Taking up the ground floor of the iconic 1111 Lincoln Rd garage building sits Rosa Mexicana. http://www.rosamexicano.com/miami

Adjacent to the movie theatre, it is the perfect place to have dinner or lunch prior or post movie. Is it a “chain” restaurant? Yes, but you would never know it by the quality of food and service. It feels more like a high end independent restaurant in Ciudad Mexico. Inviting décor..not too dark and not too bright. Their menu runs the gamut, from Mexican street food to dishes curated to perfection by their executive chefs.

Their long bar with views of various flat screens makes this the perfect place to watch the game on Sunday or the news after work at their renowned Happy Hour. The tequila choices here are quite expansive. It is a sort of tequila hall of fame. Some are great with cocktails and some high end ones are what I call sippin tequilas. Complex as any wine. Their bartenders go through a vigourous vetting process prior to being hired. They can educate any novice on tequila choices that fit your mood. We had a pitcher of sangria and the pomegranate margarita. Both were awesome.

Their guacamole is iconic. It is made tableside from scratch right in front of your own eyes. In the processed bottle and canned world we inhabit, this was refreshing. Hass avocados are peeled and tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices are hand blended. You can request mild, medium or hot. We decided one medium and one mild. Both were mouth watering and went great with the warm tortilla chips. In Oct they are celebrating an event called “Guactoberfest”. So if you are a “guac” lover be sure to stop by.

We decided to get a broad spectrum of their most popular dishes. Pork carnitas, Tacos camarones, Pollo with plantains and Mexican corn. Each choice stood out as individual perfection. It helped to soak up all that Sangria !! My daughter loved to cherry pick out the fried shrimp so she was ecstatic. The hostess gave her a kids packet of coloring book and crayons. Rosa Mexicano loves kids and families and it showed .

We “forced” ourselves to try some dessert. The churros were out of this world. With a trio of dippin sauces we ended up fighting over the last one !! The raspberry tres leches and peanut butter/chocolate molten cake was rich and divine. Our visit to Rosa Mexicano was apleasurable one to say the least.

Viva La Mexico !!