Original Rio Cristal

This is by far the best restaurant with the most delicious palomilla steak that I’ve had in Miami. The steak had so much flavor and I loved the black beans. The service was excellent all the waiters that I encountered were great, Digna, Aurora, and I believe the gentleman’s name is Jesus were all wonderful and provided excellent service! I just wish that I lived closer I already miss the palomilla steak. I was visiting from the San Diego area I will definitely be back whenever I am in Miami. Muchas gracias a todos por el gran servicio!

I come here when I’m in Miami because they make an amazing palomilla steak (thin and juicy with onions and a bit of tangy lime flavor) with a big pile of homestyle shoestring fries! The place has a hole-in-the-wall vibe, but don't let that discourage you. A sweet grandma will likely wait on you, and you'll get great service. I like to finish up with a flan. You can pay by QR code at your table, and on your way out you'll probably put Rio Cristal on your repeats list for Cuban comfort food.

This is not the same Rio Cristal that I remember from years ago. It has been several years that we had gone there. Last night my husband and I decided to rerun. What a disappointment! Food overpriced, service so so, place needs a good cleaning. My husband ordered the steak with mountains of fries which were okay ( nothing to write home about), no flavor in the steak and to top it off charge $4 for black beans and rice! Beans tasted like they were from a can, no flavor. I ordered the medianoche. How in the world do you mess up a medianoche? Río Cristal does know how! The bread was burned, the meat was cold, real cold. Now I know why they buried the medianoche with the fries, to hide the burnt bread and awful cold meat. It hurts to pay $42 with tip for that awful meal. Never again Rio Cristal. I'm amazed how many people were there last night with that kind of prices and food! Wish you luck, but your are not going to see us back. It breaks my heart as this was an excellent restaurant for years. Are there new owners, new chef?

So happy to celebrate my birthday here after many years of not being able to come. This place is very nostalgic to me. We used to come here when I was little. The steak is famous for it's huge pile of hand cut french fries that are always perfectly cut and cooked. Rarely does a reality feel even better than a nostalgic memory, but Rio Cristal did that, and more. They made us feel at home and went above and beyond with service. Mil gracias por el gustazo de regresar a un pedazo de mi hogar. La realidad fué aún mejor que la memoria nostálgica. ¡Gracias!