Beloved Courtyard Cafe diner is reborn in an unlikely space — inside an Italian restaurant

Call it the best of both worlds: By day, tuck into $10 breakfast platters, country-fried steak and strawberry-smothered flapjacks. By night, say “buonasera” to veal sorrentino, 18-inch vodka pies and red sauce-smothered rigatoni bolognese.

Two years after closing in Wilton Manors, the beloved LGBTQ+ gathering spot once named Shawn & Nick’s Courtyard Cafe has popped up in an unlikely place: inside the Italian restaurant Dom Caruso’s Cucina.

The newly blended business — now called Caruso’s and Courtyard Cafe — debuted on Aug. 30 at 2468 Wilton Drive, on the northern end of the Drive, near Five Points, a half-mile north of Shawn & Nick’s Courtyard Cafe’s original location in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors.

Consider it a full-blown culinary marriage between Emmanuel “Manny” Varias, the cafe’s former cook, and longtime friend Dominico Caruso, the namesake of Dom Caruso’s Cucina. Varias says the diner-Italian mashup confronts the hard reality of being a mom-and-pop in 2025 with clear-eyed pragmatism: Rents are already “ridiculous” on the Drive, he said, as are food and labor costs, so why not share the burden?

“It’s not Courtyard’s money or Dom’s money — we’re all one,” Varias says. “Everything goes into the same bank account. If Courtyard has a slow day but Dom has a great night, or vice versa, it still works out. Dom’s the yin to my yang.”

The reincarnated Courtyard Cafe keeps intact much of the menu locals remember, including corned beef hash, burgers, potato pancakes, chicken and waffles, BLTs, soul-warming soups and reliable portions of biscuits and gravy. Most entrees, even New York strips and boneless pork chops with eggs, cost $10 to $16.

Varias, the original Courtyard Cafe’s lead cook for seven years, said the comeback happened “on a whim.” His former boss, Shawn Bombard, sold the restaurant in 2023 to new owners who rebranded the space as Myth Gastrobar, keeping Courtyard’s old menu intact at first before converting the space into a bar-nightclub a year later. After leaving Myth in April 2024, Varias didn’t seriously consider bringing the cafe back on his own until wistful customers shared memories about it on Wilton Manors Facebook groups over the summer, he says.

“All I saw online was people sharing love for Courtyard, saying we didn’t have a homey breakfast place anymore on the Drive,” Varias recalls. “So in literally a month and a half, I came up with a business plan and talked to Dom. And he says, ‘I’m not open during the day [at Dom Caruso’s Cucina]. Why don’t you put Courtyard here?’ ”

Given the greenlight, Varias says the next several weeks “zoomed by.” First, he reconnected with former food suppliers. Then he changed the name just enough to distinguish it from Shawn and Nick’s. Then he brought the band back together.

“Manny comes to me and says, ‘Are you onboard?’ — and before he could even finish that sentence, I just said, Yes!’ ” recalls Todd Price, a server at the original Courtyard Cafe for 18 years. “Oh my gosh, I was so elated, I was freaking out.”

To keep food costs low, Varias says he shops in bulk and doesn’t pay distributors. Rent on Wilton Drive’s northern fringes, where there’s less competition, is “a third” of what he’d pay in the middle of the Drive, where it’s packed with bars and restaurants.

“When you go to a pricey brunch restaurant in Flagler Village, it’s not like they get special chickens that lay special eggs,” says Varias, who’s been cooking at restaurants for 30 years. “They’re all getting it from the same distributors, but what they’re charging you extra is their overhead, their ambiance, their see-and-be-seen vibe.”

The new Courtyard Cafe is an upgrade over the dining room at the old Shawn & Nick’s, which had fading carpet and wood-paneled walls, Varias says. Two weeks in, the dining room still resembles an upscale Italian joint, with spaghetti sauce-red walls, a hanging chandelier, cherry-wood chairs and tall planters. But future plans aim to “brighten up the place” for daytime crowds with eclectic, multicolored chairs and extra patio seating for al fresco diners, he says.

For his part, Caruso says he is all-in on his restaurant’s makeover, describing the partnership with Varias as a fast-track to semi-retirement in one or two years.

“I see in Manny what I saw in myself when I was younger,” Caruso says. “He’s aggressive, he’s a hard worker and good friend. But me? I’m winding down. When you hit your 60s, you want to enjoy life too.”

“Italian and diner food is an odd combo, but it works well.” — Dominico Caruso, owner of Dom Caruso’s Cucina

After a decade on Dixie Highway in Oakland Park, physical issues — a bout with COVID-19 and knee surgery — made Caruso shut his eatery in early 2024. Then, following a lengthy hiatus in Italy, where he owns a home, he revived Caruso’s last December on the Drive.

After doing “brisk” business during peak season, the new Caruso’s dinner sales had slumped by summertime, he says.

“Breakfast was the add-on we needed, because people love it regardless of where they live, locals or tourists,” Caruso says. “Italian and diner food is an odd combo, but it works well.”

Blended businesses with multiple restaurants under one roof are uncommon creatures in South Florida, but they’ve existed for years. Consider the rise of ghost kitchens, where several food spots share a single address, or even food halls, where competing vendors share dining space and foot traffic.

Along with the diner menu, Courtyard Cafe also carries Italian lunch specials, from meatball parmigiana sandwiches to manicotti, alongside desserts and drinks from nearby shops Cake Daddy’s and Aunt Jenn’s Tea & Spice Shop.

Nearly every day since it reopened, David Gehr and his dog, Mr. Wilson, grab a booth at Courtyard Cafe for his favorite order, a Spanish omelet with bacon. Gehr, who’s legally blind and doesn’t drive, walks the full mile from his home so “I can burn off a few calories before I get here,” he jokes.

“Mr. Wilson likes bacon,” the retired paralegal says, tearing off a piece for his rescue bichon frisé under the table on a recent Tuesday. “I have to limit him so his cholesterol doesn’t go up too high.”

Sometimes he returns to Courtyard Cafe when it morphs into Caruso’s for his favorite dinner, linguine and clams. The hybrid restaurants are a “practical way of doing business,” even if the cuisines are night and day.

“I think some people are a little confused right now. They’re like, ‘Oh it’s Courtyard but they do Italian in the evenings?’ ” he says. “But I think it’s a great use of space. If you’re just serving dinner, that means you’re just open six hours a day. This keeps the space activated all day long.”

Caruso’s and Courtyard Cafe is at 2468 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. Call 954-565-7222 or go to Courtyard Cafe’s Facebook page and DomCarusosCucina.com.

Sun Sentinel staff writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.