Third Wave Cafe and Wine Bar

Third Wave Cafe and Wine Bar is a New Smyrna Beach option for diners who want a cafe and wine bar with a Mediterranean and Southern Coastal American point of view. The essentials are direct: it is listed at about $40 per person, with a smart casual dress code and hours from 8 AM to 10 PM every day except Tuesday, when it is closed.

The practical verdict is clear: choose it when the group wants one place with a coastal-cafe range rather than a narrowly defined dining format. Its confirmed signature dishes include Shrimp and Grits, Banana Bread French Toast, Honey Baby Pizza, Third Wave Salad, Buffalo Chicken Crepe, Seafood Ambrosia, which makes it useful for diners who want multiple entry points within the same visit.

Global-coastal cooking is the reason to choose it

The strongest case for going is the food identity. The venue is described as Mediterranean and Southern Coastal American, with named dishes such as Shrimp and Grits, Banana Bread French Toast, Honey Baby Pizza, Third Wave Salad, Buffalo Chicken Crepe, Seafood Ambrosia. That range tells readers what matters: this is not a narrow format, the appeal is in the crossover between cafe comfort, coastal cooking, wine-bar flexibility.

For a first visit, the smarter move is to use that range rather than treating the meal like a standard seafood dinner. The shrimp and grits signal the Southern coastal side; the pizza, salad, crepe options point to the cafe side; and the wine-bar framing gives the venue an evening identity as well. The venue works better for people who like a menu with multiple entry points and a smart casual dress code.

The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2026 gives the venue a clear external recognition point. That does not mean every diner needs to build the meal around wine, but it does make the wine-bar identity part of the appeal.

The setting suits a flexible cafe-and-wine-bar visit

Because the profile combines cafe and wine bar, the ideal way to think about Third Wave Cafe and Wine Bar is as a flexible New Smyrna Beach dining choice rather than a single-purpose stop. It can suit a relaxed visit built around the cafe side of the menu, or a more deliberate evening meal centered on the Mediterranean and Southern Coastal American range.

The confirmed hours also make planning simple: it is open from 8 AM to 10 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, closed on Tuesday. The dress code is smart casual, so guests should expect something more polished than beach-casual dressing without treating it as a formal fine-dining room.

At about $40 per person, the venue sits in a practical middle ground for New Smyrna Beach dining: planned enough to feel intentional, but not framed here as a tasting-menu or special-occasion-only restaurant. The clearest outside recognition point is the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2026.

Who should go, who should skip

Choose Third Wave Cafe and Wine Bar if you want a New Smyrna Beach cafe and wine bar with Mediterranean and Southern Coastal American cooking, a smart casual feel, a menu that ranges from Shrimp and Grits to Banana Bread French Toast, Honey Baby Pizza, Third Wave Salad, Buffalo Chicken Crepe, Seafood Ambrosia.

Skip it if you are looking for a venue with confirmed details such as a tasting menu, specific seating format, named chef profile, or published allergy accommodations; those details are not part of the confirmed information here. For most diners, the better reason to go is the cuisine, price point, hours, dress code, signature dishes, Wine Spectator recognition.