Taurus Beer & Whiskey House - Coconut Grove, FL

Left Hand Milk Stout

 

Lagunitas

 

Southern Tier & Leffe Blonde

 

Chef Alex Burger

 

Parisian Sliders

 

Avery White Rascal

 

Cigar City Jai Alai

 

 

They have a large selection of beer and Whiskey which is amazing. The burgers were also surprisingly good considering they do not seem to specialized in or put too much focus on the food. The problem lied in the fact that service was not very good and the place was not even packed.

Taurus Beer & Whiskey House
3540 Main Highway C103, Miami, FL 33133
(305) 529-6523
www.taurusbeerandwhiskey.com

My Top 10 Meals Of 2014

10) Wakin’ Bakin’ - New Orleans, LA

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this fresh, delicious and homemade meal made my day.

 

9) Fins & Things Caribbean Seafood Bar & Grill - Sunrise, FL

Caribbean and seafood, these are two of my favorite things!

  

8) Swine Southern Table & Bar - Coral Gables, FL

A salad shouldn't be anyone's favorite meal, but cornbread as croutons made it delish. Plus it was a great start to an even better meal.

7) SAIA Sushi Asian Grill - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Sushi is everywhere; some good, some bad. However, it is hardly ever memorable and this was.

6) Pincho Factory - Coral Gables, FL

A tasty twist on the original burger. Plus a shout out to my South Florida roots.

5) Machiya - Miami, FL

Ramen became a craze, just like cronuts and many others but this right here surpasses the frenzy.

4) Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill - Miami, FL

Happiest hour! Drink are fresh and the food is spectacular.

3) Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Restaurant - Miami Beach, FL

Miami Beach is for tourists, but food like the Old School easily becomes a favorite even among locals.

2) LP Steamers - Baltimore, MD

I am in love with seafood (the true reason I could never be vegetarian, plus the fact that I love bacon). I wish I had some of these right now.

 

1) Gott's Roadside - Napa Valley, CA

Simple but so so good! I could eat these Ahi Poke Crispy Tacos everyday for the rest of my life.

Pincho Factory - Coral Gables, FL

The amount of burgers I have eaten and the craze for Pincho Factory, I'm surprised that it has taken me so long to dine here. I have had their burgers are various events, but nothing compares to the full experience so that's why I'm here.

I went during lunch so it was extremely packed, but we luckily were able to grab a table before the second wave of traffic came in. We ordered our meals at the counter and then waited patiently for the food to come to the table which was a pretty long wait for burgers, but luckily it was worth it. I ordered the Tostone Burger and while small in size was a big joy to my taste buds.
 

My friend had the Bacon Bleu and loved it. He's the type to easily complain about the size in comparison to price, but loved it.
 

We also shared the Bacon Ranch Fries. They were hot with the right amount of sauce and cheese. I hate douses, soggy fries.
 

I don't know what Pincho means, but if they continue producing burgers are good as these I will be back.

 

 

Pincho Factory

30 Giralda Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 446-5666

www.pinchofactory.com

Visit Washington DC: Cafe Soleil, Zenebech Injera and Don Juan Restaurant

I arrived in Washington, D.C. late in the afternoon which gave us time to do a little site seeing.

 

 

 

We were a bit tired and lazy, so we ended up just finding a place nearby. The place we found was Cafe Soleil. We were drawn in because of the happy hour specials, but since we didn't inquire about it until after being seated, we didn't get any of the specials because we didn't want to move to the small bar. I still got a drink called an Orange Crush that can only be described as like a Mimosa but a lot lighter and more watered down.

 

Service was horrible and ridiculously slow. You know it's really bad when there is contemplation to leave because you get seated and it takes over 10 minutes before you even get menus; let's not even talk about the time it took to get water much less anything else.

 

The menu options weren't that appealing, but I really wanted the Steamed Mussels which by the way were really mediocre (tasted frozen) with about half of them not even open.

 

I felt like the Mussels were not going to be enough so I also ordered the Spicy Blue Cheese Onion Flatbread. It taste just like it sounds, too much going on that it was pretty gross.

 

My fiancé had the Hiedenberger which he describe as a fake Big Mac.

 

Based on that disastrous dinner, I vowed to make the next day about getting some of the better food DC has to offer. The first stop, Zenebech Injera for Ethipopian. I ordered the Kifto, but my fiancé mistakenly ordered it well done when wanted raw, so it was disappointing. It was a huge plate of food that could serve multiple people for a good price.

 

 

Stuffed we decided to do a little more site seeing before we continued stuffing our faces.

 

Next stop, Don Juan Restaurant, for Salvadorian food but really I just wanted to get some Pupuseras. Overall the food was pretty tasty and again a huge plate for a great price.

 

But, before headed home, we finished off the DC trip with some cupcakes from Sprinkle (we really wanted some from Baked and Wired but the line was huge and I hate to wait). As the cupcake revolutionizers Sprinkles definitely impressed.

 

Washington DC is a great place to visit because it's such a melting pot and offers easy access to a great variety.

Café Soleil

839 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20006

(202) 974-4260

www.cafesoleildc.com

Zenebech Injera

608 T St NW, Washington, DC 20001

(202) 667-4700

www.zenebechdc.com

Don Juan Restaurant

1660 Lamont St NW, Washington, DC 20010

(202) 667-0010

www.donjuandc.com

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers - Plantation, FL

I've always seen those crazy commercials advertising Red Robin on TV for years, but never seen an actual restaurant so when I arrived, I was surprised to see a full service restaurant for what I had thought was a fast food restaurant.

 

 

It was more or less what you would expect from a typical casual style restaurant chain, offering bottomless beverages, such as Strawberry Lemonade.

 

Decent cocktails like the Strawberry Lemon Vojito.

 

Appetizers including some really good, spicy wings and chips known as the Bar Wings 'n' Yukon Chips.

 

And the usual dessert options, such as the Gooey Chocolate Brownie Cake (that sounded good, but was served cold so it really wasn't).

 

 

However, the burgers were much better than I had expected. They were in fact, as gourmet as they claimed to be. There are various option (buns, toppings, etc). Best of all, if you are not enticed by the menu options, you could always make it your own.

 

 

Good burgers is what Red Robin is all about.

 

 

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

8000 W Broward Blvd, Plantation, FL 33388

(954) 267-1988

www.redrobin.com

Bobby's Burger Palace - Kendall, FL

 

Bobby Flaw is by far my favorite TV chef so finally being in the vicinity Kendall I had to go.

The ordering process was quite easy. The  atmosphere was very cathartic and comfortable. Service was very Miami but adequate. 
 

Then came out the burgers. I had the Bobby Blue. A little small, but was good, tasty and satisfying.
 

My friend had the Philadelphia. Which like mine they found to be a little small, but good, tasty and satisfying. 
 

The French Fries were nothing special but the BBP Fry Sauce helped out with that.
 

The same sentiment was shared for the Shakes.
 

Overall it was good quality, but it is Bobby Flay and I felt it should have been a whole lot better.

Bobby's Burger Palace
Dadeland Mall

7535 North Kendall Drive Kendall, FL 33156

(305) 665-6226

www.bobbysburgerpalace.com