La Pata Gorda

This place is absolutely delicious! If I could afford to eat here a few times a week, I would. The service was a little slow for a work lunch, but that could have been our fault for not telling them we had limited time.There were three of us, and we decided to share so we could try different things. This is the way to go, in my opinion. We had the Jipijapa cevishe, the cazuela, and the LPG rice. That ceviche was one of the best I have had. The cazuela was impressive and delicious, as was the LPG rice. This food and their presentation is quite the culinary experience.

I was hesitant on going to la pata gorda due to several reviews of poor service, nonetheless I decided to give it try for miami spice.Let me tell you that we left within 5 minutes and here is why:My boyfriend and I arrived for our reservation today the host was friendly and seated us immediately.Shortly after the waiter comes to give us the menus however no miami spice menu was given so we had to request it. The waiter barely greeted us and didn't even tell us his name. So now we are dealing with a nameless waiter.We ordered 2 guayaquil mules which arrived promptly, thereafter the nameless water comes to take our order and we wanted to start with 1 miami spice deal like we usually do in all other participating miami spice restaurants. To my surprise the waiter stops me and says no you can't share and each person needs to order there own miami spice deal I proceeded to tell him that we always share and he said no that those are the rules. I then told him I didn't see anything on the fine print on the menu or website where it states you cannot share. He continued to rebuttal at that point I said we were no longer interested in dining there and we hot up and left.The reviews were right we shouldn't have gone. This place will not last on the prestigious mile.The waiter is rude and not professional this location lacks management and customer service. So sad that they are ruining the Ecuadorian culture.We will continue to take our business to MI Lindo Ecuador located in doral where the food is authentic, gives huge portions and is fairly priced. Will not be returning or recommending.

What an amazingly delicious experience! Service was very attentive, they have a lot of staff which is great because they were busyyyyy. We went early and had a reservation (which is a must from what other diners expressed). Tables are pretty close together so it was easy to make friends with the two groups dining on either side of ours. I had been dying to try the food here and it did not disappoint. We started with the tuna tartare (pictured), and finished every bite! For mains my bf had the Mariners Rice which the server suggested and he enjoyed. I ordered the LPG Rice (pictured) which was incredible! The service was pretty large and I did ask to take mine to go... this was my only negative because where I took it out to have the left overs they gave me a mix of the crab meat but with the marinero rice. To me it seems like they threw out my plate and just gave me his left overs with more crab meat and maduros added to it. You could see the crab and maduros were added like if it was a new plate where I had mixed everything together. I did not like the combination at all and ended up throwing it out. This was definitely a disappointment because I was really looking forward to the leftovers. Literally everything else was fantastic. All in all, I'd go back but I will probably ask to plate my leftovers myself to make sure I get my food and not something else when I get home.

Having the last day of the Miami Spice deal. 2 appetizers, a soup, an entree, and a dessert for $60. We had the tuna tartar which was fantastic. Carpaccio Croquettas were very good. Crab & Shrimp salad is patacones with the salad to spoon on them. Delicious. Cevichito is fish only but beautifully tasty. Crab bisque which is served hot and very good with a good amount of crab. For entrees we had the branzini which was perfectly done with skin on. Comes with a side of Moros which is rice and cheese and lentils. Really good. Second entree was Chopsue very tasty. Last we are having the chocolate dessert which is ok, it is very peanut buttery. Also had a sweet drink called the Hot Star which was lovely. Wait staff is great. Byron & Homero provided excellent service. Definitely recommend!

