Digging into the Miami Food Scene with @mr.eats305

George Arango aka Mr.Eats305 is one of the best food creators in Miami! Born and raised there, almost no one knows the culinary scene more than him! When I’m going to Miami his recommendations are usually the first I go-to, so I wanted to chat with him to dive deeper into the Miami culinary scene, and get a locals perspective on where to eat. If you want to see all of his recommendations check out mreats305.com where he has everything laid in an incredible map with everything broken down by cuisine, neighborhood, his personal favorites, and more!

Excerpts below, but the Full interview can heard on the podcast, LISTEN HERE, and available anywhere podcasts are found “Let Me Tell You Why…with Jeremy Jacobowitz”! In the full interview we dive deeper into content strategy for social media, and the Miami spot that “isn’t for him.”

What’s happening overall in the Miami food scene 2025?

So Miami is kind of tricky in a sense of you don't have this big boom of all these restaurants coming in. You're now seeing some of those restaurants close, but then the local spots kind of thriving and maybe opening up a second location. So you're familiar with Jaguar Sun and then Sunny's and then now they also have Viceversa. Then you have Pablo from Zitz Sum opening up Dojo Izakaya in the Gables.

So we have all the local homegrown Miami chefs now opening up second, third ventures. And I find that amazing.

What’s something surprising that people may not realize about restaurants in Miami?

That it's more spread out than people may think, that everything is not great on South Beach or Miami Beach. And you know this, that you kind of have to go more inland and the more west and south you go, the more diverse, the more authentic, the more mom and pop. So it's similar to LA in the sense of you need a car to navigate Miami. And especially if you're trying to find the best bites, that's the biggest thing that people don't realize, that they think they're just coming to visit Miami and it's the Papi Steaks, the Carbones, but it's a lot more than that, you know?.

Favorite Cuban sandwich spot?

So like the best Cubano sandwich, like Cuban sandwich. It has to still be Sanguich. It still has to be, people that are locals want to hate on it because so many tourists go to it and it has a more modern and Americano approach to it. So it doesn't feel as gritty and authentic. But to me, consistency is the number one thing. And their bread is always consistent. Their proteins always have a bunch of flavor that they're doing in-house, and the cheese, and the sauces. Like, what more do you want from a place that is being consistent in providing a good product? With a Cuban sandwich, I think they're number one.

What’s the most iconic restaurant in Miami?

Joe Stone Crabs has to be the most iconic because it is the oldest. I would say Versailles also has to be thrown in there. It's the most famous Cuban restaurant in the world, I would say, at this point. A community and cultural staple in Miami. You'll see a group of grandparents and just viejos just talking at the ventanita, getting Cuban coffee, discussing politics or sports.

And that's just part of the Miami culture. Miami has a ventanita, a to go little window for coffee and pastries on every corner. Like New York has pizza.