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"Miamense visiting Miami!"
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Review votes:
1399 Useful, 516 Funny, and 984 Cool
Miami, FL
Yelping SinceAugust 2005
Things I Lovebeach, bicycling, guitar, kayaking, arts, gym, cooking, dining out, reading.
Find Me InAnywhere, everywhere!
My HometownHouston, TX
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...Hitting the beach, drinking coffee or eating out.
Why You Should Read My ReviewsSeriously... think about it... why should you even read anybody else's reviews?!
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadWhite Apples
My Last Meal On Earthwill not be eaten - I'll just eat something else!
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...I have a weak spot for steak sandwiches! A good slab of steak is all I need....
Date
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 820-8011
arepera
Category: Latin American
PROS & CONS:
+ good tequeños ($2.95 for 4) - pretty darn good, not too doughy and definitely cheesy (but no bubbly - so European Corner all the way down in South Miami still wins for having the best tequeños)
+ good, big homemade arepas - I got the Pabellon (aka All-in-One, $5.50) - the meat and/or beans could be spiced up a little more but the guasacaca (the mildly spicy greenish sauce) helped in that department
+ fountain outside w/ seating
+ affordable!
+ excellent passion fruit juice
+ in downtown WPB (Clematis Street)
+ friendly staff
+ healthy
- the counter is reminiscent of a fast food counter.
- Americanized names in the menu (kind of takes away the authenticity if you asked me - or maybe the names should be more creative?)
PROS & CONS:
+ convenient
+ price is pretty decent
- wrapped too tightly, some petals were bruised
- some petals were discolored
- the leaves were not in that great of a condition
- some stems were too long & some too short
- just a sponge to keep the roses lasting longer by shipping? Hell no.
- there was a spider, and so a web appeared the next day.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this company.
Even a country like Colombia has a better company - La Tienda De Las Rosas. LTDLR has better packaging with a lovely ribbon, each stem has their own leak-proof water tube, the stems are just right, and the flowers were all around lovely.
This company has a lot to learn from the Colombian one.
And plus, it has been a long while since I've seen an "authentic" coffee house, and coming from Miami, this is a blessing.
PROS & CONS:
+ live music
+ no cover
+ great and expansive list of coffee, smoothies, chai lattes, tea, and even food - it would put Starbucks to shame (SIDE NOTE: people don't come for the food, but for the drinks, obviously)
+ free wi-fi
+ computer & printer available for public use
+ books and magazines available to read
+ board games available for public use
+ raw brown sugar available
+ wall with community events
No CONS here - maybe just an old place, but they certainly got the formula working. They have regulars as well as newbies coming here since it's obviously a welcoming place that encourages people to come and stay.
Miami, FL 33131
Yelp's Spice Trade at the Mandarin Oriental
Category: Local Flavor
Thanks Mandarin Oriental for letting us use the amazing space and experience your amazing service. Thank you Yelp and their great community managers (coming from NYC, Boston, Philly, and our special own, Maria) for hosting a heck of a party that'll be hard to forget!
Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 535-3050
Oliver's
Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, American (New)
And for breakfast too.
I had their french toast which was good (although I must admit that I like Clarke's version better). Here you get four large LARGE slices (and extra thick) of french toast that is well-flavored. The breakfast items are pretty simple though and refreshing - they won't wow anyone except maybe for their portions.
I can't wait to come back to try some more stuff out of the menu.
+ okay pizza
+ good bruschetta (had the barcelona - it was only 3 slices though)
+ good bread (had to ask for pepper and olive oil to make dipping since they don't have butter?!)
+ good service
+ clean bathrooms (doesn't hurt to mention this)
+ the panna cotta ($6) - I actually LOVE their panna cotta (size small btw). There's mango and strawberry, strawberry slices, and mint - it melds into a wonderful combination and I must say it's one of the best panna cotta I've had in a long time.
- bad timing (appetizer came with the meal, and the complimentary bread came last... hello?)
- hostess was... mute? I don't know, but I did the greeting, request, asking, and explaining and her response? Zilch. To me and 3 other people. Not sure if she's skirting her job but it shure felt like it!
- their 13 inches personal sized pizzas are overhyped (if it wasn't, this wouldn't be a con - $14), but they're still good. the Tuttavista pizza has cheese that overwhelmed any truffle flavor that it was supposed to have. The veggies from the barcelona bruschetta and some red peppers helped make it flavorful enough to eat it all (instead of getting the feeling of having too much from one taste)
Decent food, simple but nice ambience (maybe they could do a bit more), good company , and good service make this place an alright place to be.
+ affordable meals at large portions ($7 Vaca Frita; $8 Churrasco; and much more!)
+ do grocery shopping at the same time or while you wait
+ tasty baked goods
+ pretty consistent for the most part
+ free parking (if the parking lot is full, park across the street where there's a torch for the Bay of Pigs invasion - sets the mood before eating here too)
- can be inconsistent - last time was a shocker (Cuban bread out of French baguettes - did not taste as good, and I love French baguettes; plantains not that ripe). i guess every Cuban place (especially cheap ones) do often have bad days but the ingredients are usually fresh rather than rotten (since this is inside a decent supermarket after all)
- service is spotty - but the rule is if you sit on a counter, you get better service (since you'll be easier to spot than from the tables in the back).
