Laurie and I both love going on
sightseeing cruises along interesting bays, harbors, coastlines, lakes and
rivers… So, here we were in Miami enjoying great mid-winter weather, with busy
and beautiful Biscayne Bay calling us.
Dawn Marie, Laurie and I headed for a tour of part of the bay to be
followed by lunch. However…I’ll post the
boat tour a bit later.
Most if not all of the tours of Biscayne
Bay seem to originate from Miami’s Bayside Marketplace. The Marketplace is on the water between
Biscayne Boulevard (US Hwy. 1) and the Bay itself. According to Trip Advisor, Bayside
Marketplace is the #4 shopping destination in Miami. You can check out the reviews at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34438-d143763-Reviews-Bayside_Marketplace-Miami_Florida.html. Onsite parking garages are available…
Much of Bayside
Marketplace consists of small shops selling a plethora of tourist and specialty
items. As you can see above, it’s
colorful and almost all of the shopping area is covered… Two of the enclosed shopping structures have
2 levels. In addition to the one of a
kind specialty shops, retailers such as Bath and Body Works, Brookstone, Lady
Foot Locker and GUESS have stores in Bayside Marketplace.
Laurie helped out the local merchants by
purchasing colorful t-shirts for her great nephews and nieces.
Of course, a critical part of Bayside Marketplace’s
appeal is its location right on Biscayne Bay.
Water, boats, action, sunshine and people watching…what more could
anyone want!?
For more information about Bayside Marketplace, you can just go to http://www.baysidemarketplace.com/.
Note the blue stage with the cover where
musicians set up and entertain locals and tourists alike… The landside view from Bayside Marketplace
isn’t too bad either! We don’t have too
many palms where we live…and if the mid-winter sky at home is this blue, the
temperature rarely reaches the mid-60s, much less the 70s and low 80s!
After walking along the waterfront and
reviewing several menus, I settled on Lombardi’s Italian Ristorante. It is down away from much of the hustle and
bustle of the middle of the Marketplace and the Italian menu appealed to
me. Of course, we dined outside facing
Biscayne Bay. It was bright enough even
under the umbrellas for all of us to leave our sunglasses on…
Laurie took this photo of the view from
our table at Lombardi’s Italian Ristorante.
Life can be too tough, can’t it!
There are plenty of restaurants to choose
from at Bayside Marketplace. Options
included: Bubba Gump Shrimp Company; Chili’s; Hard Rock Café; Hooters; Largo
Seafood and Grill; Latin American Café; Los Ranchos; Mambo Café; The Knife,
and; Tradewinds Bar and Grill.
After much deliberation, I decided to eat
light. So much for my choice of Italian
cuisine… I ordered the Casare Salad (Lombardi’s spelling) with grilled chicken
added. ($13.90) It was OK…but less than distinguished. It looked bland and it was bland…lacking any pizzazz…
Dawn Marie ordered the Lasagna. ($16.95)
While it was plenty to eat, Dawn pronounced it to be fairly average…nothing
special…
Her appraisal should be no surprise… As
per this restaurant’s most recent customer review on Trip Advisor, “Oops-I saw
the early morning delivery- of frozen lasagna.
Hard as a rock frozen- pretty picture on the box- stacked onto a hand
truck to be taken in the back door. It's their specialty?”
On the other hand, Laurie decided to eat
light but also to go for the gusto! She
went for a flavor and texture overload with the Antipasto Misto with bruschetta,
cheese, peppers, prosciutto and olives! ($10.95) Laurie was very happy with her
choice.
We wouldn’t eat here again. There are just too many wonderful restaurants
to choose from in the Miami area! I
checked Lombardi’s Italian Ristorante on Trip Advisor when we got home and it
was ranked #1,024 out of 3,561 restaurants in Miami…with only a 52% ‘recommended’
rating.
Lombardi’s is located on Biscayne Bay in
Bayside Marketplace at 401 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 125, in Miami
Florida. Phone: 305-381-9580. Their Website is offline or shutdown…
Despite the lack of great food…add the
weather and the views and lunch was still a success!
Just click on any of the photos to
enlarge them…
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
It is hard to chose where to eat in a city the size of Miami and I, like you, often go for the view. That's one of the main reasons we visit cities, to enjoy the views and see what's happening. Sometimes so-so food is worth it if the company and the view are good.
ReplyDeleteSam
Dear Dave, The views and the weather and beautiful colors, the water and the boats. It is all so lovely. You were with your beautiful family and life looks nice. I am glad you have a good attitude towards the food not being that great.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Catherine