Pastries on Coral Way: Baked Fresh Daily in Miami

If you are searching for pastries on Coral Way, you do not have to drive far. specialTEA Lounge sits at 10766 SW 24th St in the Columbia Shopping Plaza, about two minutes from FIU, and our bakery case gets restocked every day with things we baked that morning. We are Miami's Original Tea Lounge first, open since June 2009, but the baked goods have quietly become one of the main reasons people stop in on their way down Coral Way.

Here is what is actually in the case, what makes it different from the usual pastry run, and what to drink with it.

What Gets Baked Fresh Daily

Our vegan cookies are the anchor. Six flavors, baked fresh daily, including matcha chocolate chip and double chocolate, and they have built up a pretty devoted following over the years. They are not a token vegan option parked at the end of the counter. They are the cookies, and everyone eats them.

Next to them you will find our smash croissants, which are the loud, messy, extremely photogenic end of the case. The Dubai smash croissant with pistachio kataifi is the one people come in asking for by name, and there is also a Nutella smash and a dulce de leche smash for anyone who wants chocolate or caramel instead of pistachio. The full list lives on our menu, along with everything else we serve.

Then there is the breakfast side of things. Our signature breakfast sandwiches are built on butter croissants with organic eggs, made fresh daily, which is really where the pastry case and the kitchen meet. If you are coming in hungry rather than just craving something sweet, start there.

Vegan Pastries in Westchester, Without the Usual Trade-Off

Finding vegan pastries in Westchester or anywhere along Coral Way usually means settling for whatever the one plant-based item happens to be that day. We went a different route. The six vegan cookie flavors rotate through the case daily, every drink on our menu can be made with organic soy, almond, or oat milk, and a lot of our frozen drinks and smoothies are vegan-friendly with no added sugar and non-GMO ingredients.

If you are staying for lunch, we also keep plant-based proteins like TVP and beefless strips for sandwiches and wraps. The point is that a vegan guest and a very much not vegan guest can sit at the same table, order off the same menu, and both walk away happy. That has been the goal since we opened.

What to Drink With Your Pastry

This is the part a bakery counter cannot really do. We pour more than 60 varieties of premium loose leaf tea, sourced from tea gardens around the world, from Chinese green tea and Taiwanese oolong to South African rooibos and Indian spiced chai. Every cup is brewed from whole loose leaf, never bags, so a cookie and a hot pot of Earl Grey is a genuinely good afternoon.

If you want boba on Coral Way instead, we have classic tapioca pearls, popping pearls, and fruit jellies across more than 10 flavors, plus taro boba cremes, thai tea lattes, and matcha boba. And for coffee, all of ours is USDA organic, fair trade certified, and locally roasted, french pressed fresh or cold brewed for 16 or more hours. A smash croissant and a cold brew is a combination we see go out the door constantly.

A few pairings that work well if you are undecided:

• Double chocolate vegan cookie with a hot pot of oolong, because the tea cuts the richness.
• Dubai smash croissant with our cold brew, since the pistachio and kataifi are sweet enough on their own.
• Matcha chocolate chip cookie with a London fog, which is a softer, milkier pairing for late afternoon.
• Breakfast croissant sandwich with the eye opener, if you have an early class.

When to Come In and How to Grab Yours

We are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM, Saturday from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, so the case is available well past the hours most bakeries keep. Mornings are the best time if you want the widest pick, and evenings are quieter if you would rather sit with a cookie and a book.

Plenty of people do exactly that. We have free high-speed WiFi with no password and no time limits, a full library of board games, and cozy corners that FIU students have been claiming as their own for years. If you are planning a longer session, our guide to working and studying here covers what to expect. Directions and everything else you might need are on our visit page.

In a hurry? You can order ahead for pickup through our Toast online ordering, or get delivery through Uber Eats and DoorDash. But if you have twenty minutes, come sit down. Grab a board game, order something warm, and let somebody else handle the baking. Come for the tea, stay for the vibes.