise in genuine hospitality that mirrors how one hosts friends and loved ones at home. “I always tell the employees it’s not a hard concept. It’s just like when you have guests over at your house. I just want them to feel like they’re at home with their friends or their family having dinner. That’s the best. I want to emulate that in my restaurant,” Vinny previously remarked, distilling his entire operational worldview into a few simple, warm words. In a fast-paced urban landscape like Los Angeles, where dining out can sometimes feel highly clinical, exclusive, or transaction-oriented, this deliberate return to the roots of hospitality acts as a breath of fresh air. This dedication to emulating the comfort of a home-cooked family dinner has set their establishments apart, carving out a space where warmth takes precedence over profit margins. By prioritizing the emotional well-being and comfort of their guests alongside the quality of their ingredients, the Kinnes have managed to create a loyal community of regulars. They have proven that when a restaurant functions as an corporate-free extension of a loving home, it naturally becomes a vital social sanctuary for the neighborhood, transforming passing strangers into lifelong friends.
The upcoming Santa Monica location is poised to be an absolute sensory delight, seamlessly merging sophisticated visual aesthetics with an updated culinary and beverage program. To ensure that their newest cafe on Main Street feels both fresh and comforting, the Kinnes have once again partnered with the acclaimed interior designer Sormeh Rienne. Rienne is the creative force who previously crafted the beautiful, culturally rich visual identity of Her Thai and coordinated the elegant design upgrades at Met Him at a Bar. Her unique ability to weave spatial narratives through texture, lighting, and layout perfectly aligns with the couple’s desire to create spaces that feel both elegant and down-to-earth, turning structural materials into emotionally resonant backdrops. Under her thoughtful direction, the Santa Monica space is being transformed into a visual sanctuary, utilizing warm, inviting tones, curated accents, and soft lighting that invite patrons to linger over their morning brew. Structurally, the venue will serve as the perfect canvas for their signature menu, which elevates the humble Belgian waffle into an artisanal masterpiece, characterized by its golden, crispy exterior and fluffy center, perfectly complemented by the rich, complex flavors of La Colombe roasted coffees. In addition to these comforting breakfast and lunch staples, this new coastal location will also feature an updated, creative cocktail menu curated specifically to match the relaxed, sun-drenched spirit of Santa Monica’s lively afternoon crowd. By harmonizing Rienne’s stunning design sensibilities with an elevated food and drink selection, the Kinnes are creating a multi-sensory destination where design and taste work in tandem to wrap the diner in a cozy feeling of pure, relaxed luxury.
Operating a small business in contemporary Southern California, however, is a journey fraught with complex societal challenges, as evidenced by the mixed and highly polarized reactions that surfaced on the cafe’s Instagram after the official expansion announcement. While many enthusiastic locals rushed to welcome the couple to Santa Monica with warm messages of encouragement, others used the digital space to voice deep anxieties about the socio-political issues currently facing the region. Some online commenters criticized the Kinnes’ choice of location on Main Street, questioning why they did not choose seemingly safer or more affluent pockets of the Westside like Marina Del Rey, Culver City, or Palms. One user bluntly wrote, “Too bad you didn’t pick a locality that isn’t importing McArthur Park’s fentanyl epicenter. Why not Marina Del Rey? Culver City? Palms? Just anywhere that woke city council can’t get its hands on.” Other voices went even further, offering cynical, highly pessimistic forecasts about the restaurant’s ultimate survival, with one harsh detractor predicting an “Epic Failure” and questioning the couple’s operational and financial wisdom. This raw, unfiltered internet commentary highlights the modern hurdles that small business owners must overcome, as their hard-earned milestones are frequently projected onto the screen of broader social anxieties and local metropolitan debates. Yet, this digital friction only serves to underscore the profound bravery of the Kinnes’ venture on Main Street; by establishing a physical point of connection, warmth, and reliable hospitality in the heart of Santa Monica, they are actively choosing optimism over despair, proving that local community hubs remain essential for societal healing and real-world connection.
Ultimately, Mindy and Vinny Kinne’s bold venture onto Santa Monica’s Main Street represents far more than just the expansion of a successful restaurant group; it is a heartening testament to the enduring power of dreams, resilience, and authentic human connection in a rapidly changing world. In an era where much of our daily lives has shifted to digital spaces, automated interactions, and online debates, the couple continues to put their faith in physical gathering spaces, believing in the simple, healing magic that occurs when people sit down to share a fresh meal together. Guided by the same brave spirit of adventure that led them to risk everything they had back in 2017, they continue to prove that a business built on a foundation of true love and unwavering passion can weather any economic or social storm. When the doors of their brand-new cafe swing open this August, it will stand as a solid monument to their decade-long journey together—a beautiful journey that transformed a chance encounter at a bar in 2014 into a thriving, five-restaurant family legacy, and eventually, a happy marriage in 2019. By carving out a new space for connection along the Southern California coast, Mindy and Vinny are welcoming Santa Monica into their circle of love, reminding us all that despite the noise, cynicism, and polarization of the modern world, the heart of hospitality remains beautifully unchanged. As they prepare to hand-craft waffles and pour coffee for their new neighbors, they are offering a simple yet powerful reminder that the best and most resilient businesses are not just built on spreadsheets, but on the profound, simple joy of bringing people together around a shared table.
