Sra. Martinez

Amazing food. A bit pricey, but it was in the end worth it for the food and great times.

I know they are closing (or have already closed) but I still feel compelled to write this because it’s been a long time coming…
Based on the stellar Unilocal reviews, I made the mistake of suggesting this restaurant to my family for my mother’s birthday dinner celebration. I had been one time before but only for cocktails in the upstairs bar area. The drinks were great and the bartenders were very knowledgeable so I figured it would be hard to go wrong with their food.
I was wrong. We were a party of 5 with huge appetites so we knew we would have to order a lot of dishes to fill us up. We even opted for one of their larger plates (Wagyu Ribeye) to ensure we would leave satisfied. I can honestly say there was not one plate that left me wanting more. Nothing tasted bad but for the money we paid, we were not impressed. With $ 400 less in our pockets, our party walked out feeling underwhelmed by the entire dining experience.
You’re better off taking your money to Sugarcane or Xixon for good tapas.

Why did it take so long for me to come here is beyond comprehension. The one consolation I have is that I finally made it, and although a bit sad, I feel honored to have been here on its final night.
I have confessed to my girlfriend that I have a crush on chef Bernstein. Yes, I have a beautiful girl that I love, and yes, I know, chef Bernstein is a family woman but she has cooked her way to my heart.
As I said before, we went on July 7, what was supposed to be Sra. Martinez last night. We were told that because it was the last night the menu was completely different, chef Bernstein was cooking what she always wanted to cooked. We decided to go off the menu and into the chef’s menu. For those not familiar with the restaurant, the chef’s menu is a multi-​course meal where you get what the chef sends you.
I lost count of how many courses we got and the name of all the plates but one thing is for sure, everything was amazing. The croquetas in fig sauce, the crispy artichokes with aioli, the butifarra, the pork belly with watermelon, everything just amazing. The korean style pork chops were to die for, the figs wrapped in bacon were just out of this world. For dessert the donut balls with cream were delicious, but the churros with spicy chocolate were incredibly rich and chef Bernstein’s take on torrejas was one of those items that should be on everyone’s last meal on earth list.
I am definitely gonna miss Sra. Martinez but I guarantee that whatever restaurant chef Bernstein opens next, I’ll be there often.

The sad update is that this lovely restaurant is closing its doors. Part of the whole overhaul of the design district, I imagine.
I just had a goodbye meal here — may even come back for one more. Run — do not walk and get some before you must say, Adiós to this delicious Sra.

I’ve eaten at Michelle Bernstein’s Sra. Martinez four or five times since it opened. Local press has reported Michelle will close the place quite soon.
While I take no joy in the coming closure, Sra. Martinez has been a bit of an after thought for me: I default to eating at Michy’s first, but it is a pleasure to sit outside on the patio here.
Happily, the experience here continued to improve. I think one will have the best experience if one goes with a group and shares a large number of tapas plates.
On our most recent visit (with a large ten person party), we tried Sra Martinez’s tasting menu. It presents the best range of tapas dishes and choices.
Honestly…I can’t run through the entire list of tapas we consumed, but I recall that lamb, garbanzo beans stew, pork belly, bruschetta, and ceviche were standouts, and by the time the waiter had brought the final round of tapas, I was happily completely stuffed and couldn’t touch the last dish.
Desserts were a rich pleasure, too, and I was impressed by their thoughtful bar offerings and enlightened bartender, who had some great suggestions.

3pm in the mood for «brunch». Check my Unilocal App, to see what’s nearby, and find Sra. Martinez. My Mom and I love trying new pace so in we go.
First things first, «a Mimosa please». And my «brunch» mood is set. To eat I order the Huevos Benedicto — Cuban toast, crispy pork belly, poached egg, and mojo Hollandaise. After a couple of bites the pork belly was a bit too heavy, and salty for me but still added a nice flavor to the taste of the dish, plus the spinach on the side helped tone it down.
My Mom opted for orange juice (freshly squeezed and delicious) and the Chicken N Waffles. She too was very happy with our decision of coming here, even more after trying their Torrejas for dessert.
Our server, Timothy, was very nice, quick, and made sure we had everything we ordered and needed. Even when the kitchen was about to close he was making sure we didn’t want anything else and were satisfied with everything.
Great service, great food… I see myself visiting them again.

