USPS Publication Number 16300
THE
SUMMATIONWeeklyy
This Community Newspaper is a publication of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association
S E RV I N G T H E F I RS T J U D I C I A L C I RC U I T Vol. 25, No. 10
March 5, 2025
SummationWeekly.com
1 Section, 10 Pages
Section A, Page 1
NOLITA’S PARLOR & EATERY
MI SU STREET FOOD OWNERS OPEN NEW BRICK-AND-MORTAR IN DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA
By Morgan Cole The owners of one of Pensacola’s most beloved food trucks have opened their first brick-andmortar in downtown Pensacola— Nolita’s Parlor & Eatery. Established by MI SU Street Food owners Alden and Hylene Garcia, Nolita’s serves as an extension to the Garcia’s wildly popular MI SU Street Food food truck. Located at 9 E. Gregory St. in downtown Pensacola, Nolita’s offers the full MI SU Street Food menu in a new sit-down environment. The new brick and mortar also serves as the new permanent home to the MI SU Street Food food truck. Although the official grand opening of Nolita’s is set for April 1, which will include the debut of its soft serve ice cream bar, the eatery portion is now open for business. In the meantime, customers can enjoy all of their favorites from the MI SU Street Food menu, as well as a completely different and unique fried chicken menu. “The eatery part of Nolita’s is open now and we are serving MI SU and our fried chicken pop-up, Frito’s Chicken Shop, Tuesday through Saturday,” the Garcias explained. Other menu offerings include a variety of fun craft sodas, tasty baked goods and a soft serve ice cream bar with loads of tasty toppings, which is set to make its debut this coming April. “Our goal with Nolita’s is to create a space that can be a one
stop shop for savory and sweet,” Garcia said. “The MI SU food truck is parked right outside of Nolita’s and it’s a real vibe. For a long time, parking downtown became a huge headache for us, so we feel fortunate to have this new home.” Having worked in the food industry since they were in high school, Alden and Hylene had always dreamed of one day owning their own restaurant or food truck. Since launching MI SU Street Food back in 2021, the husband and wife duo have quickly gone from new kids on the block to a local favorite.
"Our goal with Nolita’s is to create a space that can be a one-stop shop for savory and sweet."
“We are going to offer an extensive soft serve program that mainly focuses on scratch-made toppings, ranging from homemade cookie dough to fun sauces like our personal favorite, our strawberry hibiscus glaze,” Garcia said. Nolita’s features a cozy and colorful family-friendly vibe and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Large murals and art by local artists provide fun pops of color throughout the space, creating a fun and vibrant atmosphere. “Art is a huge part of our lives and we have commissioned some amazing art work from local artists such as Daniela de Castro, Poppy Garcia, Dave Ham, Nate Johnston and Aidan Garcia,” Garcia said. The name Nolita’s was inspired
by a member of the Garcia family— their beloved dog Nola—which also happens to be the couple’s favorite city. “The new school restaurants of New Orleans are a huge inspiration to us, and we like to believe we are emulating them,” Garcia explained. “Places like Turkey and the Wolf and Flour Moon Bagels tend to have more relaxed environments with food that is more fun than fancy.” When it comes to who cooks the food, Alden and the MI SU crew prepare the savory food items, and Hylene and her future crew are in charge of the sweets and baked goods. While Nolita’s currently offers an abundance of tasty craft sodas, the Garcia’s said they hope to begin offering beer and wine in the near future.
“After four years of opening MI SU in our hometown, we are very excited to expand our offerings and bring something unique to Pensacola. We appreciate the support from our core fan base and we can’t wait to see some new faces now that we have our own brick-and-mortar,” Garcia said. Nolita’s is open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 pm, and on Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 pm. You can also sample the Garcia’s newly launched fried chicken menu for lunch on Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm. For daily specials and to check out the full Nolita’s menu, visit the website misustreetfood.com and follow Nolita’s Parlor & Eatery on Facebook or @nolitas_softserve on Instagram.■
MI SU, which translates to “mine and yours” in Spanish, offers a rotating menu of unique Mexican-American snacks and specialty smash burgers—all of which can now be ordered inside Nolita’s. “We now recommend that everything be ordered inside of Nolita’s. You order at the counter and simply pick up your food outside at the truck. While we are a counter service establishment, we are trying to go above and beyond whenever we can to make our guest experience as enjoyable as possible,” Garcia said. The Garcias plan to launch the soft serve ice cream bar in April, which will feature a variety of tasty homemade toppings.
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