Greenstreet ****

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When I wake up hung-over, there are two things that I always crave: (1) a large glass of ice water; and (2) an omlette from Greenstreet. In my opinion, Greenstreet serves the best all around (and most reasonably priced) breakfast in the Miami area. Of course there are incredible brunches at the Biltmore and various South Beach hotels, but those are like $60 per person and unfeasible for every day (for a college kid no less!). Greenstreet on the other hand, will only cost you about $10 for breakfast and it is incredible…the omlettes especially! They are 3 egg omlettes cooked to perfection (not runny) served with your choice of grits, tomatoes, or home fries. I don’t care if you are on a diet or don’t normally order potatoes, but you MUST try these home fries because they are the best I have EVER tasted! You also get your choice of a toasted French baguette (my personal favorite), English muffin, rye toast, or bagel. It is a very substantial amount of food for the price. However, the best part about Greenstreet is that breakfast is conveniently served every day until 2:45 in the afternoon, which allows me some time to sleep off my hangover. But for those of you who can’t kick the hangover before getting there, Greenstreet supposedly makes some of the best Bloody Marys to help beat it. I wouldn’t know personally because I’m not a Bloody Mary fan, but look around on a Saturday or Sunday morning and almost everyone is sipping either a coffee or Bloody Mary so they are popular.

If you find yourself getting to Greenstreet past the breakfast hour, don’t worry because they also have delicious salads. My favorite is the Roman Salad with spring mix, feta, and cherry tomatoes, tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. I always ask for grilled jerk chicken on top too, which is really my favorite part of any salad I order there. The chicken is thinly sliced down on a diagonal and is always served warm. They have regular grilled chicken too, but I encourage you to get the jerk because the spice rub is so flavorful. Also, this is a restaurant that you don’t have to ask for dressing on the side because their salads are dressed to perfection…always.

Another one of my favorite things at Greenstreet are the chips with guacamole and salsa, which are great to start. The chips are homemade and lightly salted, and the guacamole has a terrific lemony flavor (there is always tension at the table when it comes down to who will eat the last few chips). For a hot entrée, the Mushroom Triangole is very good. It is mushroom filled ravoli served in a creamy porcini sauce…yumm! The Chicken Vegetable Tofu Stir-Fry is also awesome and a really unique spin on stir-fry because the sauce it not your typical brown soy based sauce, but instead a light curry flavored sauce. Just make sure that your hungry though because the portion is huge!! And last but not least, is the Zucchini Basil Soup which is a must try. It tastes like nothing that I have ever had before and the distinct flavor of basil is really light and fresh. It looks super creamy (as you can tell by the photo above) but surprisingly no cream or butter is used! Its a great healthy comfort food. Basically, the only thing that I would not order from Greenstreet is the Chicken Provencial because the tomato sauce is not very authentic or homemade tasting, but everything else that I have tried here has been great.

As for the atmosphere of the place, on a nice day it could not be better. Greenstreet has a lot of outdoor seating on a nice corner in Coconut Grove so it is prime for people watching and enjoying the weather. There are large umbrellas to provide shade and the tables are comfortable. The inside of the place is much smaller and feels more like a library or a study with the large bookcases that adorn the walls (its cozy), I prefer to sit outside so try to go on a nice day or night. BUT….if you want to sit outside on a nice Saturday or Sunday (especially for breakfast), be prepared to wait up to an hour for a table. Good things are worth the wait though!!!

If you do go at night you’ll find that Greenstreet also has a great bar scene, and they are known for the red velvet couches lining the sidewalk that bring the lounge atmosphere outdoors. The mojitos are great and all drinks are half off after 11, so it’s very cheap (like $5 a drink).

Overall, Greenstreet is one of my favorite places to go in Miami because you can stay all day there and have something going on (I once did stay for 8 hours straight with a group of friends, ordering breakfast, then drinks, and then lunch and it was a blast!!). Ohhh and on top of it all, the service is great so you cannot go wrong!!