Airplanes and coffee are two of my favorite things. In that same vein, a modern coffee shop recently opened in Miami that combines the two, and I checked it out this morning…
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires Miami Basics
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires is the name of a modern coffee shop in Miami that opened on November 30, 2023. It is located in Brickell, at 1420 SW 1st Ct, where there is a field with several food trucks and also has simple parking. Sky Coffee Buenos Aires is currently open daily from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, so you can go for your morning coffee or afternoon snack.
What makes Sky Coffee Buenos Aires what’s unique about it is that it’s located in the forward fuselage of a decommissioned McDonnell Douglas MD-88. That’s a jet that flew for Delta from 1990 all the way up until 2019 (Tim, if you hurry, you can book a Delta flight to get here before it closes!), when it was retired from service.
So why would someone decide to open a cafe like this? As the story goes, the owner is a Uruguayan woman who wanted to be a flight attendant when she was younger but was told she was too miniature.
Years later, she decided to open an aviation-themed cafe. Initially, she planned to simply buy a few seats on a plane, but ended up buying part of an MD-88 fuselage from a former Delta pilot in Leesburg and reportedly sold her house to pay for it.
Even though the cafe didn’t pay any money for marketing, the concept gained huge media attention, with lines of dozens of people forming outside the premises and all of its products selling out.
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires Experience
This morning our family went to Sky Coffee Buenos Aires despite whatever the hell the weather is called right now (I feel sorry for people visiting Miami looking for nice weather).
I have to give the owners credit for their dedication to the subject. There’s a metal detector just behind Sky Coffee Buenos Aires on the path leading to the plane. There are two sets of stairs—one that lets you walk through a compact section of the cabin, and the other that lets you just order from an outside window without going through the cabin.
Honestly, isn’t that frigid?!
As you enter the Sky Coffee Buenos Aires cabin through the front door, you find yourself in the galley.
The cockpit is on the left side, you can even look inside.
Then there are two rows of seats. On the left side are four first-class seats, facing the same direction.
On the right side are four economy class seats, facing each other, with a table in the middle.
These are the exact same seats that were there when Delta flew the plane, except they’ve been reupholstered with different branding. Meanwhile, the overhead bins haven’t been changed at all and still have the same branding they had on Delta.
Here’s the catch — you can’t eat or drink in the booth. That’s because technically it’s a food truck, and I assume there are some rules against that. So instead, you can only eat and drink outside, where there are tables and chairs.
Otherwise the booth only has a counter where you can place your order. You can grab a few drinks, as well as pastries, empanadas, etc. while everything else is prepared by the staff.
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires Food & Drink
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires has an extensive drinks menu, as well as a smaller menu of food options. You can find the menu below.
Haha, I have to admit you liked the fact that food is only available on flights over 1,300 miles, and also that the “free snacks” come with a price.
Since I was reviewing this drink, I felt I had to order the most talked about drink here, the Tierra Del Fuego, described as follows:
In honor of Carolina, the city that was born from the gold rush in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) in 1883, we present the most exquisite and elegant cappuccino made with our edible 24-karat gold. Complete with an exquisite chocolate truffle wrapped in gold to dive into and fully enjoy.
At $19.50, the coffee is seriously pricey, and I was curious how it compared to the golden cappuccino at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. 😉
We also had a regular cappuccino which was more reasonable at $5. Honestly, both tasted the same, and I would say the zloty was about $14.50 too pricey (then again, I assume you pay $5 for the coffee and $14.50 for the shot). 😉
We also shared the avocado toast, which was okay, although it was more like guacamole toast.
You come here for the airline theme and good coffee, but this isn’t some award-winning place for the quality of the food. I appreciate how nicely the drinks are presented, even though it’s all served outside.
Summary
Sky Coffee Buenos Aires is Miami’s newest, most talked about coffee shop. It’s located in Brickell and is housed in the fuselage of a former Delta MD-88. It’s a cute little place with good coffee and decent food, but I mainly recommend coming here for the really unique theme that you won’t find at many other places.
It’s so frigid to have a place like this in Miami! I also love the story behind it, so I wish the owner all the success in the world (and it looks like things are going well so far).
What do you think of the modern airplane-themed cafe in Miami?
