Puerto Rican in Miami

295 NW 82nd Ave. Doral

786-458-8240

Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Seafood, Best Of, Sponsor

Benny's Mofongo (BEHN-eez moh-FOHN-goh) (n.): A delicious Puerto Rican dish made of deep-fried plantains mashed together with garlic and pork rinds in a mortar with a pestle. (Also see: ¡Ay, m'ija, qué rico!) The rest of the menu at this Doral spot is a Puerto Rican nostalgia trip, just like our tía abuela from Loiza used to make it, but the mofongo is porkily sublime, earning the place a visit from Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives a few years ago. Served in a small mortar (or a large one for sharing with the rest of the table) with a side of chicken consommé (or caldo), mofongo comes plain or topped with fried pork, shrimp, chicken, steak, or lobster, for the truly indulgent. The mortars are cast with some sort of spell that leaves them incapable of emptying, no matter how much you fanatically shovel into your empanada-hole, but you won't mind taking your abundant leftovers with you while singing "La Borinqueña" the entire ride home.

2 articles

100 x 35 Cocina con Raices

520 W. Ave., Miami Beach South Beach

305-763-8904

Latin American, Nuevo Latino, Puerto Rican

Benny's Seafood

2500 SW 107th Ave. Central Dade

305-227-1232

Puerto Rican, Seafood, Recommended, Menu

Although Benny's bills itself as a seafood establishment, land and sea are equally represented on the menu. Besides, this pleasant storefront luncheonette is really known for authentic Puerto Rican cuisine. Appetizers include fried blood sausage, and green banana ceviche stocked with chicken gizzards. More gringo-friendly starters feature a variety of meat, poultry, and seafood fillings fried in empanada-dough (empanadilla) or yuca-dough (alcapurria), or tucked within a masa of yautía and green plantains steamed tamale-style in banana leaf (pastel). Everyone at Benny's seems to order the mofongo. You can have the fried-plantain specialty straight up or choose from an entire page of meat, poultry, and shellfish toppings. Most popular is the one piled with thick chunks of terrifically juicy fried pork. Lobster, shrimp, and snapper come breaded and fried, or sautéed in garlic and butter, or awash in a pimiento-sweetened, slightly spicy, tomato-creole sauce. Seafood dinners, with choice of two sides, range in price from $17.95 to $22.95 (Benny's is a bargain). Try chilled maví, a strange iced brew made from tree bark, or the Puerto Rican rendition of eggnog (coquito). Mostly, though, try Benny's for distinctive island cuisine from someplace other than Cuba.

3 articles

Carmen the Restaurant

700 Biltmore Way Coral Gables/S. Miami

305-913-1944

Fusion, New American, Puerto Rican, Best Of

Simply, chef/owner Carmen Gonzalez's new place is the most exciting restaurant to open in South Florida in years. The eatery is actually three distinctly different experiences in one: regular restaurant, chef's dining room, and casual European-style wine bar with some unusually sophisticated bottles, 14 available by the glass, and an absolutely knockout menu of bar bites. Although strongly Latin-accented, Gonzalez's food is post New American rather than Nuevo Latino, with an insistence on fresh flavors (everything at Carmen is housemade from scratch, from the the catsup accompanying the shoestring potatoes to the pickles). It additionally reflects Latin America's increased influence over the past two decades since North America's food revolution first exploded. Highlights include a roasted duck tamale with vintage port wine sauce, sirloin and mango dumplings with a 17-ingredient AmerAsian sauce, lobster/avocado terrine with key lime mayo and plantain fritters, grilled whole pompano with nouvelle-ishly luscious takes on classic Puerto Rican mofongo and mojito, designer mini-sandwiches of adobe-rubbed roast pork, and the Ultimate chocolate soufflé.

16 articles

Chefs on the Run

10 E. Mowry Dr. Homestead/Florida City

305-245-0085

Puerto Rican, Essentials

Puerto Rican-born chef/owner Jodrick Ujaque took stints at well-known Caribbean-inspired Miami establishments before opening his Homestead restaurant in 2011. With influence, however, comes innovation, evidenced by a menu that displays a tasty blend of American, Taíno, Caribbean, and even Asian influences. The eight-table dining room is simple, dark, and rustic, if a tad cramped. Start with pa' picar — snacks like bolita de queso (deep-fried golden torpedos of stretchy cassava dough filled with Gouda and white cheddar) and alcapurria (delicate picadillo nestled in a plantain masa and fried to crisp perfection). Puerto Rican purists might pass on more unorthodox offerings like macarrones con res, a truffle and chipotle mac & cheese made with cotija cheese and birria-style braised beef. But they'll surely rejoice when presented with the mofongo, a Boricua staple of pounded green plantain mash mixed with nibs of pork-belly chicharrón and shaped into a sphere, whose starchy texture softens when dunked into the accompanying caldo de pollo. It can be served alongside chicken, shrimp, or steak and arroz con gandules, the Caribbean island's version of rice and beans.

