Southbeach Food and Fun

Philly has some great dining options, but we were very excited to try all the wonderful food that Miami has to offer. Since seafood is our favorite, we couldn't help but get a recommendation for a seafood restaurant. After getting a recommendation and looking online we decided to head to Joe's Stone Crab. We were warned that the wait time would be long, which it was about an hour and 15 minutes, but we both thought it was worth it. We got a drink while we were waiting and the time went by pretty quickly.


The restaurant set up and decor was very unique. There were several open areas with fountains and plants where you could relax while waiting to be seated.

Even the bread was unique with different types and nice and soft. I'm a huge bread person, so it was hard not to eat the entire platter myself.

J started off with lobster bisque. I tried some and regretted that I didn't order any.

J and I decided to get 2 entrees and split them because we couldn't decide what we wanted. Although the restaurant is known for its crabs, we opted to order something different. We went with the crab cakes and the lobster macaroni and cheese. Of course I'm always wary of ordering crab cakes anywhere than Maryland, but these were good! They were essentially all crab meat and were cooked perfectly.


I tried to pass up dessert because I was so full, but I couldn't help but order key lime pie. I hadn't had authentic key lime pie since I lived in Key West when I was little. I ordered it to go, but had to have a bite before I packed it up. I did wait a few hours after we got back to the hotel to eat the entire thing and I'm glad I ordered it.

I was also pleasantly surprised with our bill. I can't remember the exact total, but with tax and tip we left paying under $100 for the entire meal and drinks at the bar. I definitely wasn't expecting that to happen, so it added to why I really like this restaurant.

For one of our lunches we decided to try some Cuban food. I'm so glad we found this place! It was a hole in the wall type place, located not too far from our hotel. If you've never used Yelp before, I highly recommend it when looking for any type of restaurant or service in your city or a city you're visiting. It allows you to search for anything under the sun and then has recommendations and ratings for all of it. It's definitely been a help for our vacations and in Philly.


J ordered the fried pork chunks with black beans and rice. I don't eat pork, but he said they were really juicy and tender.

My meal was also great! I can't remember the exact name, but it was shrimp with peppers and onions in a light, flavorful sauce. I had black beans, rice and plantains with it. It was just the right amount of food and filling.



On Saturday we went out to experience some Southbeach night life. We walked down Ocean Drive, which has a lot of night life going on. Like I mentioned in the last post we stayed out until 4 am! We had a lot of fun and glad we found a fun place to go. We found a recommendation to go to Mango's Tropical Cafe. It was definitely different than any other place we'd been to before!

They have live dancers and performers on the main floor. As you can see J made some friends below :) There was dancing on the bars and latin music. On the 2nd floor there were rooms with different types of music. There was a room with hip hop and pop music and a room with latin and house type music.

The cover was only $10 to get in for the night so we thought we got our money's worth. The drinks were a little pricey than usual, but we expected that.




Also on Ocean Drive we found a good Italian place for dinner. I can't remember the name of it, but we were able to sit outside, enjoy the view and eat some good food. They also have HUGE drinks. I don't know how I did it, but I finished 1 margarita, which was almost as big as my head. They also give you to go cups. This is our 2nd vacation with to go cups for our alcohol, so we will definitely remember that for next time!



Unfortunately we headed back to Philly on Monday, but our short vacation turned out exactly how we planned. We got to relax, have fun and eat some good food. J was happy to be back in an area that sold Krispy Kreme donuts so we picked up some at the airport before we hopped back on the plane to head north to Philly.