La
Esquina de la Fama – Try Their
Mojito!
My spouse and I stopped at La Esquina de la Fama on a
Saturday morning in early July 2016. The restaurant is open daily from 7:00 am
to 12:00 midnight. La Esquina is located in the Little Havana neighborhood of
Miami, at the corner of SW 8th Street and SW 14th Avenue.
Located on one of the most
famous corners of Calle Ocho (which means “Eighth Street” in Spanish), the side
of the building contains the first mural painted in tribute to the Latino
community. The restaurant has a parking lot, or you can park on the street.
La Esquina de la Fama has two parts: an indoor enclosed
sit-down restaurant and a more casual window, where you can either stand and
dine or take-away food. In some photographs that we saw online, the restaurant
sometimes places 2-person bistro tables on the sidewalk for additional casual
dining, although they were not present on the day that we visited. We peeked
inside the dining room, and it appeared that the restaurant offers a buffet with
Latino music playing in the background. Slogans like “El arte de la libertad” (which means “The Art of
Freedom”) and “Yo amo a Cuba” ( “I Love Cuba”) are featured on the folk art and
paintings that adorn the restaurant space.
As we stood at the counter at La Esquina de la Fama,
we enjoyed some Cuban snacks, including empanadas (fried dough filled with
meat), croquettas (breadcrumb-fried cylinders filled with ham or beef and
cheese), and papas rellenas (breadcrumb-fried balls of mashed potatoes and
meat). We also shared one of their famous mojitos, which the restaurant claims is “the best mojito in the world”. Priced at $12,
it is twice as large as a normal drink, contains two delicious secret house
ingredients, and looks quite impressive with the amount of basil that they use
as a garnish.
Our
breakfast at La Esquina de la Fama was a fun way to begin the day!
