A community-centered café will open this fall in South St. Pete as one of the first businesses inside the Looking Glass Initiative, a two-block adaptive reuse project along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South.

Located at 908 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, Café Ora will serve espresso drinks made with locally roasted beans from St. Pete-based Look Alive Coffee, breakfast sandwiches and pastries by day, and beer, wine, and neighborhood programming later in the week.

The café is designed to serve as a gathering place for residents, nonprofits, and local organizations.

“It’s a love letter to Campbell Park, Bartlett Park, 13th Street Heights, and Historic Roser Park,” Café Ora founder Meiko Seymour said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “To everybody right here in this vicinity, we intend to be your neighborhood spot. This project has to be owned by the community, by those that live in these neighborhoods.”

Café Ora is envisioned as a "third space", a place outside of home and work where neighbors can gather and connect.

When longtime friends April Lupkey and Lauren Kirk quietly opened Lucky Cup Coffee Co. inside the Galaxy Hotel in downtown St. Pete last summer, most of their customers were hotel guests.

Some days, they made just two drinks.

Then a friend ordered a matcha latte that wasn't even on the menu and shared it on social media.

The post took off, and the tiny hotel lobby café quickly became one of St. Pete's fastest-growing coffee shops.

A year later, the pair is preparing for its biggest step yet.

Today, Lucky Cup announced it’ll open a second location at 2606 Fairfield Avenue South inside The Factory, a massive creative campus in the Warehouse Arts District that is home to local businesses like FloridaRAMA, Daddy Kool Records, and St. Pete Athletic.

The Winfield, a 22-seat cocktail parlor hidden beneath downtown St. Pete's sprawling Central Park food hall, opens today.

While Central Park occupies nearly 27,700 square feet over five stories at 551 Central Avenue, its newest concept seats just 22 guests, offering an intimate experience unlike the bustling food hall above.

Director of Operations Robert Castellon describes both the menu and ambiance as “an homage to old Florida,” with dark-toned wood, floral wallpaper, and colorful accents.

The approximately 1,000-square-foot cocktail parlor pairs lesser-known spirits with Asian and Latin ingredients while incorporating modern mixology techniques like forced carbonation and clarification.

Beverage Director Silvia Fridegotto said bartenders have historically played an important role in introducing the public to emerging spirits, and The Winfield hopes to continue that tradition by helping guests discover unfamiliar bottles in an approachable setting.