Overnight at Munchies 420 Cafe

Munchies 420 Cafe, the oversized burger place in Gulf Gate in Sarasota, is a hot spot for the after-midnight crowd. Saturday, October 29, 2011. (Photo by Craig Litten)

On the Saturday night before Halloween, a colorful costumed crowd moved in and out of Munchies 4:20 Cafe.

Freddy Krueger dropped by with a black cat. The Joker and Batman grabbed a booth. The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood shared an order of cheese fries.

Non-costumed customers included the usual 2 a.m. mix of night owls, late-shift workers and young partiers completing a night out in Sarasota. Kelly Bolger and Sasha Jimenez, a pair of 21-year-olds in little black dresses, ordered corn dog bites and fried pickles — two of the lighter items on a menu heavy with overstuffed sandwiches.

“This is the kind of food that soaks up all the alcohol,” Bolger said, laughing. “So you can drive home a little safer.”
They have tried most of the food at Munchies, except for the fried Twinkies. They wish they could invent a signature dish to land on the Gulf Gate restaurant’s menu.

“That’s my goal in life,” Jimenez joked. “To get on that menu.”

A cook adds cheese to a "Fat Daddy" sandwhich in the kitchen of Munchies 420 Cafe on Saturday, October 29, 2011. (Photo by Craig Litten)

4:20 to 4:20
Munchies Cafe, true to its counter-culture nickname, is open from 4:20 p.m. to 4:20 a.m. It sits as the late-night hub on a grungy corner of Superior Avenue in a neighborhood thick with bars and restaurants.

Next door is an ice cream shop and a tattoo parlor, both closed by midnight. Across the street is a coin laundry that is open all night.

Munchies is dark, tiny and cramped, with three wooden booths that seat about 18 people. Customers spill out onto picnic tables in the parking lot.

Some of them look like Justin Bieber. Some of them look like Justin Bieber’s dad. And some of them look like Justin Bieber’s worst nightmare.

Folks hang out outside of Munchies 420 Cafe, well after midnight on Saturday, October 29, 2011. (Photo by Craig Litten)

There’s a range of people who happen to be awake — and hungry — in the middle of the night.

Chad Sellick manages a Sarasota bowling alley restaurant. He often swings by Munchies on the way home.

“Whether you’re a stoner or not, it’s good stuff,” Sellick said. “They have the best Philly cheesesteak in town, I think.”
For many regulars, the Munchies scene is as important as the food. It’s a unique alternative to traditional diners and drive-through fast food. A late-night meal becomes a ritual or even a rite of passage.

When Don Brown’s brother-in-law turned 21, he joined a group of North Part partiers at a string of Sarasota bars and nightclubs. The night ended in Gulf Gate.

“We had to come to Munchies,” Brown said. “It’s what we do.”

Sandy Bird, who invented the sandwhich "Fat Sandy" on the Munchies 420 Cafe menu, rings up an order on Saturday, October 29, 2011. (Photo by Craig Litten)

Sandy’s sandwich
Over the last decade, Munchies has become a late-night institution in Sarasota. A Gainesville cafe opened this year, but Munchies doesn’t feel much like a corporate restaurant or franchise business. The “4:20” part of its name comes from a cultural reference that refers to 4:20 as a frequent time for users of marijuana to light up, and is a way for people to talk about pot without mentioning it by name.

A handwritten sign on the door says, “Sorry, no children inside after 10 p.m.” A TV over the bar shows “Harold and Kumar” movies.

Sandy Bird, a 26-year-old behind the bar, created the most popular item on the Munchies menu.

It’s called the Fat Sandy Sandwich, and sells for $9.79. On a footlong bun, it carries a picnic — two burger patties, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, potato wedges and onion rings, all covered in mac and cheese.

This is inspired, or insane, or a little bit of both.

“I got lucky,” said Sandy, who sports a lip ring and sleeve of tattoos. “It was on that ‘Man v. Food’ show, so I got my 15 minutes of fame, but it was more like five seconds.”

The after-midnight crowd inside Munchies 420 Cafe on Saturday, October 29, 2011. (Photo by Craig Litten)

Munchies also offers diners a “Fire in Your Hole” challenge of eating an order of super-spicy chicken wings. That special ends at 10 p.m., to discourage poor decision-making late at night.

A Wall of Fame features photos of people who completed the challenge. Some of them are smiling and giving a thumbs-up.

A Wall of Shame has snapshots of those who failed. Some of them are doubled over, barfing.

Fans and critics
Munchies has its critics, especially online. People complain about the decor and the food and the service, which does tend to back up after midnight, when things are busiest.

At Yelp.com, respondents said the cafe reminded them of high school — which could be a compliment, or not.
Young people are the most devoted fans. The cafe is known to high school and college kids up and down the Gulf Coast. It’s like a teenaged fantasy of staying up late, going out, and then eating unholy amounts of unhealthy food.

“You can come out, 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, and that’s cool,” said Jimenez, who hails from Venice. “Anywhere you go, people know about Munchies.”