Mission:
Pick places to eat that won’t break the bank and that has something for everyone. Now this is usually a difficult task for any group, but we were made up of one unemployed person, a full-time college student and an hourly daycare teacher. Additionally, all hot girls have stomach issues and my sister’s was acting up. She requested chicken caesar salad every night. On top of that, my cousin is a pescatarian. Personally, I eat pretty much everything and I’m no food critic. With that said, here’s what we ate and whether or not I recommend them.
Lunches & Dinners
Mama’s Tacos – do not recommend
We ate here for dinner the first night because it is a Mexican restaurant with a Caesar salad on the menu. The food was not very good and the atmosphere was worse. We sat outside (on the sidewalk) and many characters walked very close to us throughout the meal. This seemed to be common for the South Beach restaurants.
I ordered the tacos la rosa de Guadalupe. They tasted slimy or greasy and I wondered if there was something on them that I did not remember from the menu. It did say something in Spanish, which I did not read. The menu says “es un suspiro,” which Google translated to “it’s a sigh.” This seems like a weird thing to write if it’s the correct translation?? But it was accurate for the taste. My sister and I liked the plain rice with pico de gallo it came with at least. I live in Los Angeles, but I’ve had better Mexican food and experiences in multiple other states. Overall, the only thing I liked about this place was that it had a Caesar salad to appease my sister.
Lucali’s – recommend
I’m from New Jersey, and most of my childhood friends live in NYC now. We know good pizza. So when my friend saw that I was in Miami, she said that I finally need to try Lucali. I have heard her talk about waiting hours for this pizza in New York on multiple occasions.
I tried calling ahead for a reservation with the phone number on their Yelp and Apple Maps profiles. It kept ringing. After reading reviews on Yelp, I found out that they do not have a phone and don’t take reservations. So, we Ubered over and put our names in at 8:37pm. They said it would be an hour, but we got a text that the table was ready 19 minutes later and they gave us 10 minutes to get back to the host stand. We sat outside, which was a little cold because there were no heaters (it was January). Also, there was a big group waiting on the sidewalk next to us. Once they sat down, it was pretty peaceful because not many people were walking by like when we ate at Mama’s Tacos. Then it was just cold.
The pizza was good and tastes like Conte’s in Princeton, NJ. It was a little thin for my taste, but it was a win for a group dinner because everyone liked it.
La Sandwicherie – recommend
I searched Yelp for some lunch options while we were sitting on the beach and saw La Sandwicherie as a top recommendation. This place lives up to the hype! I’ve never had sweet fruits on a sandwich, but it was so good. Also, why was the iced coffee so cheap and good?
We placed an order over the phone from the beach. It took us 15 minutes to walk there and it was ready by the time we had paid at the register. We took the order to-go eat poolside at our hotel. There was nowhere to sit inside, because the Miami Beach location is basically a kitchen with a bar for people to sit at and eat.
Il Dante – recommend
This place was so good that we went back the next day before heading to the airport. My sister and I got the Top 1 sandwich, which had prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes & pesto on Italian bread. The wait was 10 or 15 minutes from the time we ordered.
It’s a small cafe, so if there’s a line, chances are people will be standing next to you if you sit down to eat.
South Beach Cafe – do not recommend
We chose this place because we passed it while walking back to the hotel, and my sister and cousin were recovering from a tough plane ride. There was a line the entire time we were there. There are a few tables, only one of which is inside. The person taking orders had a weird sense of humor if I remember correctly. They seem overworked because they were constantly busy the whole time I was there.
I ordered the turkey & cheese panini. Pretty hard to mess up, but the turkey had no flavor. I don’t recommend this place.
Sola Miami – recommend
Sola Miami is located in the Fairwind Hotel Miami. It is completely outdoors and has a water feature/pool in the middle. We went on a Wednesday night and there were only maybe three or four other tables taken. We sat at a booth facing the rest of the restaurant. I advocated for this place so that I could wear my clubby shirt. I ordered a margarita, which was strong, and the mandarin fried chicken salad (pictured). Pretty sure that was not fried chicken, but it was good. We also had a shrimp cocktail appetizer which has nice, big shrimps. The service was good too. Overall, I’d recommend this place for the ambiance with a variety of food options.
Drinks & Dessert
Mango’s
We stopped at Mango’s for a drink and mocktails. The girls liked their mocktails and I liked my sangria. It was fun because there was a show with dancers while we sat at a table on the sidewalk. We didn’t try to go inside because there was a bouncer and my sister is underage. I remember there were a couple cop cars parked across the street, and I wasn’t sure if this should make me feel safer or more in danger.
Gelato
We tried two different gelato places this trip: Gelato-go South Beach and Beach Park Hotel. The gelato at Beach Park Hotel was WAY better tasting. The employees were friendly at both, but at the hotel location, the employee gave us multiple samples and made conversation with us.
