Last fall, 14 N. Federal Highway was serving brisket nachos, tacos, fajitas and chicken burritos under the name The Hen and The Hog Smokehouse Cantina. This fall, the same address opens at 7 a.m. with a Brown Butter Cast Iron Pancake and French toast on house-baked Japanese cinnamon milk bread. The operator is the same and the kitchen moved toward breakfast. Up the road, a bakery and a brunch bar are on the same kind of clock.
Taken together, the newest food businesses on North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach are betting on your morning. If you live on the east side of Pompano, that changes where you go for coffee, eggs and a Cuban pastry before the beach.
One Storefront, Two Tries
The Hen and The Hog name has been known in South Florida for all-day Southern brunch. In September 2025, its owners tried something different at 14 N. Federal. The Sun Sentinel previewed a Mexican-barbecue hybrid with a soft opening set for Sept. 15. It was a 3,000-square-foot cantina with shrimp and grits, smoked brisket melts and pulled pork sandwiches alongside the tacos.
It closed Jan. 5, 2026. Co-owner George Abbondante told the Sun Sentinel that the cantina had "significant staffing issues."
His next concept for the space went back to what the brand started with. In its fall openings roundup, the Sun Sentinel described GRUB, A Finer Diner, as an upscale spinoff of the Hen and the Hog bruncheries, with Abbondante "back to breakfast basics." He gave the paper his own summary of the food:
"real-deal comfort food with Southern soul"
The menu he described included Japanese milk-bread French toast, slow-smoked brisket croquettes and fried green tomato benedicts. Dinner was planned too, with shrimp and grits, bacon-onion fondue burgers and country-fried steak. Some of the smoker work from the cantina carried over, but the restaurant's center of gravity moved from the evening to the morning.
The Diner Got Shorter, Not Longer
Opening-day reports differed. The Sun Sentinel listed Oct. 1, per Abbondante. On Oct. 2, Pompano Beach Insider announced an Oct. 7 opening. It said the diner would serve breakfast, brunch and dinner seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with breakfast all day and a kitchen led by Chef Kinsler Josaime, a Miami native. That article also listed chicken and waffles, in-house smoked meats, a coffee and tea bar and signature milkshakes.
GRUB is open now. As of late October, though, the diner's own website lists 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day of the week, with pickup, delivery and online ordering.
So far, then, GRUB is running as a breakfast-and-lunch house. The 9 p.m. dinner service in the announcement is not on the posted schedule. For anyone planning around it, check the website before going in the evening. The 7 a.m. start is the detail that counts on this stretch, because no other new spot already open on North Federal starts that early.
At The Causeway, Breakfast Is A Weekend Thing
Farther north, Prescott's Pompano Beach sits at 1308 N. Federal Highway, where US 1 meets the 14th Street Causeway. Pompano Beach Insider reported in August that it opened on a simple promise: breakfast early, tapas late. Owners Prescott Landon and Emma Taylor describe it as owner-operated. The Insider also noted that the owner is usually on the floor and that regulars already know his dog, Bacon, by name.
The morning menu is built around The Big Breakfast, avocado toast, a lox bagel and three-egg omelets. At noon the kitchen switches to tapas such as ceviche, coconut shrimp, mini smash burgers, French onion soup and fish and chips. The draw on the bar side is an all-day happy hour, along with live music several nights a week, trivia, comedy, and a Sunday brunch with singer Violet Jeffries.
The hours have changed since that August write-up. At the time, Prescott's opened at 11 a.m. Monday through Wednesday and at 10 a.m. Thursday through Sunday. As of late October, Prescott's website lists this schedule:
- Monday and Tuesday: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Wednesday and Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The breakfast menu is still there, but the only 10 a.m. starts left are Saturday and Sunday. Early in the week, Prescott's is an afternoon and evening bar. That puts it a step behind GRUB on the morning clock, and the two places fit together. GRUB covers 7 a.m. to mid-afternoon. Prescott's covers weekend brunch and everything after 3.
The Cuban Coffee Arriving In Between
The next morning business is going in between those two addresses. Vicky Bakery has a location coming to 1154 N. Federal Highway, on the east side of the road north of Atlantic Boulevard. Its website listed the shop as "Baking Soon." The Cuban bakery was founded in 1972 by Antonio and Gelasia Cao and now has about 25 Florida locations. Until now, the closest shops to Pompano Beach have been in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation and Hollywood.
Franchisee Yamile Hernandez has run the Boca Raton Vicky Bakery since 2023, and this will be her second store. She told Business Debut she is targeting an opening by the end of November. As of this week, no exact date has been announced. The plans describe a 1,630-square-foot shop with indoor seating and takeout, traditional Cuban pastries and breads, all-day breakfast, Cuban sandwiches, bowls and catering.
Hernandez named ham croquetas as a top seller and put the coffee first. "We're known for the Cuban coffee, the iced coffee," she told Business Debut. She grew up in Miami-Dade and kept going to Vicky Bakery after moving north. "It's something that I was missing up here. I used to drive for it," she said.
For the menu itself, Pompano Beach Insider lists guava-and-cheese pastelitos, croquetas, empanadas, cakes and Cuban coffee, made from recipes the company says are still passed down through the Cao family. When it opens, the strip will have something it lacks now: a grab-and-go counter for a cafecito and a pastelito on the way to the causeway or the beach.
Planning A Morning On North Federal
Here is how the strip lines up for the next few weeks, based on each business's posted plans as of late October:
- A weekday at 7 a.m.: GRUB at 14 N. Federal is the new option already open, with breakfast available until it closes at 3 p.m.
- A weekend brunch with music: Prescott's opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and the Sunday brunch features Violet Jeffries.
- After the beach: The Insider points out that Prescott's has on-site parking and is on the way home from the pier for most of east Pompano. Its all-day happy hour covers the hours after GRUB closes.
- Late November onward: Watch 1154 N. Federal for Vicky Bakery's opening day, targeted for the end of the month.
The fall dinner openings are clustering elsewhere. RimLay Seafood, a Thai-influenced, New Orleans-style seafood-boil restaurant run by Laddawan "Tammy" Boonlong and Dusadee "Mr. Big" Boonlong, is targeting shortly after Thanksgiving at 3428 E. Atlantic Blvd. Pho Bar Vietnamese Kitchen is still listed as "Coming Soon" for the Pompano Beach Shopping Center at 2515 E. Atlantic Blvd., with no date set. On North Federal, the new openings run on a morning schedule, starting at 7 a.m. at GRUB, with Vicky Bakery next in line by the end of November.
If you're thinking about a home or condo a short drive from your new favorite cafecito, Patti Davila PA can show you what the east side of Pompano Beach looks like before 10 a.m., in English, Spanish, French or Italian. Schedule your concierge consultation.
