Estación Central

I really wanted to love this place due to my fondness of Spanish tapas as wine, but it fell short of my expectations. Upon entering the place was mostly empty for dinner. Maybe 2 other small parties. The food was over salty. Nothing too memorable. The wine was nice. The ambiance, while nice felt a bit stiff. Wait service was what you'd expect. There better alternatives in the area. I really wouldn't rush back.Oh I also was a little let down that the menu they had online had items I was looking forward to trying vs the slimmed down summer menu in my photo below.

Smooth and delicious transport to Spain! Walking in it has a cozy bar that feels very European and opens up into a large dining room that is beautiful with subway tile and cities in Spain on the ceiling. They have great options and sometimes a live band. I loved the paella, huevos rotos and veal cheek but by far the best one for me was the pulpo a la gallega! So tender, so yummy, and possibly the best plating presentation of the dish I've had the pleasure to eat up! Try it for a happy hour, a date night or a dinner with friends!

Lovely experience! I first saw Estación Central on Instagram, following a recent trip to Spain, and was thrilled to have this dining concept in Miami. We decided to stop by on a Sunday afternoon ("linner" time), after a long day of errands. I mention this, because we were able to walk in and be seated immediately, as there was literally a table for two available in the back. The restaurant was packed, despite the "awkward" dining hour (4-5pm). That said, making a reservation is highly recommended.Based solely on the Instagram photos, I thought the dining concept was more of a food hall concept, which has become popular in Miami. However, upon arriving, we learned it's a traditional dine-in restaurant.The hostess was warm and welcoming, which always leaves a great impression. You enter through the "tunnel" arched entryway, past the bar, which opens into beautifully designed "Central Station", where you immediately get the impression that you will be taken on a culinary adventure of the Spanish cities outlined on the walls -- Sevilla, Barcelona, Santiago, Madrid, and Valencia.By far, my favorite part of this experience was the atmosphere -- open kitchen in the back, black and white floor-to-ceiling subway tile, soaring two-story ceiling height with a statement-piece chandelier, beautiful architectural details, welcoming staff, comfortable conversational noise level, and good energy all around.The fun menu design imitates the train stops, weaving the Central Station theme throughout.We ordered from the tapa-style menu to sample multiple items on this first visit:+ Pan con tomate+ Jamón Ibérico+ Croquetas de Jamón+ Pulpo a la Gallega+ Anillas de Calamar FritaThis is where I considered removing a star, as the croquetas could have been much better. We will forego this item, the pan con tomate, and the calamari next time. The croquetas looked lovely, but they seemed to have chunks of cartilage (or something thick and chewy) in the mix, which was unpleasant to experience. The calamari and pan con tomate were good, but basic.The jamón ibérico and pulpo gallego, however, were delicious!They offer a good drink selection, and they seem to highly promote the sangria, which we did not order, because sangrias tend to be too sweet for my taste. We went with a Tempranillo instead, which was lovely.The wine bottle prices are very reasonable, which adds to the overall experience, especially if you are dining with a group.Also worth noting, the staff were fantastic! Everyone was smiling, welcoming, service oriented, and attentive without rushing us to clear the table.The dress code seemed a bit more relaxed, at least at this hour. Perhaps it's a different vibe during dinner time.Because of its downtown Miami location, parking options are valet, limited street metered parking, or a small parking lot across the street. Something to consider when making plans.I decided to give the full five stars, despite the few food items we didn't like, because the overall experience compensated for the rest. I do not want to judge the whole menu based on these items.We will likely return for the dinner experience.

A casual vibe Spanish tapas and cuisine place with medieval castle style decor, located right next door to the Eurostar Langford hotel in downtown Miami. Went in for a casual lunch on weekdays at noon, plenty of empty chairs available. Servers were kind enough to allow me to sit down even when they were wrapping up cleaning before opening up. Service was generally friendly and attentive.Drink:-Damm Inedit draft beer. The premium brew from signature Spanish beer brewery. Light golden color, crispy cool mouth feel with pleasant aroma of malt, dry finish with subtle bitterness of hop. Very pleasant to drink during hot summer day's noon, and goes very well with seafood in particular. Food: I was familiary with a lot of signature tapas dishes, so I asked for waitress' recommendation for signature dishes. -Bread: they come with extra costs, but they are worth it. Very crunchy and warm with delicate taste of wheat flour, perfect for any sauce. -Bacalao a la vizcaína, codfish in sauce. Cod was broiled to steaming hot, served in clay pot, but the chef managed to master the temperature to perfection, creamy texture, full of fresh and savory taste, arguably some of the best fish filet I've tasted. Sauce had a subtle briny taste and went well with the fish, but it was a bit too watery and oily for my taste. Vegetables in the sauce was also a bit overcooked to mushy.-Carrilleras de ternera en salsa española, veal cheek in Spanish sauce. Veal cheek slices were cooked to perfection, gamey flavor, texture was reduced to buttery, fat already in soft gelatine status, every bite literally melted in my mouth. Sauce was a rich tomato sauce with subtle salt and spices tastes, very good companion for the beef and the bread. I ordered an extra portion of bread just to finish the sauce. Overall:4-4.5 stars. The sauce for the codfish could use some improvement, but everything else was enjoyable.

