Pinolandia

Miamians can be very opinionated when it comes to food, and that’s especially true when sourcing opinions about the city's best fritanga. While Yambo is certainly a popular answer, we prefer to venture a little further east in Little Havana to Pinolandia. Like Yambo, PInolandia is also open 24 hours a day and constantly churns out freshly grilled carne asada. This place is a little more spartan than some of its nearby competitors, although dedicated fans keep coming back for expertly prepared grilled meats, crunchy rolled tacos with a virtual swimming pool of crema, and savory tomato-based stews. Like almost all fritangas in Miami, make sure to order a traditional drink with your food, like a sweet barley tea that’s supposed settle the stomach after a plate of rich food (or a night of drinking).

Food Rundown

photo credit: Tasty Planet

Carne Asada

This is one of our favorite renditions of Nicaraguan-style carne asada in Miami. They slice their skirt steak a little thinner than some fritangas, but we like that for two reasons: thicker slices can be really chewy, and the thinner slices mean that you get more of that charbroiled flavor in each bite. You can taste a good amount of sour orange juice in each piece you chew on. Less noticeable are the onion and garlic flavors that give the meat plenty of savoriness and make us want to order a double portion whenever we’re here.

Queso Frito

They use chonky slices of squeaky cheese that measure almost an inch in thickness, and they’re fried just until the exteriors are browned and bubbling. The crispy outside gives way to chewy, salty, creamy goodness that makes us wonder what kind of supercow this cheese is made from.