Cao Bakery & Café, the Cuban bakery-café concept created by the family behind Vicky Bakery, is opening a Pembroke Pines location in the former Char-Hut space on Taft Street, according to the brand's Instagram. No opening date has been announced through official channels.
The Vicky Bakery family name carries weight in South Florida's Cuban bakery market. Vicky Bakery built its reputation across Miami-Dade as a reliable reference point for Cuban pastry — the kind of operation that earns repeat morning traffic over decades rather than a single news cycle. Cao runs as a distinct concept under the same family's ownership, carrying forward the same culinary tradition while establishing its own storefront identity.
The menu, per the operator's Instagram, spans Cuban pastries, croquetas, cafecito, sandwiches, and all-day bakery staples — a format with proven durability in South Florida's Latin-majority suburbs, where a strong morning coffee program can anchor foot traffic well into the afternoon. It is a meaningful shift in use for the Taft Street address: Char-Hut, the South Florida regional chain, had occupied that corner for years before the space became available.
Pembroke Pines is a considered expansion target. The city's large Cuban-American and broader Latin population mirrors the demographic base that sustained Vicky Bakery through its Miami-Dade growth, and western Broward has seen consistent demand for Cuban counter-service formats as the population has spread north and inland from Miami. Adding a Taft Street outpost extends Cao's reach into territory where the brand has not previously operated.
The brand describes itself as fast-growing, and the Pembroke Pines move appears to continue a pattern of adding South Florida locations rather than a one-off push into a new market. Whether additional Broward announcements follow will clarify how aggressively the family is pacing its northern expansion. An opening timeline has not been confirmed.
