Challenge Accepted: Dos Caminos

July 11, 2011

Dos Caminos has done it again. With the high-quality, authentic Mexican menu and upscale, South-of-the-Border décor Dos Caminos diners expect, a Fort Lauderdale Beach location has been opened to add to Dos Caminos’ already existing several New York City and Las Vegas locations. It’s like someone said, “Hey, Dos Caminos! There’s no way your restaurant will translate from Soho and the Strip to laidback Fort Lauderdale Beach.” Then Dos Caminos was like, “Oh really fool?? Challenge accepted!”

Just inside the newly renovated Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel (on the beach side), Dos Caminos welcomes you to its Mexican underground lair. Greeted by enthusiastic hotel valet guys (Dos Caminos validates parking! Validated parking is only $5.00), an on-the-ball hostess and Day of the Dead-like skeleton faces on the first wall you see in the restaurant, you know you’re in for an untraditional Mexican meal. With seating available in four areas, you have to walk through each electic one to get to the next. We love this because if you sit on the patio, you get to walk through the entire restaurant and check out the cool, dungeoness décor like taper candles on various gold candlesticks covered in mounds of candle wax and what everybody is eating. Other than the patio, we would recommend sitting at the bar where it’s always lively, especially when Dos Caminos has one of their great drink specials going – Prickly Pear Margarita please – or in the area just past the bar, which is a long, narrow dining space. Between the low lighting and the tight seating, you will want to grab your poncho and snuggle up with some quality tequila.

On to more serious things…the menu. We don’t want to hear it, you’re ordering the guacamole. Don’t worry, you get chips and three different types of salsa while you wait. The guac serves two and can be ordered mild, medium or super duper hot (we can’t remember what the hot one is called,but you’ll know it when you eat it). If you’re feeling really crazy, you can order Dos Caminos’ new Mango, Papaya-Habanero Guacamole or Jumbo Lump Crab-Chipotle Guacamole. Can’t decide? Try the Trio-Tasting of Guacamole. During our last dinner at Dos, we stuck to the basics and inhaled the made-to-order, medium guacamole (no, not super duper hot).

As for your main course, everything is good. We recommend the Shrimp Quesadilla, which is actually more like a flatbread who lives close to the Mexican border, hangs out with quesadillas and is now a quesadilla-by-association or an honorary quesadilla, if you will. If you want something with really fresh and clean ingredients, try the Pescado Tacos with Mahi-Mahi and spicy slaw. They are definitely a crowd pleaser.

As for House of Travel, we would wake up at dawn to order the Breakfast Quesadilla, which is only available on the limited breakfast menu until 11:00 a.m. Call us crazy (isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?), but before the Fort Lauderdale location opened, we booked our trips to NY around grabbing brunch at Dos Caminos SoHo. Unfortunately, the Dos Caminos Fort Lauderdale Beach does not have a full-blown brunch, but you’ll understand what we are rambling about once you go try the Breakfast Quesadilla for yourself. Mmm, it’s so good. You’re lucky this entire post isn’t just about the Breakfast Quesadilla.

With various specials from Happy Hour to a Prix Fixe menu for two, visit DosCaminos.com to take advantage and check out the full menu. Dos Caminos is located in the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel at 1140 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. Make your OpenTable reservation or call 954.727.7090 today. Don’t forget to make your reservation for before 11:00 a.m. (11:30 a.m. on weekends) so you can order the Breakfast Quesadilla. And no, we do not hold stock in the Breakfast Quesadilla. It’s THAT good.

No related posts.