Just as Gabe and I like to wander around Manhattan when we have a few hours to spare, we enjoy exploring our new neighborhood in downtown Miami. We moved to the Brickell area last summer and, slowly but surely, we’re discovering the area’s hidden gems: restaurants and shops tucked away, hidden between the high-rises; and the shiny new places that come with new development. It’s all good!

Today we took a mid-afternoon trip to Pilo’s Street Tacos, definitely in the hidden gem category, followed by a jaunt over to Brickell City Center and the culinary charms of Casa Tua Cucina. There was even a Lamborghini or two!

Pictures say a thousand words, it’s been said, so I’ll leave you with more of the former than the latter. Enjoy!

Pilo’s Street Tacos

Homemade Mexican-style street tacos made with your choice of meat, fish, or vegetable, sauced with really tasty salsas. We chose the El Miguelita (chargrilled Arrachera skirt steak with cilantro and white onion on a corn tortilla) and the El Carnal (Michoacán style pork carnitas with a dash of smoked salsa verde, chopped white onion, and cilantro on a corn tortilla.) Each order cost $7 – $8 and included two tacos. We washed it all down with an ice-cold Coke, in the green glass bottle. Super-yum! We’ll definitely go back.

Brickell City Center – Casa Tua Cucina

I needed a bottle of good olive oil so we headed over to Casa Tua in the fancy Brickell City Center. If you’ve never been there, it’s on the first floor of Saks Fifth Avenue and offers a mini-Eataly experience. You can shop for goodies to take home or sit down and order something delicious from the menu. Pretty much everything, from fresh pasta to dry-aged steak is available. And don’t forget dessert: how does espresso and cannoli sound?

That’s it for today. I’ll be back with more NYC and Miami stories soon. Hope you’ll tag along with us!