Best Colombian Restaurant
Arepas are to Colombian eateries as cubano sandwiches are to La Habana-inspired eateries: important enough that they’d damn well better represent, but far from the highlight of any legit menu. So, by all means, pop in to Restaurant Monserrate for the arepas — stuffed with queso blanco and perfectly tasty — but stay for the real treats: a feast of Colombian eats, from bandeja paisa (a massive plate packed with carne molida, rice, beans, maduros, and, yeah, one of those arepas) to mondongo, a traditional rice-and-tripe soup. Monserrate, which was founded in 1974, claims to be Miami’s oldest Colombian eatery, and it still serves Dade’s best dishes with flavors from Cali to Cartagena.