Tallahassee’s beloved Midtown cafe marks three decades with familiar faces and a loyalty that spans generations
Thirty years ago, Susannah Frick Dozier walked up to a man named Keith Baxter and made him a promise.
“I will be the best employee you ever hire,” she told the chef and hopeful restaurant owner. Kool Beanz Café didn’t even have a location yet — it was still a concept.
On June 4, Kool Beanz turns 30. And Susannah will still be there.
‘A happy place’
A Tallahassee native, she has spent the better part of three decades in that dining room, greeting families at the door, watching children grow up, and building a job that’s more like a calling. She calls Kool Beanz her “happy place.”
“I may have started out knowing the grandparents and meeting their young children,” Susannah said in a written reflection to mark the occasion. “Now I take care of their grandchildren and sometimes their great-grandchildren. That is what 30 years of Kool Beanz is — it’s a community that is truly full of love.”
In an industry notorious for turnover, Kool Beanz has cultivated something rarer than a good recipe: loyalty. It flows in both directions – from staff to customers and back again – and it has made this eclectic Midtown restaurant one of Tallahassee’s most enduring dining institutions.
She, and other Kool Beanz fans, credit Keith for bringing his spark to the Tallahassee dining scene. He’s also been willing to take a chance, see where life takes you.
Keith left his London home to answer an ad for employment opportunities overseas. It ended up being job training in the U.S. at a Burger Queen. He later worked for a restaurant owner in Eastern Kentucky who he has said “taught me so much about the restaurant business while at the same time imparting wisdom that my 22-year-old self did not understand or appreciate until many birthdays later.
“He taught me humility and to be connected to the community but most of all he preached that restaurants are a people business first,” Keith said. “The people who come and sit at your table and the people who make it happen.”
It was advice that Keith took to heart.
“I’ve been able to meet and get to know people I’d never been able to meet otherwise, from all walks of life and a lot of them have become friends,” he said. “I’m forever grateful to them.”
That sense of home – of being somewhere familiar and feeling genuinely cared for – is exactly what Keith Baxter set out to create when he opened the doors in June 1996. And it may be the truest explanation for how a restaurant not only survives three decades but still draws a packed parking lot.
Keith Baxter is marking the 30th anniversary of his restaurant, Kool Beanz. Photo / Tallahassee Table
“I’m not motivated by making a lot of money,” Keith said. His mission has been simple: to cultivate people. The business plan was really a people plan.
That philosophy runs directly into how he runs his kitchen. Executive chef Trey Chase started as a line cook about 12 years ago and never attended culinary school. Keith trained him, watched him grow and eventually put him in charge of the kitchen and the menu. “He’s been superb,” Keith said.
It’s the same story with Jessica Reeve, who has been with Kool Beanz for more than a decade. She and Trey share the duties of general manager. The pattern is deliberate: Keith doesn’t hire outside when he can promote from within.
“I take pride in motivating a group of people who like working here and working with other people,” he said. He believes that when the employees serving you genuinely want to be there, it gives customers permission to relax. The atmosphere isn’t manufactured – it’s a byproduct of the staff.
Seared scallops are a special treat at Kool Beanz Cafe. Photo / Kool Beanz
Customers like Seth Clark have been testing that proposition for years. The Tallahassee investment officer first walked in as something of a newcomer 26 years ago. He’d driven past the place every day until a fried oysters listing on the board finally pulled him in. Having grown up in Ohio, and never eaten an oyster, he figured it was time.
He never really stopped coming back.
“The food’s fantastic, and it’s been consistently fantastic for 26 years,” Seth said. “The menu changes — something’s always different — but the quality never does. That’s what keeps you coming.”
Seth has a particular devotion: the flank steak with blue cheese ale sauce. “If I’m in the hospital with last wishes,” he said, only half-joking, “go to Kool Beanz and get me the flank steak with blue cheese ale sauce.”
‘The Kool Beanz way’
That kind of single-dish passion is something Kool Beanz inspires with some regularity. But the real draw is the variety — a menu that shifts daily, pulling from European, South American, Asian and Indian influences and putting what Trey calls “the Kool Beanz way” on all of it. A grouper might have a Southwestern profile one day and a Korean one the next. Standards like mojo chicken, black bean cakes and linguine with tasso ham hold their place, but there’s always something new alongside them.
“A lot of it comes from understanding different flavor profiles and different textures,” Trey said. “We put our own twist on things.”
When Kool Beanz turned 25, the story was partly one of survival: two fires, a pandemic, the sheer stubborn persistence of keeping a restaurant alive. At 30, the story is something else. It’s about what happens when a place becomes so woven into the lives of devoted customers that it starts to measure time for them.
Kathleen Villacorta and her husband have been fans since the beginning. They’ve celebrated birthdays and other milestones at Kool Beanz. When their children wanted to do something truly memorable for their anniversary, they arranged a surprise – they had Keith come and cook for them.
“We have so many happy memories there,” Kathleen said. “It’s not just the food, it’s the atmosphere. The people have been there so long. They’re so happy and they want us to be happy. It’s a full body experience.”
Keith’s connection to his customers and staff have led to his broader conviction to help our local organizations and causes.
A culture of giving
“While we have enjoyed the delicious and unique meals Keith and his staff have prepared for so many of us, Keith has also quietly and generously served many of our community’s arts, culture and social services over those years,” said Tyler Turkle, artist, filmmaker and former organization director.
That commitment has been constant while Kool Beanz has grown with Tallahassee.
“When we first started, it was a gas station with 42 seats,” Keith said. The place had loud acoustics, which helped them come up with their well-known slogan: “Eat, drink and talk loud. You’re among friends.”
As business increased, the restaurant grew. Keith covered the outside patio and expanded the kitchen, which added 40 more seats. Then he created a small private dining room with a kitchen, which seats another 30. During the pandemic, when restaurants had to cut back 50 percent of seating, Keith first put furniture in the parking lot – then he built an outdoor deck.
All that was possible because “the two owners of the building were very supportive, especially during Covid,” he said of David Browning and Paui Bradshaw.
Just before the 30th anniversary, Kool Beanz unveiled another interior renovation – fresh, brighter paint, new bathrooms, new blinds. The bones of the place remain. So does the local art on the walls.
Thirty years in, the friends keep coming back. Stop in on June 4 to celebrate — Kool Beanz will offer a complimentary glass of champagne at lunch and dinner.
IF YOU GO…
What: Kool Beanz Café is at 921 Thomasville Rd.; 850-224-2466; https://www.thekoolbeanzcafe.com/
Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Dinner on Monday to Thursday is 5:30 to 9 p.m. Dinner on Friday and Saturday night is 5:30 to 10 p.m. Closed Sunday.
