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New Mexican seafood spot at Miami Beach hotel has a tequila tree and mezcal lounge

Connie Ogle
·2 min read

A new restaurant and a new lounge from the creators of Coyo Taco and 1-800-Lucky are opening at the Moxy South Beach hotel.

Joining the rooftop restaurant Serena and the more casual Los Buenos (which also has a space at the new Oasis in Wynwood) is Como Como, a “marisqueria” (seafood restaurant) that comes with its own raw bar. The menu takes its cues from the cuisine found in Puerto Escondido, Los Cabos, Acapulco and other Mexican seafood spots.

Designed by Saladino Design Studios, the restaurant features a “fuego” (fire station) as the centerpiece of the restaurant. Diners can watch the whole fish they order cooked over a wood-burning grill, like pescado a la talla (snapper with a green and a red marinade) or Tikin-Xic, a Mayan preparation of whole branzino with bitter orange, habanero chiles and achiote that is cooked in banana leaves.

The restaurant will also grill meat dishes like pork tenderloin on skewers, al pastor tacos, ribeye steak and adobo marinated rack of lamb on the fuego. Vegetables — roasted corn with garlic aioli, artichokes with roasted jalapeno aioli and herbed bread crumbs — will also get their turn at the fire station.

And that’s not the only show at the restaurant: Como Como offers a Caesar salad made at the table as well as chopped tartar de pescado.

At the center of Como Como is the raw bar and a giant glass and copper “tequila tree.” We want to bask in its shade.
At the center of Como Como is the raw bar and a giant glass and copper “tequila tree.” We want to bask in its shade.

There’s also an impressive raw bar in the middle of the dining room that will serve ceviches and specialties like oysters served with pineapple-vinegar mignonette. We love oysters and ceviche, but we are distracted by the most important feature in the room: the tequila tree, a sculpture made of handblown glass and copper pipes that sends the tequila used for craft cocktails to the bartenders.

If you prefer to sit outside, Como Como also has an outdoor courtyard for dining, where you can eat among hanging plants and stone gardens.

Opening in June is Mezcalista, an intimate lounge with 100 mezcals and tequila on the menu, with specialty cocktails created by mixologist Christian Rubio. You come in through the back of Como Como to access the lounge. Then you sip tequila, and, on the weekends, listen to DJs. It’s open for private events now.

Como Como is the newest restaurant to open at the Moxy South Beach hotel, joining Serena and Los Buenos.
Como Como is the newest restaurant to open at the Moxy South Beach hotel, joining Serena and Los Buenos.

Como Como at Moxy South Beach

Where: 915 Washington Ave., Miami Beach

Hours: 6-11 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday

Reservations: www.comocomomiami.com

Information: 305-423-8004

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