8 April 2-8, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | I Got You Babe Miami favorite Babe’s Meat & Counter expands after eight years. BY BURGER BEAST I first met Melanie Schoendorfer in the summer of 2012, when she competed in the hot dog-eating competition at my event, the Hot Dog Fest. At the time, my Burger Beast blog was barely four years old. Not long after, she and her husband, Ja- son, were setting up a tent at the Pinecrest Farmers Market, selling sausages and sand- wiches under the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages. I watched those early days up close, years before the operation grew into the Pal- metto Bay butcher shop and sandwich desti- nation now known as Babe’s Meat & Counter. For years, Babe’s Meat & Counter has been one of Miami’s most reliable stops for serious sandwiches and house-butchered meats. It’s the butcher shop where the croquetas make you crave another, the minute you bite into them. The bacon is made in-house, and the cheeseburger has become a benchmark for how seriously Miami should take its ham- burgers. It even won New Times‘ Best Burger in 2025. Now, eight years after opening their Pal- metto Bay shop, Jason and Melanie Schoen- dorfer have expanded. For Babe’s, the moment feels less like a reinvention and more like the continuation of a story that started under a farmers’ market tent. The Schoendorfers’ journey began in 2013 at the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market, where they sold sausages and sandwiches un- der the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages. At the time, neither Jason nor Melanie had formal butchery training. What they did have was curiosity and the stubborn urge to make the kind of meats they couldn’t find in Miami. Melanie’s background offered a head start. She grew up in Canada in an Italian family where making meat products from scratch was normal. Her grandparents prepared prosciutto, sausages, pepperettes, and other cured meats at home. Later, she spent 11 years working at Joanna’s Marketplace, the South Miami gour- met grocery known for its approach to food. Jason’s path was less culinary. He studied audio engineering and later spent more than a decade working in his family’s unusual busi- ness, a pet cemetery and crematory. The two met at Starbucks, where Jason worked while attending school, while Melanie worked at the Canada Pavilion at Epcot. They bonded over their shared love of sausage. Once the couple moved to Miami, they discovered the problem: the sausages they wanted didn’t really exist here. Instead of set- tling, they started experimenting. First came sausages and bacon. Then simple sandwiches built around those meats. The Pinecrest mar- ket became their testing ground. Babe’s arrived during a moment when Mi- ami’s food culture was starting to rediscover something older cities had long embraced: the neighborhood butcher shop. Around the same time, places like Proper Sausages in Miami Shores and Miami Smok- ers in Little Havana were proving that a butcher counter paired with serious sand- wiches could work here. Those shops helped pioneer the idea that Miami diners would line up not just for res- taurant food but for carefully sourced meat, house-made charcuterie, and sandwiches built around those ingredients. The Schoendorfers were part of that same movement, though their path came through the farmers’ market circuit rather than through culinary pedigrees. In 2018, they made the leap into a brick-and-mortar shop. Opening Babe’s Meat & Counter at 9216 SW 156th St. in Palmetto Bay didn’t immedi- ately slow things down. The couple continued running farmers’ markets each week while operating the shop and working out of a commercial kitchen. For years, their schedule rarely included a day off. Then, the pandemic arrived. While restaurants across the country struggled, butcher shops suddenly found themselves in demand. Gro- cery store meat cases were empty, and cus- tomers began searching for lo- cal sources. Babe’s de- mand exploded. The shop’s focus on house-smoked and house-cured meats suddenly made it one of the most reliable places in South Miami to buy quality protein. Today, Babe’s functions as both a butcher shop and a sandwich counter, with the two sides feeding each other. Inside the refrigerated case are premium cuts, house-made sausages, artisanal bacon, and cured meats. In the kitchen, those same ingredients become sandwiches, burgers, and sides that have helped build Babe’s reputation. The “Babe’s Burger,” made from a blend of prime and Wagyu beef, has repeatedly been recognized as one of Miami’s best burgers. The Cuban sandwich is another standout, fea- turing house-smoked ham and roasted pork. Melanie’s Canadian roots show up on the menu as well. Babe’s is one of the few places in Miami that serve Montreal-style smoked meats and authentic poutine topped with real cheese curds. And then there are the croquetas, which regularly disappear as quickly as they hit the counter. Growth like this rarely happens with just two people. Over time, the Schoendorfers have assembled a team that now seems per- fectly positioned for Babe’s next chapter. Mike Leon (@gonzomike440) runs the kitchen. His approach leans creative without losing sight of what makes Babe’s work: solid meat, simple ideas, and good execution. Katherine Alvarez (@naansolo) is the creator of all baked goods, including their addictive sausage rolls and a cinnamon roll bread pud- ding that is as good an excuse as any to not share with friends. Out front, Eric Cordo helps manage the flow of customers moving between the butcher counter and the sandwich orders. And then there’s Simone. Jason and Mela- nie’s daughter has grown up in the business, watching Babe’s evolve from a farmers mar- ket operation into a neighborhood institution. The expansion will bring about 40 seats to Babe’s, something the shop has never really had. Until now, most customers grabbed sand- wiches to go or ate quickly at the counter. The additional seating will finally allow people to sit down and enjoy what they ordered rather than eating in the car on the drive home. The project will also expand the butcher counter and create room for more local products. For the Schoendorfers, the butcher side of the operation remains the core of everything. The sandwiches and burgers might grab the headlines, but they’re built on the work happening behind the glass case: curing, smoking, grinding, and breaking down meat the old-fashioned way. The food industry is known for restaurants that often expand quickly and disappear just as fast. Babe’s has taken the opposite approach. The Schoendorfers spent years grinding through farmers’ markets before opening their shop. They spent another eight years re- fining the operation before deciding it was time to grow again. That patience has helped Babe’s become something Miami doesn’t have enough of: a true neighborhood butcher shop. Along the way, the shop has picked up ac- colades including Best Burger and Best Sand- wich honors from New Times, a StarChefs Rising Star Award for the owners, and an ap- pearance on Good Morning America’s “Ulti- mate Burger Spot” competition. But the real measure of success shows up every afternoon. The butcher’s case stays full. The sandwich line keeps moving. And the regulars keep coming back. For a business that started with two peo- ple and a farmers’ market tent, that’s not a bad way to grow. Babe’s Meat & Counter. 9216 SW 156th St., Palmetto Bay; babefroman.com. [email protected] ▼ Café Café Babe Frohman photo The Schoendorfers in 2013 at the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market, where they sold sausages and sandwiches under the name Babe Froman Fine Sausages. THE SCHOENDORFERS HAVE ASSEMBLED A TEAM THAT NOW SEEMS PERFECTLY POSITIONED FOR BABE’S NEXT CHAPTER. ▼ CORAL GABLES LET THEM EAT STEAK Just months after Daniel’s Miami was ranked the ninth-best steak restaurant in North America, it’s now ranked among the world’s best. Daniel’s Miami has just debuted at No. 40 on the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants list for 2026. The ranking, announced on Tuesday, March 24, by London-based Upper Cut Media House, marks a big win for the restaurant. How so? It’s only been open for nine months. Plus, Daniel’s is currently the only restaurant in Flor- ida included on this year’s global list. The ranking is not a popularity contest. The list relies on “Steak Ambassadors” who visit res- taurants undercover to evaluate them on nine different criteria, including meat quality, the va- riety of cuts offered, service expertise, and the depth of the wine program. Ranking at No. 40, Daniel’s sits alongside renowned spots like Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco and Gwen in Los Angeles. Additionally, Daniel’s Miami holds the Global Meat Standard Certification from The Beef Advocate. | TASTE TEST | >> p9
