Karla Cuban Bakery: West Flagler Store — Restaurant in Miami

Stopped by Miami for an Airbnb place to sleep on my way to the Florida Keys. Went to sleep, woke up, hit the road, and of course, when in Miami, you get breakfast at a little Cuban bakery. So on my way to get gas, I spotted Karla's. It was pretty early, but luckily this place is open 24/7!

Ambiance was nice. It was in a dimly lit part of town, but inside was nice and bright and friendly and inviting. Service was nice. The ladies behind the counter were very patient with me as I tried to pick an appropriate amount of options from their vast menu.

I ended up picking a wide array of things. Some sweet, some savory, some fried, some baked. It was all delicious. No issues with any of it. I even think this place fills their stuffed things with a little more stuffing than average, so take that into account.

Also, they had a very unique thing, a croqueta sandwich! A big ol' croqueta in between two slices of that amazingly soft Cuban bread with some sauces and maybe some cheese I can't remember. Either way, it was dynamite. Please get this.

And just get everything. I couldn't find a bad thing...

First place I go as soon as I arrive back to Miami. Born and raised in Miami, but currently in Los Angeles. I have been coming here since high school! The croissant sandwich is what hooked me. But everything on the menu is good. Cuban bread is usually fresh, bocaditos de lasca (mini sweet bread ham and cheese sandwiches) are bomb, other sandwiches are 💯 shareable, they are huge. Pan con bistec (Stark sándwich) is delicious. Cafe Con leche (latte) with evaporated milk, HIGHLY recommend. Remember this is Cuban coffee, and no it's not like American coffee. Colada is a shareable size that comes with thimble size "shot" glasses for a reason. Take it slow if you've never had Cuban coffee. I recommend a cortado (aka cortadito) it's a tiny size with half coffee, half milk. And a tostada (Cuban bread layered in butter, toasted) and add ham and cheese if you need more of a sandwich. Did I mention this was HUGE? I mean there are few places that are open 24 hours that are consistently delicious any time of the day or might. Not a place to go work for a long time, if you are looking for a...

Despite the fact that I bought over $50.00 in basic cuban pastries, the cashier was not helpful. She acted as if I was holding up the line during lunch hour although I was the only one there. Arlet, the food dispatcher was much friendlier and thorough. She made sure I saw the contents of each box as she fulfilled my order. The only disturbing thing in this place was Arlet taking her clear disposable gloves and dumping it into a drawer where they seem to recycle them. As for the food, nothing extraordinary except they add more butter to their pastry dough and they have new items such as guava and cheese tequenos instead of the usual Venezuelan plain cheese tequenos from Don Pan. I did like the mini papa rellenas which had more flavor than the regular size stuff potatoes. My favorite so far is the ham cheese empanada which was savory, but I wished it had more cheese and less ham. I also ordered flan and tres leches for a party and the guest rated the tres leches as 7.5 out of 10 and more tasty than the flan, which rated as bland. Inside decor was spacious and seemingly clean...