Beloved bakery and Cuban café closing after 6 years at Optimist Hall. Here’s why

A Charlotte bakery dealing in desserts, pastries and Cuban-inspired sandwiches is closing up shop.

Suárez Bakery & Barra chose not to renew its lease at Optimist Hall, where it spent the last six years operating as a bake shop and counter-service café, management said in a message posted to Instagram on Tuesday, June 23.

Its final day of service is Tuesday, June 30. Suárez Bakery’s original Park Road location will remain open.

“This was a voluntary decision and a positive one for us,” owner Carlos Suárez told CharlotteFive in a statement, adding that the business would return to its roots and focus solely on baking.

“Optimist Hall was our first venture beyond the bakery and our first experience operating a restaurant,” he said. “We’re incredibly proud of what we built there, but we felt it was the right time to refocus on our original mission.”

Touted as a “2.0 concept,” Suárez Bakery & Barra offered pastries and doughnuts alongside a Cuban menu featuring savory sandwiches and bowls, CharlotteFive previously reported.

Cuban coffees were also available, as were light bites like yuca fries and ham and cheese croquettes.

“Our focus is on continuing the momentum at Park Road,” Suárez said. “As our bakery has grown, we felt it was the right time to put our full attention back into that side of the business.”

There are no plans to expand at the moment, but Suárez said he’s excited for what the future holds.

Local love for Suárez Bakery & Barra

Charlotteans wasted no time sending love and well wishes after learning the bakery would say goodbye to Optimist Hall. A few shared the menu items they would miss the most:

• “I appreciate all the meals I have gotten to enjoy with friends and family there,” EJ Jones commented on Instagram. “All the refueling to get me through some workouts and work.”
• “Cafe Con Tres Leches will forever live rent free in my head,” Brittany Alvarado added.
• “Where am I going to go for a good Chicken Cuban sandwich?” Marcus Miller wrote.

Suárez Bakery & Barra

Location: 1115 N Brevard Street, Stall #4, Charlotte, NC 28206 (closing soon)

Location: 4245 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC 28209

Cuisine: Pastries, sandwiches, coffee and more

Menu

Instagram: @suarezbakeryandbarra

This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 11:57 AM.

Tanasia Kenney

Sun Herald

Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.