Inside the small white-walled dining room of Afternoon, patrons enjoy brunch classics like scones and BLTs as well as unique options like mushroom toast and crispy potatoes — all ordered from a hand-drawn menu.
Afternoon, located off Northwest 10th Avenue, was founded by Grace Glennon and Kyle Spore in 2017 and is now owned by the pair and their partner, Jason Shuster. After nearly a decade in business, their mission of providing a comforting breakfast and lunch restaurant holds true.
But it takes more than a cozy environment and personable service to win a spot on one of the most internationally respected restaurant guides.
On May 28, Afternoon was welcomed to the Michelin Guide, becoming the first restaurant in Gainesville on the list.
This is the first year Michelin has branched into smaller cities in Florida. Previous inclusions to the guide were limited to larger cities like Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
“A lot of [restaurant rankings] are kind of a pay-to-play situation … but with the Michelin, it's completely anonymous,” Glennon said.
Michelin Guide placement is awarded to restaurants based on factors like freshness, ingredient quality and chefs' talents.
At Afternoon, Glennon said it's the team that makes the brunch spot special.
“It felt so good and very affirming for all the work that we've put in over the years and our team has put in over the years,” she said. “The team we have right now, they're just all so good and sweet.”
Gabe Henson, a 24-year-old sous-chef, has worked at Afternoon for four years and is excited about the new Michelin status.
“We put in a lot of hard work here, so it's pretty good,” Henson said.
Outside of the main restaurant, Afternoon's to-go window sits under a yellow awning, serving quick bites, pastries and coffee to people who don’t have time to sit down for their meal.
Paola Giusti-Rodriguez, a 45-year-old UF psychiatry assistant professor, sat outside enjoying one of Afternoon’s seasonal pastries while she waited for her coffee.
“It was the first place I ate at when I got here five years ago [when] we were interviewing for jobs at UF,” Giusti-Rodriguez said. She and her children have been coming back for brunch ever since.
The restaurant’s promise is written across its menu: “If we sell it, we make it.” Afternoon’s general manager, 37-year-old Phillip Bailey Anderson, credits this as the restaurant's standout feature.
Afternoon’s chefs make everything they can from scratch, from bacon cured and smoked in-house to housemade sauces.
“That's just part of our pillars here,” Anderson said. “Making cool stuff, trying to be as sustainable as humanly possible for a small business and trying to source as much as we can locally.”
Part of Afternoon’s effort to use quality ingredients includes sourcing produce from local Alachua County farms, like Frog Song Organics and Siembra, which both grow a wide array of fruits and vegetables.
Afternoon has seen a big shift in the past few years, growing to include new additions like outside seating and a separate cafe location at South Main Station.
“Even where we're sitting used to be a patch of grass and a two-top right in front of the window,” Anderson said, “and now it's just constantly evolving and growing.”
Afternoon’s place in the Michelin Guide has increased its popularity, too. The restaurant has been much busier in the last week than expected for this time of year.
While Afternoon may be the first restaurant in Gainesville to be included in the guide, Anderson said he’s certain it won’t be the last.
“I think Gainesville just has a lot of delicious food — authentic and true food — that really speaks to the soul of Gainesville,” he said.
Contact Brandy Sumner at bsumner@alligator.org.
Brandy Sumner is an anthropology and English junior and this summer's music and performance reporter. This is their first semester working at the Alligator. In their free time they enjoy playing guitar, reading and writing.
