Archive for Frita
La Casa De Las Fritas Cubanas is in Little Havana or is it?
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When I drove by and saw the name La Casa de las Fritas Cubanas (translated means House of the Cuban Frita) I thought it might be the same owners as the New Jersey Frita shop that existed a few years back. I’m not sure if that’s the case cause I never asked.
I walked up to window which had a few bar stools for seating and ordered their Frita. La Casa de las Fritas Cubanas is housed in the same building as a gas station/car wash. A mish mash of chairs makes up the seating area on the inside. This place is typical for Little Havana with the kind of “kitchen” set up you might find at the front of any Hispanic supermarket.
Frita Man makes his Triumphant Return
Posted by: | CommentsIt seemed as if Frita Man was everywhere during last summer helping to spread the good word of the Frita Cubana. The Yellow Trailer with his profile caricature prominently featured proclaimed to have “La Mejor Frita Cubana”. He was one of Channel 10′s Top 10 Food Trucks and then all of a sudden he did his best Keyser Söze impersonation and disappeared.
Frita Man is back!
Frita Shop makes “Unofficial” Debut
Posted by: | CommentsNews about Alberto Cabrera’s (formerly of the Local in the Gables) new concept restaurant Frita Shop was outed by my bud SteveBM a month ago. The 1st Frita Shop will be opening in a former Farm Stores location in Kendall near Havana Harry’s in a few months.
Frita Shop Logo
Cuban Guys in Hialeah brings on the Frita
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been keeping tabs on Cuban Guys for what seems like almost a year now. I loved the concept, a fast food Cuban restaurant that doesn’t cut corners on quality. It seemed like they might never open but just last week when I took a gander at their Facebook page I saw that the opening was less than a week away. So I wrote them through Twitter for specifics and was invited for their friends and family soft opening to try the food. In case I forget to mention it, they will be open for business as of Wednesday January 11th aka today.
Storefront
El Rey De Las Fritas in Hialeah, Florida
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When speaking about Frita history this El Rey De Las Fritas location is historically significant. This was 2nd location opened after the flagship store on 8th Street. If you take a close look at the picture above you can actually see the original “Rey” character to the left of the sign. Inside the location is also the original banner used at the 1st location that burned down some years ago.
I’ve had a Frita at El Rey so many times I can’t keep count but I had never tried their Frita a Caballo.So what’s a growing boy to do but order it? If you’re not familiar with the “a Caballo” phenomenon then you don’t know what you’re missing. Whenever you’re at a Cuban joint in Miami, ask to have your sandwich or steak etc… a Caballo. You’ll be treated to a delicious fried egg cooked to your liking on top of your meal. So getting back to my Frita…
You will always hear me talking about how a Frita should not have cheese on it but this is one of those cases where the cheese is necessary. Imagine having the most delicious egg and cheese sandwich on a Cuban roll and sneaking in a perfectly seasoned patty that compliments the sandwich. Well, that’s what you have here and if you haven’t had this then you haven’t really lived.
El Rey De Las Fritas
421 West 29 Street, Hialeah, FL
305-863-0880
Grill Master Cafe – Miami Food Truck
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Grill Master Cafe has a giant menu, I mean, it’s the Big Pink of food truck menus. While trying to figure out what to order I decide, why rack my brain? I make the critical decision to order the 5 that interest me the most. The Grill Master Burger and the Frita Cubana are a given, but the Grill Master Hot Dog, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and Homemade “Idaho” Fries with Cheese & Bacon round out my five choices. I was still looking over the menu while everything was being prepared thinking I still could have gone with a Pincho or a Croqueta Preparada.
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| Homemade “Idaho” Fries w/Cheese & Bacon |
The first thing ready was the fries which are fresh cut. The fries are not blanched (fried twice, the first time to get the outside crispy) which is the popular method to make fresh cut fries at places like Five Guys and Outback Steakhouse. My mom used to make me fries like this and I of course liked them (unless I want my mom to read this and kill me).
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| Grill Master Hot Dog: Take 1 |
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| Grill Master Hot Dog: Take 2 |
The Grill Master Dog (which I believe is the brand National Deli) is topped with Julienne potatoes, sauteed onions and a special sauce. It’s not a small hot dog by any stretch but I think that when I have it again I’d add some more of the sauce or mustard. I loved the julienne potatoes and the choice of hot dog was a good one. The Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich is Philly via Miami.
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| Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich |
The steak itself has some very Cuban flavors and are thicker pieces of meat than the run of the mill cheese steaks you’ll eat everywhere. It’s topped with the usual suspects of grilled onions and cheese, definitely worth a try. What’s left? The Grill Master Burger and Frita Cubana.
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| Grill Master Burger |
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| Frita Cubana |
These are both freshly prepared and not the frozen stuff. Both are great and if you needed to choose between them I’d give a slight advantage to the Burger for an underlying sweetness that really adds to its taste. The corn dusted buns on both were good also. Frita purists might have an issue with the bun and the fact that there’s cheese on it, but the meat is right on target. It might take me a few more trips to work my way through the menu so I’ll keep you posted. I’ll hope you’ll keep me posted too.
Follow Grill Master Cafe:
Twitter: @grillmastercafe
Facebook: Grill Master Cafe
Morro Castle – Hialeah, Florida
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To clear up any confusion for those of you that are Frita-informed, the Morro Castle in Little Havana and this Morro Castle in Hialeah have nothing to do with one another. This Morro Castle is important to me because it’s where I tried my first Frita as a kid. My father brought me here to have a “Cuban Hamburger”. In other words, he was using terminology that was sure to trick me into having one. It worked and even though a Frita seemed so foreign to me back then I find it odd when I encounter someone who has never tried one. Morro Castle is cash only but there is an ATM machine. There are tables but I sat at the counter just like I did many years go.
Croqueta Preparada
Croqueta Preparada Halfsies
I ordered a Frita and a Croqueta Preparada. The Croqueta Preparada was served on Cuban Bread and it was nicely toasted on a press. It’s topped with the same Julienne Potatoes and Onion slivers their Frita has. It seemed to be missing something, possibly Cheese to level it up to being awesome.
Open Face Frita
Morro Castle's Frita
The Frita , well I closed my eyes and I remembered my dad looking down intently at me as I was about to try it. He was so happy that I liked it. And looking back, it’s where I started my life-long obsession with Fritas. When I opened my eyes the Frita was gone. It was great so I took a few to go. I called my pops up on my way out and he mentioned to me that I had my first Frita there. Who could forget something like that?
Morro Castle
1201 W 44th Pl, Hialeah, FL
305-556-4252
Josh Ozersky.Tv – Lourdes Castro makes a Frita
Posted by: | CommentsGreat new episode of Ozersky.Tv about Fritas. I totally disagree with the recipe, ingredients and cooking technique but I’m glad the Frita is getting some exposure! Josh wrote an amazing book entitled ” The Hamburger” and you’re in luck because we’re giving one away to a lucky Burger Beast reader.
It’s also autographed so it’s a Win-Win! Watch the episode below. Answer the question below correctly and you’ll be entered in a raffle for it. Good Luck.
What is Josh’s response to Lourdes’ comment “Really? You’ve had a pork burger?” Send the correct answer to burgerbeast@burgerbeast.com You have until 8pm Monday, May 31st to send in your response.