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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4/7/2007 First to Review
This is a cute small mom and pop grocery store that is a good place to shop, eat, and explore in Miami's Little Havana.
Few of the products here are high quality products shipped in from Argentina, which leads me to think that this place may be owned by Argentinians. The tango magazine from New York also tipped me off on that assumption.
There's also a well stocked, small meat counter and a quaint, small bakery that reminds me of an European or French style bakery. There's also a long counter for the cafeteria that serves food at a very reasonable price. And whatever you order, be assured that the product is coming from the supermarket (raw or already made). So if you order a pan con bistec, they're going to get you a freshly cut piece of meat from the meat department, and grill it on the spot for your sandwich, in which other ingredients that makes up a sandwich are also sliced fresh.
The store-made chorizo is good as well as their stock of meat in the meat counter. It is USDA Angus grade beef, so it's safe.
Also, the ropa vieja is one of the better ones to be had in Miami. The churrasco was delicious and juicy. The portions were huge especially for the price. Consider this: $8 for a better churrasco than the $13 churrasco at La Carreta - and with bigger sides! Come on, at this price, and quality of food, I would be eating here more often - it's almost a no brainer!
You can get a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, but if you're the kind that likes thick orange juice a la mode de Tropicana, then avoid it - this is freshly squeezed so it will be watery, but with pulp. You can always have Cuban coffee instead of orange juice if that's your cup of tea.
You can't go wrong eating here. This is an excellent small Latin American grocery store where you can eat well and grab a delicious dessert from the bakery in the back to top off your meal.
Or you can go to the bakery instead of eating at the cafeteria and grab some store-made Argentinian empanadas with different assortment of flavors - each for $1.25 which is a steal even for a city like Miami! These empanadas are definitely one of my favorites in the entire city!
And across the street, you can go pick up a shake at a fruteria for $3.
The seating was nicer and quieter inside than the outside and is recommended unless if you really cared to watch people parade by you while you're sitting among tables placed a little too close together.
That being said... the filetto barolo steak was one of the priciest dish in the menu at $34. But the steak was just okay, helped by the wine reduction sauce. The sides, of beets (that was a surprise, I didn't think they would mean beets when they mentioned veggies, since it's not a really a beloved veggie in the United States) and of mashed potatoes were just okay. Pretty mediocre for the most part - and kinda made me wish I had ordered a cheaper priced pasta dish instead.
The linguini carbonara was good, but was too much pasta (it was a heck of a thick linguini too). Overall, I found the food to be just okay and I'm having a hard time believing that this would be the best place for Italian on Lincoln Road.
Friends mention to me that Sosta pizzeria on Lincoln Road (which is known for mediocre pizzas) have fabulous pastas, so that may be the place to go.
But while the food was mediocre here, I must say that the service was top-notch. I really felt that our caring waitress, Juliya, took care of us perfectly well that she made our dining experience a hard one to beat in South Beach!
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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10/9/2006
Good Italian restaurant. A little pricey though, but it is South Beach!
For dessert, their tiramesu is good. But avoid the chocolate cake - that was kind of disappointing.
I heard Le Bon had wonderful mussels. :-)
Also, I have to give kudos to them for having not one but TWO veggie burgers. One with a veggie patty and the other with portobello mushroom. That gives this place high marks for a vegetarian.
The sides are decent, and the burgers will be good. My Melrose burger, the smallest of the lot in the menu, didn't really impress - I had to add some condiments to make it good enough for me to eat it all. But that must have been my fault - I only wanted a small burger since I wasn't hungry and the other ones in the menu were just too big for me. I foresaw taking a doggy bag home and didn't want that to happen.
I want to come back to try the Smokehouse Burger, which among the staff, is promised to be the best offering in the menu.
And speaking of staff... it has been a very long time since a server has been WONDERFUL to my table. Kudos to Stephanie for making our experience a rather enjoyable one!
Their beer sampler was just okay. The pumpkin beer and the dark one (chocolate/coffee hint) were the best ones we had out of the sample. But I'm not in a rush to come back to get them.
Oh, and this place is probably packing 'em in after midnight, due to their $1 beer specials.
17 Lists
I'm Jordan & I'm a cheapskate.
Now that's out of the way, I gotta give kudos to this traditionally "second-rate" supermarket for being cheaper than most other grocery stores around here while also carrying gourmet lines (the dairy part is overpriced but the others are surprisingly a steal). They even carried caviar, fresh mozzarella ($6.99 a lb), an impressive selection of frozen goods, and more.
And I came here for the Thanksgiving preparation - and compared to the packed President's Supermarket that were having whole turkeys for $0.58 a pound (all of the turkeys were over 20 lbs - a guaranteed way of having an unevenly cooked turkey), the shopping here was easy and done at a relaxed pace, with their whole younger turkeys (which are better for cooking - between 11 and 15 pounds) going for $0.78 which were still cheaper than the main store rivals that were selling it for a dollar a pound or more.
Word. Inside looks nicer than outside.