My spouse and I enjoyed (non-alcoholic) drinks at Los
Pinarenos Fruteria on a Saturday morning in early July 2016. Los Pinarenos
Fruteria is open daily from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily (until 9:00 pm on
Mondays). The restaurant
has a parking lot in the back, or you can park on the street in front.
Los Pinarenos
Fruteria is an open-air fruit, vegetable, and flower market and fresh-pressed juice
bar that is located in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, on SW 8th
Street (or “Calle Ocho”, which means “Eighth Street” in Spanish) between SW 13th
Court and SW 13th Avenue.
The bright yellow market has been open for over 100 years (although only 40
years by the current owners), and it is named for the owner’s hometown in Cuba,
Pinar del Rio. The concrete building is relatively new, rebuilt
after a fire in 1997 destroyed its original wooden home. The building is one of the most photogenic spots on the street.
Fun fact: The 2014 movie “Chef” featured Los Pinarenos as
the market where Jon
Favreau’s character takes his son to learn about and buy the
Cuban ingredients he later uses for the food truck menu.
We
shared a fresh-pressed remolacha (beet) juice, which we watched the owner make
herself, using about three large beets. (It is amazing to see how much hard
produce goes into creating one glass of juice!) Los Pinarenos also makes
batidos (milkshakes) and coffee. It offers about 20+ kinds of juice. Friends
and family of the owners brought seeds for many of the original plants from
Cuba, although the plants are now cultivated locally. You can order from the
take-out window, sit at a tiny 3-seat bar, or on the back patio. Be sure to
bring some “dinero”, because the market accepts only cash.
The quaint
and charming Los Pinarenos Fruteria is a must-visit in Little Havana!
