El Polar Supermarket & Cafeteria

Now called Miami’s Café (but listed as El Polar on Unilocal)
We have been here several times. They have a nice Walk up window where we can get some Café con Leche. It is a buck 50 for one… use to be a buck a few years ago. Thanks economy!!!
The coffee is amazing and the service is really fast. A nice quick stop along the road… plus the caffeine helps with the road rage!

Stopped by this place on a whim for lunch this week. While the menu on a table is more of a formality, as was the white board with 12 specials of the day, the only thing left in the kitchen by 1:30PM was chicken and pork. So chicken or pork it was. Great food, served fast. Lunch for 3 with coladas and guava con queso pastelitos $ 31. Someone put this place on the good, cheap eats list!

Two words, Fried Turkey!
Thanksgiving plans were in full swing and my co workers and I realized that we didn’t want to settle for the same old turkey dinner. So we called El Polar.
Dinner time rolled around and there was not an empty plate in the house (or office). They prepared our fried turkey and we picked it up with a side of salad and mashed potatoes. The sides were nothing special at all, the part of the meal that stood out was the turkey!
Crispy but not greasy, seasoned but not overwhelming and so yummy seconds and thirds were had! We didn’t even have any left over to eat the following day!
Some other points about this place is the super short notice we gave them to throw this together, one day! We never thought we’d get Thanksgiving planned and executed in one day! These guys made it possible!
They were friendly, answered our questions and most importantly got us fed in the nick of time!

I am not a big fan of Cuban food, but I was in a lonely mood today and wanted to eat somewhere small and quite, away from the hustle and bustle of Coral Way. So I drove down 37^th avenue with no direction in mind, then I remembered a little cafeteria where Emilio and I had eaten at many, many moons ago. I think it was El Polar. With the nostalgia of a really nice lunch with Emilio (I’ve been missing him like crazy today), I decided to pull in and have lunch.
Yes! it was «empty», only one table full, and really not more than ten tables for in the place and an empty cafeteria counter. Just what I was looking for. Unfortunately, Emilio me pego la buena espalda, and about 5 minutes after I sat down (around 1:30) two other tables filled up each w/​about four men (who talked very loudly — my God lower your voice if you’re going to use improper Spanish… «puede que lo suen» — really — what ever happened to una demanda) — wow! totally sidetracked! (should have added that to the pet peeves thread.
Back to El Polar.
When I sat down the very nice waitress told me the daily specials. but for some reason I was craving something they didn’t have in the menu — go figure. But the cook was so nice, he said he’d make me the dish anyway. They had fried fillet of fish, but I wanted it grilled — so kind of him to completely alter the dish :-) seriously speaking, both the cook and waitress were really nice in trying to please me. I was savoring it without expecting much, and I love when my expectations are low and completely blown away with the first bite. The seasoning on the fish was delish, the rice was perfect, and the black beans — ooh! (have I ever said I don’t like black beans — I don’t) They were so good — the combination of everything was just perfect and I left the restaurant fully satisfied — full belly and all.
Pricing is fair, my dish was just $ 10, and trust me it was worth more. I’m not speaking Pacific Time delicious fish, I’m talking perfectly seasoned cafeteria-​style grilled fish.
I think I’ll be back. Next time I’ll bring a book so I don’t waste my phone battery playing bejeweled and texting. I really like the way they treated me, and I think it’s the kind of place that recognizes their customers and treats them like family — at least that’s definitely how I felt: o) good lunch!
*Note: they don’t accept credit cards, just debit cards.