TASTE 2024 miaminewtimes.com 16 TASTE 2024 miaminewtimes.com 16 The Captain’s seafood market, adjacent to the restaurant, ensures a consistent, available inventory of fresh seafood that customers have come to depend on. And crowds come in droves during stone crab season. It’s even been said that, until his health declined, Bowers himself could be seen hauling crates of stone crabs into the market and through the dining room as hungry patrons cheered him on. He made a point of being at the restaurant every day, inspecting each delivery of fresh seafood, helping the kitchen staff, shucking oysters, or simply mingling with patrons. Bowers ran the Captain’s Tav- ern with a simple ethos carried on by his wife and son to this day: Offer a quality product at a fair value — when customers trust you, they’ll keep coming back. The Captain’s legacy lives on in the wood-paneled walls of the restaurant. Warmly illuminated by a lantern-lit glow, the dining room is a rustic, sailor-chic menagerie of model ships and nautical nos- talgia, transporting you back to the swinging, seafaring 1970s. Ac- cording to locals who have dined at the Captain’s Tavern for decades, the place is a veri- table time capsule. “We’re a fam- ily restaurant,” Palomino says. “The best feeling is to see kids who grew up eating here bring their own kids in to eat. We want our customers to have the same experience today that they had coming in with their families back in the day.” The menu, the apotheosis of a seafood lover’s delight, contin- ues to offer the tried-and-true staples that made the Captain’s Tavern famous: cracked conch, oysters Rockefeller, and, of course, a Tuesday two-for-one Maine lobster special. The res- taurant also offers a full raw bar and sushi menu. Pretty much everything at the Captain’s Tavern is housemade, from the sauces to the desserts. One of the iconic dishes on the menu, the Jamaican yel- lowtail, pays homage to Audrey Bowers’ native Jamaica. Served whole or filleted, the fish is simmered in orange, allspice, and thyme and served with plantains atop rice and peas. A cheesy seafood risotto comes with tender scallops and shrimp, crisp asparagus, and shiitake mushrooms. Other crowd favorites include coconut shrimp with housemade circus marmalade; conch frit- ters with a sweet, curry-kissed barbecue sauce; and the clam chowder, a rich, classic New Eng- land version loaded with clams and herb-seasoned potatoes. As the Captain’s new cap- tains, Audrey and Dale’s goal is to continue to offer their beloved customers the same great food and honest service they’ve come to expect over the decades. If you haven’t dined at the Captain’s Tavern in 20 years, one visit will assure you that little has changed. And in a transient city where flash-in-the-pan restaurants come and go as quickly as the last social-media fad, the Captain’s Tavern remains a constant port in the storm. “We have the most loyal clientele,” Palomino tells New Times. “As soon as you come in and sit down, you see and hear that everyone knows each other.” They also know what they like — and it’s exactly what the Captain’s Tavern has been serving up hot for 52 years. “If there’s one thing we hear more than anything else from our customers, it’s, ‘Don’t change a thing,’” says Palomino. And they don’t intend to. The Captain’s Tavern. 9625 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest; 305- 666-5979; captainstavernmiami. com; Open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. Seafood market (305-661-4237) open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. “SNACK EATING SNACKS” K evin Escalera is a Miami native with a taste for adventure in food and travel. He started his account two years ago with an intuitively graspable handle, @SnackEating- Snackss, reviewing unique snacks from all over. He has since broadened his reach to include unique food events, reviews of local restaurants, and tips on where to eat in cities around the world. Chèvre (1295 Coral Way, Ste. 1, Miami): A cheese shop that started making sandwiches not long ago. They use high-quality ingredients to make sandwiches that transport you to Europe. It’s a new find, but it’s already one of my favorites. La Natural (7289 NW Second Ave., Miami): The burrata pizza defies pizza convention. It looks like a Neapolitan pizza, which is usually floppy, but La Natural’s retains a crisp. It’s pizza magic. I could eat two of these by myself. Mojito Grill (7318 SW 57th Ave., South Mi- ami): I grew up eating at Mojito Grill, and it takes me back every time. Most people get the pan con pollo or the pan con bistec. Both are great, but the Cuban wrap is my go-to. (Also, they have some sneaky-delicious croquetas.) Ojo De Aqua (851 S. Miami Ave., Miami): I thought açai bowls were overrated until I tried this one. It’s semi-tart but comes topped with honey and fresh, seasonal tropical fruits. Hard to beat on a weekend morning. The chilaquiles are fantastic, too. Tâm Tâm (99 NW First St., Miami): An- other recent dis- covery. You can’t go wrong here, but definitely order the sticky chicken wings — they’re extra crisp, with that sweet-and-sour flavor that only Vietnamese food has. Off Site Nano Brewery (8250 NE Second Ave., Miami): A neighborhood gem you wish was in your neighborhood. It’s a nanobrewery, but the elevated bar food is what has me going all the way to Little River. My go-tos are the cheesesteak, fried chicken sandwich, and Cuban sandwich. HIDDEN GEMS @SnackEatingSnackss @SnackEatingSnacks Kevin Escalera @SnackEatingSnacks Steady as She Goes from 14 Photo by Nicole Lopez-Alvar The Captain's Tavern is a throwback in the best possible senses.
