For several months, I have been urged by several coworkers to try out Latin House Grill, which is located in South Miami.  A restaurant that specializes in burgers and tacos didn’t really catch my attention.  After all, they are 2 very different styles of cuisine, so how can you master both?  To me, it conjured up thoughts of the many Chinese restaurants in the area that sell fried plantains.  Yet, despite my apprehension, I took the plunge, and dragged a friend with me.

We started off with the guacamole…

Wow!  This was some of the freshest guacamole that I have tasted in South Florida.  It tasted as though it had just been made to order.  The flavor was complex, yet familiar.  There was just the right balance of cilantro and lime.  It was served with multicolored tortilla chips, as shown.  My only complaint is that you don’t really get a whole lot of guacamole with an order.  About half of the chips were still uneaten by the time we can out of guac.  Of course, that might discourage filling up before getting to the entrees.

Since I was determined to try both the burgers AND the tacos, I convinced by dining partner to split two plates with me.  We ordered a taco platter, which comes with 4 tacos with your choice of protein, and a platter which includes 2 sliders (called “Muffin Tops” in Latin House lingo).

If you feel like you are looking at a full-sized burger, then you are not alone.  This is the American Muffin Top, which features Pearwood Maple Glazed Bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado lime sauce, and crema Mexicana.  As far as sliders go, it was bigger than the ones that I am accustomed to seeing at restaurants.  The patty, a 1/4lb mixture of ground brisket, chuck, and sirloin, was incredibly juicy and flavorful.  Instead of fries, they are served with a side of “tangled potatoes.”  If I had to describe them, I would say that they are like curly potato chips.  Plus, they are incredibly crispy.  My companion had the French Muffin Top, which had Brie cheese, almonds, and honey.  She enjoyed it.

So, the burgers were a winner.  How did the tacos fare?

I picked carne asada (of course) and fire house shrimp for my two tacos.  Again, the ingredients were incredibly fresh.  They used corn tortillas, which was a plus.  In addition, the portions were generous.  These tacos, rather than a handheld meal, required a fork and knife.  When I first tried to pick up my shrimp taco, I almost complained that they accidentally gave me battered fish instead of shrimp.  My friend was the one that pointed out that it wasn’t pieces of fried fish in the taco, but very large chunks of butterflied shrimp.  It’s not often that a restaurant can exceed your portion size expectations.  I was more partial to the carne asada taco.  The shrimp had somewhat of a sweet glaze that tasted slightly Asian, as well as some sort of slaw.  I ate them with gusto.

Overall, Latin House Grill was a pleasant surprise.  I will definitely be back!

More information on Latin House Grill can be found at http://www.latinhousegrill.com/.