Area 57 Colombian Restaurant & Bakery

Goodness for our tummies. Once again this food hit the spot in a great way. Service always efficient and friendly, ambience fun, good music, and a very clean restroom. Today we order bandeja paisa, club sándwiche , morcilla and glass of sangria . The sangria wasn't that great.

I was looking for a place within walking distance to the beach, where I could sit down and have a big breakfast before baking in the sun all day. Area 57 seemed to fit the bill. I came in on a Tuesday just after 9. Most people were coming in and ordering the baked goods/empanadas to go. I ordered a decaf cappuccino, which was pretty good. For food, I had the breakfast skillet, which had potatoes, plantains, sausage, bacon, cheese, and eggs. I don't normally like plantains but something about the plantain/potato combo just worked. I didn't care for the sausage, which were more like cheap hot dogs. The skillet also came with a slice of toast. I ordered a beef empanada for later, as a snack at the beach. They make it fresh because when I ordered it to go, they said it would take 10 minutes. Even eating it hours later, it was really good and I was surprised. The beef was perfectly spiced, and not dry. The empanada shell was made of corn, kind of like an arepa, and it was perfectly fried - not too greasy.I will warn you that you have to be careful with the bill. They charge you a convenience fee to use a credit card, and tack on an automatic 15% service fee. I didn't know and I paid a tip on top of that. They're sneaky about it too because on the bottom, they include a "suggested" tip (after having already collected one). The convenience fee and the service fee is based off your order total so let's say you ordered some things to go (like I did), they'll still charge you a "service charge" for those items.I did really enjoy the empanadas so I would say skip the menu food, and stick to the bakery items, get them to-go, and pay in cash. Then you can avoid all the hidden fees.

During our trip to Miami it was essential that we tried a whole fried fish at least once. After doing a quick google search, I found Area 57 right across the street from our hotel and saw that they sell fried fish. Perfect! Or so I thought...The picture of the whole fish looks amazing, right? Unfortunately, it was very dry and lacked flavor. In general red snapper is more dry compared to other fish so I kind of saw it coming, but the sauces they provided on the side didn't really make it taste any better. The fried plantains on the side were also just very dry and flavorless. I was pretty disappointed in the meal. Thankfully, it wasn't that expensive and was the only thing we ordered.The service was so-so. Very slow and they didn't check in on us when we needed more water. They weren't busy as there were only 2 other tables occupied. It just seems like a lot of places in Miami have workers that are from South America and don't speak English and because we don't know the language I felt like we received poor service. The girl who took our order didn't understand us so it made the ordering process a little difficult. We ended up getting a different server but they didn't look particularly happy to serve us.

Favorite snacks from Colombia are available for pickup along with food and baked goods. Service was fast and plenty of seating. I ordered a few pastries and they were tasted freshly made! Prices were decent. Area gets a bit busy and parking was a bit of a hassle but overall great experience!

First things first.. this was a cool place. You walk in and you feel like you're in Columbia. Nicely decorated. Music playing that made me want to get up and dance. Staff was super friendly. Quick service. The food was amazing. We both had chicken and it was so tender and juicy. The creole sauce on my chicken was fabulous! I have never really been a fan of bell peppers and onions. But this place changed that! All in all amazing experience!

I gave this place a 3 chance today and I see they have improved a lot on their food and service my server Juan Pablo was great and the fact they don't charge their BS convenience fee from the past checks is a plus OWNERSHIP im glad you saw the light and made changes after my right on review from 2 years ago.

Super....bakery great to start the day and will love to comeback for lunch or dinner. Service great--colombia te adoro!!

I was going to get a bagel for breakfast when I spotted this hidden gem. So glad I did! Cheese empanada - crispy on the outside gooey on the inside and tamal tolimense (corn cake stuffed with chicken, pork, and veggies) - very flavorful. The hot sayces were yummy too #foodie #foodiesofinstagram #foodporn #varietyisthespiceoflife #yummy

Cool foreign chips and candies! Big menu! Lots of indoor seating! We spilled some flan on the table and they came to wipe it up with a dirty rag that smelled like fish so the table was smelling terrible like fish the rest of the time we sat there ...

Updated review:We had a much better experience this time but unfortunately still not great. I was craving Bandeja paisa and this was the closest location so we decided to give it another try. It took quite a while for our server to get our order but overall he was very kind. My husband ordered a manzana (Colombian soda) and I ordered the lemonade. The lemonade was delicious, however the glass that they brought with ice for my husbands drink was completely dirty, you couldn't still see lipstick marks on it. Luckily I realized before he poured the entire drink inside. I ordered the bandeja paisa which was pretty good, the beans were a little bland but overall not bad. I don't remember the name of the other dish but it was steak with tomatoes and onions, potato and white rice and he really seemed to enjoy it. Just a heads up tip is already included and they also charge an unnecessary service fee which doesn't make sense. Overall definitely better than our previous experience