Thankfully, South Florida provides a great mix of culture for its residents. Due to the overwhelming Hispanic population, it’s very easy to find good Peruvian food, Cuban food, and best of all Mexican food.
My favorite Mexican restaurant around is La Bamba. There are 5 locations or so throughout South Florida, including Plantation, Oakland Park, Delray Beach, North Palm Beach and Margate. They provide a fantastic rustic feel with great, refillable chips and salsa. All of their dishes are very authentic, and their staff is always friendly. They offer good drink specials on occasion, and the environment is very fun. You can find out more information about La Bamba at their website, www.labamba123.com.
I am also a huge fan of Zona Fresca. Zona Fresca is very fresh, tex-mex style restaurant that is more of a fast food environment. Their fresh salsa is the best you’ll find anywhere, and their Tomatillo salsa is just as delicious. They have fantastic burritos, incredible Ceviche on the weekends, and a good beer collection. Their locations are always busy and the service is always fast. The entrees are also much cheaper than a lot of other Mexican Restaurants. You can find out all of the specifics by calling their Fort Lauderdale location at (954)566-1777.
Carlos and Pepe’s on 17th Street Causeway is very established and very delicious. Their Fajitas are a big signature item, but nothing on the menu will disappoint. Its very casual, also authentic, and located in a great area, just over the bridge from the beach. Carlo’s and Pepe’s is always consistently good too, so its a great place to take associates or family from out of town. You can give them a call at (954)467-7192.
Tijuana Taxi is a more Americanized Mexican restaurant, but definitely appeals to the masses. Their servers wear cute little outfits, the beer is cheap (Pint of Bud Light is only $1.50) and the food is good, and inexpensive. Their decor is awesome, featuring Carona bottle salt and pepper shakers, giant bottles of hot sauce holding up the ceiling, and a VW Bug sticking out of the wall. Its open late, too, til 2 am and for the lower prices (about $10-14 per entree) it really can’t be beat. Their location on University Drive in Davie is the original, and can be contacted at (954)472-5008 and they recently added location number dos off University Drive in Coral Springs.
A Todo Taco is about as authentic as it gets — our server for lunch doesn’t even speak English. But the menu is fairly large, featuring everything from Fajitas, to Tostadas, to Ceviche, and everything in between. It’s a small hole-in-the-wall type of place, but it’s very clean and service is always good. I eat here once a month at least because www.restaurant.com always has gift certificates for them (the way that works is you pay $2-3 for a $10 off coupon, and basically that entitles you to a free entree, which makes it super cheap). I’d suggest checking it out for a very authentic experience, you can call for their hours at (954)968-5583.
Try one of these great places for an awesome Mexican dining experience.