Eine weitere Perle in Miami’s interessantem und aufstrebendem Design District. Das Sra. Martinez ist ein umgebautes altes Postgebäude vor dem es sich draussen sehr schön sitzen läßt, so kann man auch das bunte Treiben und das Defile teurer Luxuskarossen besser beobachten. Die Karte enthält Tapas aber auch Hauptspeisen, das Essen ist ziemlich gut aber keine kulinarische Offenbarung. Die Portionen der Tapa sind ordentlich, dafür, dass es sich eigentlich um Tapas handelt. Weine und vor allem die Cocktails sind prima, Finger weg von der Sangria. Die Preise entsprechen der Location und sind am Ende des Abends relativ hoch.

OMGxN… Superb food quality, presentation, service, location. Prices aren’t bad for the quality you get. We had the tasting menu (16 – 18 plates) and everything was spot on, absolutely great, definitely coming back for a repeat of a few items like the pulpo, ceviche, pan con tomate, sea scallops and prongs. I think I want to stalk Mrs. Bernstein but I hear she is married ;) hubby must be happy! She nailed this place.

We went to Sra Martinez in early Feb 2012.
OMG, wonderful food — all «small» plates, although some were larger that others.
We went with friends so makes it great for sharing.
Here’s what we loved:
— bacon wrapped dates (we had two orders)
— crispy eggplant (so yummy)
— ham croquetas
— egg yolk carpaccio
— garbanzo stew
— Paella (this was one of the larger dishes)
— churros and chocolate sauce
— did I say churros
— oh yes — and churros (some folks wanted their own — and if you go and have you till totally get why — they are fabulous!!)
Food was great, but just a note, it doesn’t take long for the meal to get expensive.
I would suggest 2 dishes per person or 3 if you are hungry — bigger dishes offer more food, BUT you must leave room for the churros as they are not to be missed. There are normally 4 per serving.
Enjoy!

Food is definitely pricey and just okay.
A bit upset that the bill came and it says ‘GRATUITY NOT INCLUDED’ while it is still charging you an 18%! WTH!!!
Not sure if this ‘tapas’ style restaurant is worth the $ 75 tasting menu that we ordered. Granted, we were served a multitude of dishes, but small… was it really worth $ 75/​person? All the dishes were served just so that everyone at the table had enough to just serve themselves a spoon/​fork-​full or a piece of something, nothing more, nothing less…
This is what we were introduced with:
Machego cheese croquetas
Octopus sashimi–
A bit too salty, may have sprinkled a bit too much salt plating it
Egg yolk carpaccio —
Tasty ‘little’ (I mean liiiiiiiiitttttttttttlllllllleeeee) shrimp nuggets over a bed of runny egg yolk topped with lots of little thin crispy potatoes more than anything.
Squid and risotto–
Risotto was cooked in the squid ink and it gave it quite a distinctive taste
Grilled octopus–
Tastes just as it sounds.
Steak and cauliflower–
Lots of cauliflower (a bed of it), very little steak; or was there even steak?
Oxtail polenta–
Tasty polenta served in a bowl with a ‘dash’ of shredded oxtail meat on top
Choclo con chiles–
Sweet corn with some spicy chiles… Woah! Some people at the table couldn’t handle the heat. Now this plate came with more than one spoonful per person. HMmm… that is right, corn is cheap.
Lamb ribs over basmati rice–
A bit on fatty side and rice was soft but flavors don’t really pop.
Ended with some churros with chocolate and chocolate bread pudding, just OKAY, nothing to rant about.
Not sure why there is so much hype about the restaurant… It is just an overpriced ‘tapas’ restaurant. I mean ‘Mini-​Tapas.’ I believe you’re better off spending your money in an actual spanish tapas restaurant and get more bang for your buck… in regards to food and taste.
Even though there were a lot items, the table’s tummies were not really satisfied, but we’ll let you be the judge of it…