Cilantro 27

723 Lincoln Ln. N., Miami Beach South Beach

786-366-7235

Peruvian, Puerto Rican

1 article

El Rinconcito De Santa Barbara Cafeteria

2050 W. 56th St. Hialeah

305-819-5590

Caribbean, Puerto Rican, South American, Best Of, Menu

4 articles

Jimmy'z Kitchen

1542 Alton Rd., Miami Beach South Beach

305-534-8216

Puerto Rican, Salads, Sandwiches, Best Of, Menu

Jimmy'z Kitchen's famous mofongo (fried plantains mashed with garlic) has become a foodie rite of passage for many a Miamian. If it's available, get it - they don't serve it every day. Otherwise, the Miami Beach outpost of this lauded local chain serves up lunchtime favorites with a Latin flair. Jerked chicken breast salad, Cubano sandwich, grilled churrasco and cafecitos. Ranging from around $7 to $15, it's a South Beach lunch date that won't break the bank.

6 articles

Jimmy'z Kitchen Pinecrest

9050 S. Dixie Highway East Kendall/Pinecrest

305-670-1501

Puerto Rican, Sandwiches, Best Of

1 article

Jimmy'z Kitchen Wynwood

2700 N. Miami Ave. Midtown/Wynwood/Design District

305-573-1501

Puerto Rican, Latin, Recommended, Best Of, Slideshow

Jimmy'z 50-seat interior, viewable from the street through floor-to-ceiling windows, beckons with an urban-industrial appeal electrified by orange walls and other bright highlights. Because the ambiance is so cheery and sleek, and because diners are required to order at the counter, the place resembles a next-generation fast-food chain. But the cuisine here is cooked slowly -- and with care. Everything we tasted was fresh and flavorful. Mofongo, the Puerto Rican ode to plantains, protein, and garlic, is better here than anywhere else in Miami. Prices are more than fair. Yes, it's tasty too. An extremely wide range of soft drinks and beers, boutique wines by the bottle, and a friendly, relaxed, ambiance make Jimmy'z in Wynwood a real gem.Read our full review.

20 articles

Jimmy'z Kitchen Brickell

60 SW 10th St. Brickell

786-558-5517

Puerto Rican, Latin American, Menu

1 article

Ming Yuan Restaurant

3006 NW 2nd Ave. Midtown/Wynwood/Design District

305-576-6466

Asian, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Best Of

1 article

Old San Juan Puerto Rican Cuisine

1200 SW 57th Ave. Westchester/West Miami

305-263-9911

Puerto Rican, Restaurants, Recommended, Menu

The menu at this sophisticated, moderately priced family-style restaurant touts many favorites of the expatriated, and its old-world charm gives the impression it could be located in the middle of the historic neighborhood after which it's named. Puerto Rican cooking is defined by a mix of indigenous tropical ingredients occasionally boosted by bold dashes of Spanish spices, a pairing clearly evident in morcillas con guineas or blood sausage with boiled plantain. The $8.99 lunch buffet is a boffo way to enjoy island specialties ranging from garbanzos with pigs feet to piñón, a sort of plantain lasagna. Selections change daily, but the buffet consistently offers three different meats, four starches, and a couple of rice dishes (brace yourself for some serious carbo-shock). The traditional mofongo, a plantain mash, is treated with reverence and served with chicken broth for dipping. You can try it plain or in tandem with lobster and octopus, but most prefer the version riddled with crisp pork rinds. A petite take-out shop in the back allows you to bring a little of the island home with you.

4 articles

Ring the Bell Restaurant and Liquor

4030 NW Second Ave. Midtown/Wynwood/Design District

305-456-6618

Retail, Puerto Rican, Best Of

1 article

Wynwood

6th Ave. Brickell

786-406-5513

Puerto Rican, Street Food

1 article

Puerto Rican in Miami

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