Crab Overdose The amount of excitement I had towards this restaurant is unreal. Given that I'm from Ecuador, the fact that there is such a scarcity of good Ecuadorian restaurants always bugged me. Which is why I was so excited to see La Pata Gorda change the scene by bringing high class Ecuadorian food to Miami.This restaurant is a chain in Ecuador and its many locations have been successful by bringing flavor and quality ingredients to their dishes. While the Miami menu is a fraction of what we can find in Ecuador, it is definitely the start we've been itching for. We started off the meal with the croquettes. Incredible boom of flavor. A mixture of crab and plantain, why haven't I had this before ?! The jipijapa ceviche is a new take to any ceviche you've had. This is very traditional to Manabi as they incorporate peanut butter to the sauce giving it a more earthy nutty take to ceviche. Make sure to use the plantain chips to scoop each bite. Our next two favorites were the chopsue and the marinero. Both are great in size and will basically guarantee you'll be full at the end. These are dishes that you've never had in Miami and you start to wonder why we waited so long to have these.Areas of improvement ‼ - Service was satisfactory, the team was very slow to refill water and would often need to be reminded to refill- The crab claws were said to come with 8 portions we only got 6 (as pictured )- One of our orders was not placed in the system so we had to wait for the dish to be made- We were told there was no lemonade but heard many people order lemonade. Since we were next to the bartender area we even saw the lemonade be served. - The attitude of our waitress overall was standoffish. We were so excited to try out this place and she slightly ruined the experience - Untimely serving of dishes. One of our party members had their main served as soon as the appetizers were served. The next two mains did not come out for another 30 minutes. The missed main did not come out for another 15 minutes. Timing needs to be improved. CARAPACHO CROQUETAS - 18Ecuadorian mangrove crab meat with sweet & spicy plantains. Served with red pepper aioli.CRAB CLAWS - 26Envolved with the pot flavor and criolla sauce (8).JIPIJAPA STYLE - 27An iconic Ecuadorian ceviche: shrimp, octopus and the catch of the day with roasted peanuts sauce and citrus marinade.Topped with avocado mousse. CHOPSUÉ - 27Crab meat served with white rice or cocolón, fried plantains, our house special sauce and criolla sauce.MARINERO - 28Shrimp, squid, crab black clamServed with fried plantains.

My husband is Ecuadorian we have been on the search for a delicious more elevated version of typical Ecuadorian foods. This is the spot. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous inside with every detail of decor making you feel like you are in an Ecuadorian home but also the smell is intoxicating. It smells like a home. That's how we knew the food was going to be delicious. I would recommend setting a reservation since it's not a massive location. We didn't have one and were sat in 15 mins which is fine by us. The service Bryon gave us was so great, he was attentive and well understanding of the menu and the places each items were sourced and explained why it was special to Ecuador and our experience as guest. Absolutely loved his passion for Ecuadorian food and it helps he is from Ecuador. We personally like going to a restaurant and having a native of that country recommending and guiding us around the menu. The food we ordered : Guitig- one of the only bottled naturally occurring sparkling water (it was delicious) La pata gorda platter- a variety of mini appetizers , we loved everything. My fav was the peanut ceviche( very similar to one we had eaten when we visited Quito), and the crab. Grilled concha's- GET THEM DONT THINK ABOUT IT Carapacho croquettas- everyone loved these, crunchy delicious and filled with maduros and fish. Cazuela- very delicious and super filling, had such a great amount of seafood and flavor. Crispy fries with extra salt- I love fries and I loved these ,perfectly done and hot and crispy. Chopsue- we loved this!! So much flavor & crab and crispy rice.Encebollado- very goood , just a bit salty for my husband but for me it was great. Flan de coco- so creamy and custardsLemonade- deliciously balanced and refreshing. This place is a gem. Absolutely delicious, well priced for the quality. Extremely great service and lovely ambiance. Byron told us there will be brunch soon and we can't wait to return! We would love to see Quaker drink, Ecuadorian chocolate dessert, empanadas de verdes and quesadillas (sweet version)!!

Flavorful, fresh, and delicious food! Great ambience. Highly recommend the Cazuela and Jipijapa Style ceviche. Junior was a wonderful server!

Excellent food and better service from Byron. He's the best Try the mezcal pisco and for dessert the the cheesecake baklava

Came here on a quiet Tuesday late afternoon. Wasn't sure if they were open but glad they were. We started with the Parmesan crusted oysters and the croquetas. The oysters were small (if they were in there) and overpowered by the Parmesan cheese. However, the croquetas were a hit! Lump of crab with maduros - that's all I needed to know. You must try them! The main dish was the traditional encebollado soup. On a hot afternoon outdoors, it might not have been the right choice but the flavors were worth it. As for the set up, since it's summer, I would add a few fans outside to help with the heat. Miracle mile gets pretty hot.

Muchas gracias Steph! Tu servicio es espectacular! La comida muy rica por cierto y los tragos son lo mejor!