Ehhh… came here for Art Basel with a bunch of friends, this place left A LOT to be said. After spending about a half hour looking for parking, and walking about 8 blocks to get there we have arrived …
The host was this ditzy middle aged man with a pretentious attitude who did not even greet us (ok the place was busy, so I’ll let it slide). We had reservations, yet were given an unknown waiting period and told to go upstairs into this tiny cramped bar until they came up to get us. About 30 mins pass by, I go downstairs to ask if they could text us when our table was ready since the bar was so crowded it would be hard to find us. The waiter tells us they had come looking for us at the bar but could not find us … Waah Waahhh…
We finally sit down, on comes ditz numero dos… He takes my drink order, and comes back 20 mins later asking if we are ready to order food… runs off without notice, without taking our order … and comes back 15 mins later with my drink, now he takes our food order.
Food arrives: my friend’s croquetas were literally five small potato balls which would equal one actual croqueta at any Spanish tavern. She sends them back. The waiter snappily answers «this is Spanish style» umm… «excuse me I have been to Spain several times, this is is over-​hyped BS». My other poor friend decided to be adventurous and try the oxtail= major fail = heart attack in a bowl. My squid ink risotto was much too creamy and without any real seasoning or flavor. The best thing was the Galbi — that’s Korean and very hard to screw up. Overall the food was just simultaneously heavy and bland, NOT what I expected after reading the reviews.
Bill arrives: woah, they just charged me $ 5 for sparkling water? Seriously? They refill their own bottles … Bottega Louie in LA PWNS and they DO NOT charge for bottles that are refilled *sad face* Oh, I should also mention they charged one of my friend’s the wrong amount and didn’t even apologize. The crowning event of the night, was when one of the waiters chased after my friend to give her his number … Unprofessional, yet cute.
The only reason this place would even get A star is because their architecture and décor is pretty cool. Next time I’ll just drive by, and gawk at their funky entrance from the OUTSIDE without actually going in and tasting the food !!! Whoever thinks this is a true tapas bar seriously needs to visit Spain, or at least some of the legit places in town where the food is the main attraction, and not over rated pretentiousness…

So after all this time, I finally got the chance to try this place! I’d been here on a pisco bus crawl when the staff at Sra. Martinez were very gracious to our rowdy group, offering to give each of us a few complimentary drinks, and also offering to give us «to go» cups so we could take their version of the Pisco punch back on the bus with us. I’d also been here for a Unilocal elite event several months ago, but though I’ve eaten in this general area a few times, last night was the first time I came here to experience Sra. Martinez as a typical dinner patron.
A co-​worker and I were doing a presentation at a business a bit north of here on Wednesday evening, it was about 6:30 when we wrapped up, both of us were hungry and I thought about this place when considering restaurant suggestions to throw out. In my experience, the offerings here were creative, tasty and I’m a big fan of the adaptive reuse idea that they’ve carried out on the 1920’s post office building that houses this restaurant.
The wait staff was extremely attentive on this night; We were seated right away (there were only 2 other tables with patrons seated at them when we arrived), water was offered immediately as were beverages and cocktails. Our server was great when it came to describing a few of the items on the menu and making suggestions, and once we finished the last bite from a particular plate, it was cleared away immediately.
I ordered the bacon wrapped dates, galbi (Korean style short rib), and one of the vegetable plates. My friend ordered the Murcia Al Vino cheese, the egg yolk carpaccio, croquetas de jamon and one other dish that I don’t recall the name of.
Everything we ordered was superb. No complaints at all about the taste or quality of the food, and it seemed that each dish we tried was better than the previous one. Nothing we tried disappointed, and even though we arrived hungry and I wasn’t sure that we could be satisfied by tapas and small plates, both of us left satisfied and full, but not overly so.
So why only 3 ½ stars? Simply put, the price$ they charge vs. the small portions. While the food and service were both excellent, the pricing was a bit over the top, even for this place, and the portions were smaller than expected in comparison. As an example, a small plate with 4 or 6 bits of cross cut rib that were only maybe ¼″ thick and a small dollop of slaw was $ 16. If pricing were a bit more reasonable, Sra. Martinez would easily win 4 stars from me, maybe even 4 ½.
Will I be back? Most probably, especially if I’m in the area or attending a performance at the Arscht center and would like to have something small to eat and maybe a drink or two but not a full meal. In those instances, this place fits the bill very well.

