Los Ranchos

Last night consisted of a much-needed date night with good food, a gorgeous Miami skyline, and some hunky man that I managed to convince to go out with me. (Note: The ING Marathon banner for those of you running!—Myself not included )

To be honest, I’m just as guilty as the next girl for often forgetting to count my blessings. Miami is a very… “interesting”… city with some very… “diverse”… qualities about it. I’ve mentioned before how crazy the traffic can be and how hard it often is to communicate my way around the city without speaking fluent Spanish—but lets be real—I’m still VERY fortunate to be here.

I mean, who can complain very long about 70 degree winter temps with an ongoing breezy and gorgeous shoreline?

Or fantastic Latin food around every corner? Los Ranchos being one of my new favorites

Courtesy of my fantastic boss, Will and I were treated to a delicious dinner last night in the downtown area. Los Ranchos is located right in the heart of Bayside Marketplace, so the shoreline is literally right under your nose if you sit by the window (which we couldn’t pass up).

We started our meal with the Tostones Nica, aka heaven on a dish. All you need to know is that the appetizer consisted of fried plantains topped with sausage and melted mozzarella cheese.

I die.

Next up we had mini side salads,

and then the main event. I was seriously contemplating ordering a cut of the baby churrasco, but instead rolled with the butterflied chicken breast, covered in chimichurri sauce and veggies + grilled onions on the side.

And do not be fooled—there were also plenty of fried plantains and maduros (sweet plantains) on the table which I went a littttttle bit overboard with. We left the with two food babies in our bellies.

Bayside also has live performers and dancing right by the shoreline, which we joined in on once our meal was complete. There weren’t too many people dancing so we just hung low, chatted, and people-watched the night away. The evening was then topped off with an episode of Parenthood for dessert.

A date for the books indeed

A bit to think about: Are you a people-watcher? Any memorable outings recently?

Tagged as: Bayside, date night, Los Ranchos, Miami, shore