Palacio de los Jugos

Palacio de los Jugos Review

Nearby and to the west of Coral Gables, this joint is one of the easiest and truest ways to see Miami's local Latin life in action. It's also one of the best fruit-shake shacks you'll ever come across (ask for a juice of - "jugo de" - mamey, melón, or guanabana, a sweet-tart equatorial fruit, and you can't go wrong). Besides the rows and rows of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables, and the shakes you can make with any of them, this boisterous indoor-outdoor market has numerous food counters where you can get just about any Cuban food - tamales, rice and beans, a pan con lechón (roast pork on Cuban bread), fried pork rinds, or a coconut split before you and served with a straw. Order your food at a counter and eat it along with local families at rows of outdoor picnic-style tables next to the parking lot. It's disorganized, chaotic, and not for those cutting calories, but it's delicious and undeniably the real thing.