After 24 hours of digestion and feeling like I am slowly going into multi-​organ system failure, I feel I owe it to my GI tract, arteries and kidneys to vent via this review. I wish I had a better review for this lovely, beautifully decorated establishment — but I don’t.
We ended up here to check out their very extensive Miami Spice Menu, which was actually one of the better menus I’ve seen during this promotion.
The Good:
— The service. Kyle, our server, gets a major A+ for his attention. He was on top of his game the whole time. The water people and bus crew was also attentive, always filling up our water even though the bottle was @ the table.
— The kale salad (topped with yummy sardines and a poached egg), the white fish, the croquetas (although skimpy at 3 pieces so I had to be a gluttonous pig and order a full appetizer portion), the yummy bread with olive oil, the Panna cotta yogurt dessert, the beer selection.
The Bad:
— shrimp on toast (too buttery, ugh! Someone on here said it was like a Lean Cuisine meal, more like an unlean Lean Cuisine meal) — it was just plain bad.
— The donuts were also pretty terrible — my husband said
they tasted like elephant ears from The Fair. I have to agree, the overpowering stench of aged Canola was a turnoff, my scent memory kept bringing me back to carnie folk and POP tickets.
The Ugly:
— Pork Belly: or pork fat pudding, or pork belly jello, as my husband called it. All fat no meat, and mushy! Not crispy. Ugh. Gross. So gross I fought him for the Brussel sprouts which I have always hated due to their taste which I imagine is what solid flatulence would taste like.
— Garbanzo Stew — this is what sent me over the edge. Salty, greasy, fatty — felt like I was in a Fear Factor episode for congestive heart failure or dialysis patients. This dish was awful — it was way too rich. And too salty. Too greasy. It was just all too much, even for a fatty bombatty at heart like me. I think this is the dish that sent my kidneys, heart and GI tract into a tailspin, yikes.
Sorry Sra. Martinez, you just didn’t do it for me.

This place is seductively chic inside with rich woods and clean lines. The service was amazing. Our server was top notch and didn’t miss a thing.
We were here the week of Cinco De Mayo and they had some specials that were absolutely fab! One was a crispy pork belly street taco. Handmade corn tortilla, amazing crispy pork belly, with a little slaw on top. We were in heaven! The lamb was also to die for and so was the star of the show-​the molten fried foie gras balls with the fruit compote. You dip it in the fruit compote and then pop the whole thing in your mouth and the molten foie melts all over your tongue-I’ve never had anything like it! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
The small plates are perfect for sharing and getting to try a lot of different things. There is something that even non foodies would enjoy.
What I love the most is seeing Chef Michelle Bernstein there. From what our server told us, she is there all the time. I think that makes a HUGE difference in the quality of food and I was very impressed. This will go on our rotation of restaurants when we are visiting Miami for sure!

Went here on a Friday night for dinner and the place was packed to the rafters. It’s the kind of trendy crowd you’d expect in this part of the city. We sat outside which was nice.
Foodwise, we got 5 dishes. The crispy artichokes, the bone marrow, the short ribs, the foie gras, and the squid ink risotto. I thought each dish was good. The squid ink risotto was the star of the meal. It was a delightful dish and the squids were cooked really well. I think the short ribs were probably my least favorite of the meal. They were good, but seemed a little plain and not particularly inventive. I was a little surprised at how conventional the dishes were. They worked, but with the exception of the risotto I didn’t feel like I was eating dishes that I couldn’t find at a lot of other higher end spots.
The service was very slow, but it was busy and our waiter was a really nice guy. The meal was under $ 100 which was a pleasant surprise. I liked the place generally and the highlights were memorable.

Went to Sra Martinez on a whim the other night with my brother. I had wanted to go for a while because I love Michy’s, so I was finally excited when it came up as an option and they were able to get us a seat at the bar. The place was packed for a weeknight, but we didn’t feel crowded, and I actually liked sitting at the bar and watching the culinary masters in action behind the counter.
We split manchego croquetas, the rabo encendido, and the galbi. For dessert, we got the churros. Everything was delicious. I preferred the rabo encendido (Braised Oxtail, Fideo Pasta, Mascarpone Cheese) over the galbi (Chinese Style Marinated Short Rib, Green Tomato Slaw), but my brother really loved both. I found the short rib to be a little bit tough and we barely touched the slaw, but the oxtail made up for that. Our only complaint on that was we wished we had ordered two! I would definitely recommend ordering the oxtail dish, and it was a great suggestion by our waiter. The churros were really good too. Those two things were my favorites, and when I come back, I may not even venture away from them because they were so delicious.
Service was exceptional, and our bill with tax and tip came in around $ 65. Not bad. I wished the portions were a bit larger for some of the things we ordered, like the croquetas, but everything was so tasty so it was all worth it.

