Garcia's Seafood: A Miami classic

👋 Deirdra here. I finally made it to Garcia's Seafood Grille & Fish Market, the decades-old, family-run seafood mecca on the Miami River.

It felt like a local rite of passage — like getting my own moka pot or a 305 cell phone number.

What we ate: Crispy, delicate calamari that puts to shame the rubbery rings most restaurants serve.

I had the picture-perfect butterfly snapper with crab meat au-gratin, lobster ravioli and tostones ($27).
My boyfriend's jumbo shrimp ($19) were "awesome," he declared between gulps.

The bottom line: Sipping mojitos and watching boats pass is total bliss.

If you go: 398 NW North River Dr., open daily.

Of note: A Garcia's outpost is being planned for the massive Riverside Wharf complex, to be built where The Wharf Miami is now.

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