Craft American Eatery — Restaurant in Virginia Gardens

4.8 stars? WHAT? HOW? I had the worst dining experience ever, here. My friend was in town on a layover, staying next door. We figured to give this place a try for brunch. She ordered a “truffle” omelet and I ordered eggs Benedict. Hers came out in normal time frame but was over cooked and ZERO truffle flavor. I figured mine wasn’t far behind…. well I was very wrong lol. Waitress disappeared completely for over 15 minutes (actually we never saw her again). Finally I decided to go to the bar and make sure my food was still coming, maybe it got forgotten. The acted like I was being rude, I was not at all. I just wanted to make sure it was in the works, I’ve been a server I know mistakes happen. They seemed both confused and to not care just saying 2 more minutes… ok no problem. Another 15 MINUTES LATER I had lost my patience and get up and go to ask again where is my meal and waited for it to be made right then Another few minutes passed and it came out, I walked it myself to our table. I’m SO hungry by this point and my friend already has finished eating her meal. The servers couldn’t care any less about the fact I’ve been waiting for over 40 min for poached eggs. Never came to our table other than when we sat down or to bring my friends food. No status updates not even a glance in our direction. The kicker… it was horrendous - the English muffins were RAW - like out of the carton not even warmed up - raw. The ham was cold and the hollandaise… oh man… I was so worried I was going to get sick as it was completely uncooked. Pretty sure it was just raw egg yolk and melted butter put in a blender - all frothy. Eggs bene is a major fav of mine (I make my own often too). I’ve had some not so good ones and this was bad bad bad. I will say the poached eggs were over but edible. I was stage 10 hungry at this point so I just prayed to the food gods I wouldn’t get sick and scarfed it down (I didn’t get sick thankfully!). I would not be writing this if the staff wouldn’t have been totally awful and not act like it was MY fault they botched this from the start. Then they had the audacity to put my meal on our bill which I asked them to remove. They seemed irritated about removing it as well and added a service charge to my friends tab. What service??? P.S. it was NOT busy. Thursday noon and maybe 5 tables...

The first thig that I want to say is the outside does not do this place justice. The resturant is connected to the candlewood suites hotel, and is truly a hidden gem. Prime36 serves breakfast lunch and dinner. For this review I will be rating a couple of dinner options.

The atmosphere was lovely, with relaxing minimalist decor. Miguel, the GM brings his hospitality all the way from Spain and is the kind of hospitality that makes you feel at home. His demeanor and management style is that of someone who is experienced and loves what he does.

Now for the food, the family and I had a variety of items and there not one thing that was not good. Chef Fernando puts a symphony of flavors together to make a simple yet delicious menu. What I like most is that this this place is not trying to be something that it is not and had a small menu which (in my experience) the food typically turns out good.

I started off with the sancocho soup and it was delish. The beef was tender and melted in your mouth. The broth was flavorful and the veggies gave the soup a wonderful aroma. The house and steak salad was crisp and airy while the steak was perfectly cooked, tender but had a nice chew. Now one of my favorite items were the house made empanadas. Unfortunately I was unable to try the chicken and beef, but was fortunate enough to have the spinich and ham & cheese. The spinich was nice and puffy a d had a hint of nutmeg which surprising and delicious. The ham & cheese was warm and gooey with a nice flaky crust. Now I did not get to try the lasagna but it's homemade and my kid ate it all and that kid is picky and only eats my Italian father-in-law's pasta and shells, so it had to be good.

In the end, Prime35 needs to be on your must try list. I am sure you won't be disappointed, but that is just my opinion. So go and try them and form your...

3.5 stars here. almost four star. medium size spot in an unassuming location adjacent to Candlewood Suites Miami airport. Sweet female server. Menu includes flatbreads, burgers, pastas, and steaks. Nice variety of sides available. Fettuccini Ragu well made but sauce had what seemed to be a made with at least one Latin spice like cumin or chili powder. More bite than expected but enjoyable. Burger was ordered with added-extra charge-tomatoes but came without. When brought to server’s attention she insisted on bringing them to me rather than just offer to take off bill. But the plate of slices she brought were very tasty. Patty was requested medium and came overly pink. But it was delicious. Returned on our pass through town heading home seven days later. The Fettuccini was ordered again and enjoyed. My choice this time was to try the Empanadas-one each of Ham & Cheese, Beef, and Chicken. Along with a House Salad that was very fresh with a bright, slightly citrusy, vinaigrette. Very tasty. All the Empanadas were clearly made in house with a light, flaky, crust that was just perfect. The flavors of the fillings were hit and miss with the ham and cheese being the star. Beef was sorely in need of some seasoning, even with the provided tomato sauce. A dip into the ragu sauce from the Fettuccini added a lot. The major difficulty with the Empanadas was that they were served only luke warm. Barely heated. I chose not to bring it up to the sever as we were recently off a flight and just wanted to eat and sleep. I would be wary of this if ordered. We also enjoyed a slice of Key Lime Pie which was high in key lime flavor but the serving was quite small for the price. If you are in town and staying near the airport, it’s definitely worth a stop for a...