Many a Miami-Dade neighborhood can claim a renaissance these days: the Design District, Little Havana, the perennially metamorphic Lincoln Road. But despite all that these hip, renovated enclaves offer, few can match the romantic Old World charm of Coconut Grove.

There is nothing more invigorating than a stroll under the green canopy of the majestic banyans and the blooming bougainvillea of the Grove, where all roads lead to a sidewalk caf? as in Paris.

Among the neighborhoods' most endearing haunts, the Green Street Cafe is a longtime favorite with new offerings and one caveat: the long waits.

Almost 10 years old now, the restaurant revamped its menu three months ago after a study of the clientele showed that 90 percent are repeat customers -- Grovites who live within two miles and walk to the restaurant. Bored with some of the offerings, they wanted more variety without losing some of the old favorites.

The result: A more complete menu with a winning combination of comfortable tradition and about 15 new offerings of salads, pastas and daily specials that include fancier fish and meat plates. Of the old Mexican touches, only the fountain and colorful tiles inside the restaurant remain. The Italian-Caribbean-American splash stays intact.

Among the more imaginative new items is a basil-zucchini soup ($3.25 cup, $4.50 bowl) that looks like a cream, tastes like a cream, but is allegedly fat-free. It is served warm in winter and cold in summer. The old potato soup is still around but it doesn't quite compare. Try the new.

OLD IS BEST

It's tough to find a salad here that isn't fresh and interesting, but nothing beats the old Roman's salad ($8.25, add $2.10 for the sliced jerk chicken breast, an absolute must unless you are a vegetarian). The mix of feta, chopped tomatoes, baby greens and thin shavings of the jerk chicken, all of it splashed in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, is worth the trip every time.

There are three new salads: the couscous ($9), which has chopped yellow and red peppers, zucchini, onion, fresh mint and a side of mixed baby greens; the grilled chicken tenders salad ($9.50), made with grilled Cajun chicken tenders served over mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette; and the salmon salad ($10.50) of cold poached salmon over mixed baby greens, also in a balsamic vinaigrette.
There's a lot to praise among the new pastas, especially those with a healthier touch. The new, homemade meat lasagna ($11.50) is served with a light white sauce. Sylvano's linguine with chicken ($14.50), named after the cafe's owner, is also devoid of heavy creams and is served with a pesto sauce and topped with sliced grilled chicken breast.

Among the entrees, the new offerings stand out for their versatility, from orange duck ($17) and vegetable tofu stir-fry ($11) to salmon and snapper filets ($17 and $18) to a 10-ounce skirt steak ($17). But as casual and easy-going as this restaurant feels, it's tough to get in the mood for such heavy mainstream fare.

It's best to go light and leave room for dessert (all of them are pretty standard, delicious and traditional like the pecan pie la mode, $6.45), or charge the batteries for a post-dinner walk with a specialty coffee like the one called French Kiss.

WAIT AND SALIVATE

What hasn't changed at all at Greenstreet Cafe is the frustrating waits. While nearby restaurants often have empty tables, there's usually a double-whammy of a wait here: first for a table, especially if you want to sit outside under the green umbrellas, and then throughout the meal. Attracting the waiter's attention, even for small matters like getting bread, is a chore. Our bread didn't make an appearance until the entrees finally did, and those, of course, were way late.

So don't come here starving, with a short-running meter ticking, or a deadline to meet. It's much better to get into the groove of a strip of South Florida that may look like the lush caf?-lined boulevards of Europe but moves languidly to the breezy rhythms of its Bahamian roots.