NEW BEDFORD — The popular Mirasol's Cafe in Dartmouth is expanding to New Bedford, with express service that puts lessons learned during the pandemic to good use.

"This will be where diets come to an abrupt end," Mayor Jon Mitchell said in a Facebook post sharing the news that Mirasol's Cafe will open on Fisherman's Wharf alongside The Black Whale, The Whale's Tail and Acushnet Creamery, on July 4.

"It's been a great surprise to me, how receptive and how accommodating everybody's been from City Hall to vendors to everybody," said Luis Raposo, managing partner of Mirasol's.

The cafe, located in the old Wharfinger Building, will be a quick window service, with no indoor seating and a limited menu. "It's going to be more of a grab and go kind of way," he said.

Raposo said the pandemic helped introduce their business to the "walk-up" model, after they installed a window service to accommodate COVID-19 safety protocols at their State Street location.

It's now responsible for 25% of their business.

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The original Mirasol's in North Dartmouth is 3,600-square-feet compared to the less than 1,000-square-foot former visitors center and museum where the cafe will be opening in New Bedford.

"We're trying to keep the same flavor as we're going along, but New Bedford will have a different look and feel."

The cafe will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday to Sunday, and may stay open later during special events.

And this won't be the only new location, Raposo confirmed he recently signed a lease to open another Mirasol's Cafe in Fairhaven, on People's Way near the old Benny's.

Leading Mirasol's in a new direction

Richard Romero opened Mirasol's Cafe in 2004, and Raposo took over in 2019. Born in Portugal and raised in Fall River, the UMass Dartmouth alum said he became a fan of the cafe after connecting with Romero, through a mutual friend, when he was looking to sell the business.

Raposo said the idea to open a new cafe in New Bedford came from Black Whale and Cisco Brewers Kitchen & Bar owner Stephen Silverstein.

He was impressed with Mirasol's Cafe, according to Raposo, and thought it would be a great addition to the pier. Silverstein, who was leasing the building, had plans to open a cafe in the future, but was happy to turn it over to Mirasol's instead.

The cafe will also utilize some resources from the Black Whale and share the dining area space with the clam bar. Raposo said they also hope to incorporate old pieces they found from the museum, as decoration inside the cafe.

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The cafe will be managed by Morgan Pontes, with seven other New Bedford employees who have been busy training at the current location.

"We're excited to start, we're going to open and just run," he said. "We're hoping that we can help attract more and more to that waterfront."

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford gets a Mirasol's Cafe on July 4 next to Black Whale