Diana eating her way through South Florida
My love for food started when I moved out with my amazing boyfriend. We started cooking different recipes during the week and cooking a different meal became one of my favorite things I look forward to during the week. Also, four years ago we started partaking Miami Spice(which I plan on writing a post about this year when it comes around). We took full advantage of Miami Spice and went to some of the finest restaurants in Miami. Miami Spice is what started our food addiction. Every weekend my boyfriend and I try one of those “Restaurants that you should try in South Florida.” So, this week I want to share a variety of restaurants for you all! Starting from one of my favorite breakfast joints, to what has become one of my favorite Salvadorian restaurants, a food truck, two date/friends night out restaurants.
My Breakfast Joint: Tom Sawyers
With two locations, one in West Palm Beach the other one in Boca Raton, Tom Sawyers is a wood-paneled American fixture food country breakfasts and comfort food driven lunches. I haven’t had the chance to come for lunch but the breakfasts are to die for! you will be full for a whole day (at least I was) . If you come here for breakfast make sure you come hungry! Two of my main recommendations are breakfast in a pot and breakfast skillet. Breakfast in a pot is basically two buttermilk biscuits topped with sausages gravy, scramble eggs, melted cheddar cheese and your choice of western (ham, onions, green peppers), 3 meats (bacon, ham, sausage), and veggie (onions, tomato, mushrooms). Breakfast skillet is a slightly lighter version of breakfast in a pot. Breakfast skillet is cooked with homemade& cheese, two eggs, and a choice of toast, biscuits, or English muffin, and your choice of the 3 meats, veggie, or western. These two dishes are a bit intense but definitely worth trying. If you want to try something different from these two meals you can also try the French toast and you won’t go wrong! Make sure that if you go on weekends be prepared to wait they – are always busy.
My Salvadorian Joint: El Guanaco
For those of you who don’t yet know I was born in El Salvador and as a good Salvadorian I’ve been looking for the best Salvadorian restaurants in South Florida. El Guanaco is located in Fort Lauderdale between Commercial Blvd and Oakland Park Blvd. One of the owners is Salvadorian and the other is Mexican and I think this is definitely the best way to run a business because their Salvadorian and Mexican food is very delicious. On this post I will focus on their Salvadorian food. My two recommendations will be the two most known Salvadorian dishes: pupusas and tamales. We had two tamales for appetizers and I can certainly tell you that I felt like I was eating tamales on a Saturday night back home watching Sabado Gigante or Cantinflas. Las pupusas (for those of you who don’t know what pupusas ) are a traditional Salvadorian dish made of a hand-made corn tortilla stuffed with your choice of shredded pork, chicken, steak or shrimp with melted cheese. The most common pupusas are cheese only, cheese with pork, cheese with beans, cheese con loroco, and mixed (revueltas which is basically pork, cheese, and beans). I have to say that their pupusas also brought me back to a pupuseria in El Salvador. They were definitely one of the best pupusas I have had in South Florida! Also, make sure you order a horchata which is also a Salvadorian drink. My boyfriend ordered the “Torta Mexicana” or a Mexican Sandwhich and it also tasted delicious! Don’t get fooled by the location or outside appearance of this restaurant because the Mexican-Salvadorian flavors are surely there!
A Mexican food truck: Tropical Tacos
Oh my God! I surely have an obsession with food trucks! The past few months I have spent my weekends attending food trucks events in order to try some of the best food trucks in South Florida! Also, I’m a big supporter of small mom and pop restaurants, and new trends. Tropical Tacos is a steady food truck located on state road 84. They have a good selection of tacos “street tacos” to be more specific plus burritos and other Mexican foods. You can’t go wrong if you try the lengua (beef tongue) tacos or carne asada (tacos). If you are around the area I definitely recommend you give Tropical Tacos a try.
Friday night with friends: Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink (MGFD)
Located in Miami’s Design District one of my favorite things from MGFD is that their menus change daily because they start with what’s in season and arriving at their kitchen from local farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and artisans! Not many restaurants now at days use local farmers so I give this restaurant a thumbs up for that! The atmosphere is very relaxed with an open kitchen with a U-shaped bar. They also have an open patio right in the middle of shopping stores. The food here is simple, but different enough that you can just taste the freshness on its food. The menu is divided into small, medium, large, and extra large dishes. We decided to go with a few small and medium dishes in order to try different things. If you decide to go with the large ones I know the current slow roasted & grilled harris ranch beef short rip, slow roasted pork shoulder, and grilled spiced leg of lamb are of the people’s favorites. However, if you want to try smaller plates like we did I recommend the duck confit, the pig ears, the crispy sweet and spicy pork belly, and from the bar the tuna tartare or triggerfish tartare (triggerfish is an ocean fish from the Florida and Carribean region so not always on season). The pig ears are very crunchy and flavorful so definitely worth trying! The sweet & spicy pork belly was phenomenal. It had more like an asian flair since it’s made with their homemdade kimchi. The duck was also very well cooked, fancy French style, even though duck is not one of m favorite meats I enjoyed their duck confit. Also, I recommend you try one of their housemade sodas. Yes! Omg housemade sodas tell me what restaurant serves house made sodas? I ordered the ginger lemongrass and I just could not stop drinking it! They also have an amazing brunch and dessert menu. Because MGFD is one of the best American restaurants in Miami recommended by Zagat , because MGFD is own by Michael Schwartz, a James Beard Award-Winner, because Anthony Bourdain recommend MGFD, and because what got my attention was Michael’s passion for fresh, simple, pure food and drinks, and his support for local farmers, makes this restaurant a “You must try” in South Florida.
Date Night: Dolores but you can call me Lolita
Dolores but you can call me Lolita is one of the restaurants from the Passion Restaurant Group. Located in the heart of Brickell, Dolores but you can call me Lolita is the perfect place for drinks with friends or a date. I fell in love with their uniqueness starting with different quotes on their walls, the phone holders box with a message “In order to build your relationship keep your phone away while eating” I thought it was very cute and unique, included with receipt was a “gratuity card” that listed about 10 things they were thankful for having us as customers. I loved their uniqueness! The food is good, it is not out of the world but it is food and if you are around the area I think is worth trying, or stopping by for a drink in their patio. We ordered the Serrano Ham croquettes, and seared tuna tartaki for appetizer, the carpaccio di manzo, and the BBQ baby back ribs for entrees and we were pleased with our meals.
This concludes my 5 must try places in South Florida for this week. There are definitely more that I will write about and if anyone has any other recommendations. Recommendations are very much welcome. I’ll keep eating my way through South Florida and sharing with you all. Until next time…