I’ve been here a couple of times and it is consistently good. To start, the bar upstairs is intimate and there are some interesting coctails on the menu. Once you site down, the tapas start to fly out of the kitchen. If you go with a group of 4, you will prbably try over 8 different tappas.
The standout tapas were… in order of priority goodness…
Bacon wrapped dates
Lamb Chops — awesomely flavored
Fried Artichoke — evil goodness
Croquetas — little balls of fishy love
Tuna — nicely prepared, sushi style
In the design district, I believe this is a top 3 place

Sra Martinez, how I wanted to love thee. I had heard great things and had been dying to try you out and unfortunately was disappointed. Maybe it was the hype, maybe I wasn’t hungry enough, too tired, or maybe your food was lacking that evening.
The environment is beautiful. We sat at the bar, the staff was extremely friendly. Their wasn’t a wait at all. They have both a food bar and a drink bar. The drink bar is upstairs with an outdoor patio which was nice for private groups. And the food bar is in the midst of the rest of the diners for those wanting to socialize.
We tried the various tapas and while none of them stood out enough to order again, I will try and give you another shot soon.
Because after all what Sra Martinez lacks, it supersedes in ambience.

You need a plan.
When you come here, you need to bring friends and discuss what you want to order before hand. If you do it right, you can try almost everything on the menu.
That is the beauty of small plates.
I can see how some people, who didn’t order enough variety, could have a hit or miss experience.
The service was wonderful and the atmosphere is great.
Standouts:
Bacon wrapped dates
Oxtail (my 20 month old LOVED the leftovers)
Croquettas (risotto and chicken liver)
French toast & ice cream desert
The ceasar salad (the crutons wer warm, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with a little quail egg inside one of them)
Brussel sprouts served with a fried egg on top and a mustard sauce.
Good, but wouldn’t order again:
Sweetbread
mushrooms
kale (I think I’m just not a kale person)
The chinese short ribs (** but the cole slaw served on the side was the best I have ever tasted.)
Wasn’t a fan of the chicken liver.
Would definitely come again, but with a small army of friends so we can try the rest of the menu.
And they do update their menu constantly so you can always try something new.

Even if the Fresh Prince was standing outside, singing to me (as he often does in Philly), I don’t think I could’ve had a better welcome to Miami (bienvenido a Miami). This was by far the most enjoyable meal of my most recent trip to party in the city where the heat is on all night on the beach ’til the break of dawn.
Sra. Martinez was flawless. Literally, without flaw. The cocktails were well-​balanced and interesting, the service friendly and attentive, and the food unimpeachable. (The crowd was also gorgeous; y’all don’t understand, I’ve never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans.)
There were intriguing flavor combinations that I would not have thought to try (prawns and popcorn), and surprisingly enjoyable items on the menu (crispy bok choy, fried artichokes). Even the old tapas standbys (bacon-​wrapped dates, patatas bravas) were well-​executed and dare I say it, the best I’ve had. I’m not big on dessert, but the warm churros hit the spot when I was thinking, «I’m a scoot me something hot in this southsea meringue melting pot.»
And thankfully, whoever manages the music here has better taste than I; Will Smith made no appearance on the soundtrack. I heard Radiohead, Beck, and LCD Soundsystem among others, all of whom I’d rather have stuck in my head.

Went for Miami Spice, Michelle Bernstein definitely has a different menu here! She always spices up her dishes with different flavors, and unique ingredients.
Bc we went for lunch, we had the choice of two appetizers, one entrée and one dessert. We got the tortilla espaniola with chorizo on top, just a bit of chorizo, just enough for a great taste. We ordered the Fava salad, not the greatest, but the lettuce seemed sandy as I ate it — maybe the nature of this curly lettuce??? the tempura japanese eggplant with a sauce was great, good flavor, bite size. As a main dish we ordered the mussels al ajillo and rabo encendido, they were great!!! I have to say that the rabo encendido had a nice flavor, trophie pasta nice and fresh. The dessert was superb, it was banana torrejas and figs, it was sweet, moist breadlike, yumi!!! I have a weakness for torrejas so I am biased about the dessert.
Servings are definitely small, it is nice because you can share and nibble on the other food. Even though the entrees and dessert was great, don’t know if I would be fond of it…
Definitely a chic place, nice décor (the place used to be a postal office, mainly decoration is between black and brown but has some good accents on color that brings the place alive), good ambience.