The food here was excellent through and through. The Paella was delicious and so was the "Pulpo a la Gallega", the "Gambas"(shrimps) as well. We were crazy about the desserts. We Gad Crema Catalana and a cheesecake-like tarta that was to die for. We Gad the Garbanzo soup and the Lenteja soup as well, both, also fantastic. The only reason I did not give Estación Central 5 STARS was because I Felt it needs a little more ambience. The space is charming and made to look like a train station in Spain. A little music from Spain, where people can still hear each other and the lights slightly lessened would enhance the already nice experience.By the way, the staff and manager are all very very nice, knowledgeable and adept at customer service skills.

The venue looks like a train station straight out of an old euro film. It's well lit and it's visually beautiful. The staff was on top of everything and extremely nice, treated us great. My husband let them know it was my birthday and they just went above and beyond for us. It wasn't loud at all which was enjoyable, we were able to speak without having to yell. They had music, but it was low enough to be background noise which I loved. As for the food, it was exquisite! The food was well cooked, tasty and visually appealing. Everything that we tried was delicious. The sangria was refreshing. The desserts tasted amazing. Everything starting with the croquets all the way to the last bite of the tarta de queso Vasca (cheesecake) was scrumptious. This place deserves 1000 stars. Great venue, incredible service, and absolutely amazing food.

I really want to rate this restaurant with 4 stars, and darn they have the potential to be a 5. I'll start by saying that the food was absolutely delicious. Let me point out the Pros, the restaurant is clean and the service is outstanding, they have a full bar right at the entrance and the restaurant is towards the back, our waitress was very nice, attentive and helpful with the menu, we ordered Sangria, croquetas, fried calamari, potato salad, pan con tomate, serrano ham and Paella, everything tasted heavenly, the croquetas are huge, portions are hearty and flavorful, authentic Spanish and delicious, also the portions justify the prices. Now for the Cons...located in Downtown Miami, you already know parking and getting there it's kind of a hustle. I was deceived by their advertising and though this was more of a food hall or food stations, but it is not, is just a restaurant. This place has a LOT of potential, if they would add a little corner with live entertainment, or pump up the music, it would change the whole ambiance, the time we spent there, i could barely hear a little of their playlist and they had a good selection of songs, but the volume was so so low we were literally BORED to the core, the restaurant has no windows or no were to look at, it's a little bunker so you have to find your own way of entertainment, we even ran out of conversations, lol, it really needs more than food to make me want to go back again. My biggest throw off was dessert, we ordered the cheesecake or tarta de queso, and it was a sad piece of New York Style cheesecake!...with such great food why even bother and put that crap, sorry for the expression, on the menu, what a way of ruining the whole dinning experience! Everything was going great until dessert time, like it's so easy to make authentic Spanish desserts and why did you decide to put that vive killer on the menu?! Overall experience was good but those little details i mention make up for a lot, i wish somebody from management could read this and take those details in consideration because i really liked their food.

Come with lots of time... we came in and sat at the bar because we wanted drinks and appetizers we waited 15 mins no lie, the bartender gave us menus but he did not try to ask us what did we want to order nor anyone else came up to us from regular staff. So we got up and left. Place looks cute but I see why people complain about customer service. We would probably give it another try as unfortunately we weren't able to try anything.

Very nice surprise. After reading a lot of reviews and not sure what to expect, my only comments are: very nice place, delicious food and they need to take some improvements with their cocktails. The service is very good, there is always someone asking if you are ok or need something, the food came well presented and very fast. 4 stars because of cocktails, we ordered "agua de sevilla", gin, vodka, prosecco and orange juice. The issue was that the orange juice taste extremely artificial. On the bright side I would say that they serve the best "carrilleras" in miami (beef cheeks), juicy, tender, full flavor, my favorite dish.

Food was really good, tasty, the carrilleras were amazing, the paella was really good too. Great service. Place looks really nice.