Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Bayside Dining – Miami

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


2 comments:

  1. 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.
    Sam

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  2. 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.
    Blessings, Catherine

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