MUCHAAACHOS — Restaurant in Miami Beach

Extremely important review and reviewer here. So Muchaaachos opened recently, doesn't have a website yet, and the reservation system doesn't work. Which means nearly everybody going there (and loving it) is from Little Argentina and nearby. Their reviews that it is "authentic" beat mine as I'm perhaps one of the first non-Argentinean-but-local people to review it so my vote counts, and I promise an accurate and important review. Read on, if you're as awesome as Muchaaachos.

Lore: So it's soccer-ish with carefully selected photos of Messi et. al, a soccer mirror in the bathroom, etc. - they gave my son a coaster and matches (because what a ten year old needs is fire - and yet, I sort of love it as they respect the ability for a big boy to make smart big boy decisions) as a gift, with Messi themes and the 3 "A"s in MuchAAAchos engraved representing Argentina's World Cup Wins. So now you get it. It's an upscale Argentinean steak house that isn't too full of itself with indoor and outdoor seating in the former (great and reasonably priced, and then terrible and over priced) Las Vacas Gorda space. Gone are the annoying valets, and now it's just public parking in the lot which was fairly simple to get. If not, drive aroudn a bit and arrive 10 minutes early to get a spot.

Food: absolutely outstanding.

The Provoleta was a perfect 10 - this gringo may not know everything authentic, but if my Argentine buddies don't think the crispy spin, piping hot melty center, great salty flavor, and umami of this dish is great also, then we are no longer friends.

Caesar Salad - really great - not traditional in that it leans "bread crumbs over croutons" but has solid dressing, real anchovy, and fresh crispy lettuce with plenty of parmesan.

Cowboy Ribeye - I encouraged my wife and son to pick the skit steak which I think of as much more traditional but they insisted. if a touch well done, the flavor was rich and delicious. Marcos, a co-investor, shared that they waited 6 months to get a true charcoal grill vs. the old gas one and the flavor and love shows through. Nice char, strong rosemary, delicious.

Milanesa - i had one the that is a beef pounded thin, Italian style, but not with veal/chicken in a traditional Italian way but with steak - topped like a chicken parm with fresh basil. One of the vest I've ever had in any restaurant regardless of meat base. Large portion, perfectly tender, very crispy crust....served with locally sourced homemade pasta or fries (I went pasta - amazing, but dry - got some olive oil)

Broccolini - perfectly cooked - flavors of the sauce were off/odd for us but that may just be not being used to the Argentinean way.

Bread and butter to start - 10/10.

Service - Marcos - fantastic - took time to chat with everybody to the point maybe some tables had to wait - really cares, really wants to make a success of what was run into the ground by the former restaurant in the space.

We'll be back - I'm hopeful the entire community embraces this spot vs. just the locals who seem to say it's very authentic etc. A really strong 9.5/10...

Raw steak at a “steakhouse”…. What a nightmare this was. I’ve had bad experiences at restaurants but this one takes the cake. Service and food were so mediocre.

Walked in on a Saturday evening to a very empty restaurant with only one table sat; first red flag, we should’ve known. Our server was so slow and was missing from sight 90% of the time we were sat and a girl was pretty much doing his job and she was slow too. :/

We ordered 2 appetizers which took around 20mins to arrive to our table, we had to ask for our cokes, water refills, had to flag a different server for a straw; and our server was sweeping the floor while all this was happening in front of him… Our steaks finally hit our table after 40 mins, maybe more— and they’re raw and lukewarm. We flagged our server and showed him the steaks; they were so raw and undigestible so we sent them back and at this point we were already extremely disappointed so we requested the check. Our server went back to the kitchen crew and it seemed like they were trying to recook them and bring it back so we told them we did not want the food anymore, just the check and our server said he’d bring it but returned to the kitchen and continued to try and fix the steaks. After another 10 minutes our server and the girl approach our table with the fixed steaks trying to set them down after we made it clear we did not want the food anymore. Finally the check comes! and it’s $83 for melted cheese, one 14 oz chorizo, and three canned cokes, mind you, our subtotal was $42 and the rest was service charge.

Service aside, the food lacked quality: fries that seemed came frozen in a bag, bland mashed potatoes, chimichurri and pepper oil with no flavor. The complimentary bread was also so cold and the butter it came with was barely salted.

Oh! And the cherry on top was the table who sat after us and got their food before us. Nice. Also worth mentioning that no supervisor, manager, or owner touched our table and offered apologies or a discount on the check after all of the above.

Very sad and upsetting experience truly. I was so looking forward to trying this new spot in the neighborhood but I think a Banquet Salisbury steak is more...

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this experience.

The good: we were late to reservation, and the manager still found a way to fit us in, and sat us at the very end of the bar, which is a great start! The food is PHENOMENAL, truly.

The bad: Service was lacking; which to be fair is a true Argentine experience - forgetful servers, lack of awareness and and you have to ask for everything. Eg: we were served water only when we sat down and that was it. Its Miami, you need water flowing to deal with the weather.

There are desserts but not on the menu. The dessert we asked for was Flan con crema - a staple of Argentine food. Instead they gave us a flan made/infused with dulce de leche. That sounds like a good idea, but the execution was sloppy, gooey instead of firm.

They also sat a group of 4 boisterous 50+ y/o next to us, on the bar, in a spot which is not a serving space so, they were literally pushed up against us. Physically in contact. Shoulder to shoulder. For the whole evening.

The UGLY: they charge 18% gratuity. If you’re going to charge 18% on top of every bill, and not give customers the option of choosing their own tip rate, you cannot have an off night and your staff has to keep the water flowing in glasses, no matter what. You can’t sit people together in spaces where they’re not supposed to be sitting in the first place, and your desserts should be listed on the menu.

The phenomenal- I told the manager on duty about this, she took all of this feedback gracefully, and apologized. She invited us to come back again on a less busy night. But thats the point - with those prices, and service fees, you can’t...