Tuesday, August 4, 2009

7 Meals in 7 Nights: Monday - The Taurus, Coconut Grove


"Mon-day, back from the dead. Im letting it go, back for another one.", starts the song "Days of the Week" by Stone Temple Pilots and also pretty much sums up how I was feeling on Monday. After 7 days in Vegas, 18 hours in Miami, and 4 days in Boston/Rockport, I was looking forward to a night in my own bed. Unfortunately, my flight that was supposed to depart at 7pm didnt depart until a little after 10pm which had me arriving at my condo at around 2am. Since Id slept a bit on the plane, I ended up being semi-wired and couldnt fall asleep until about 4am. Three hours later and it was time for work...yay! It was during those 2 hours of tossing and turning that I reviewed my upcoming week and decided I was going to dine out every night - 7 meals in 7 nights.

After a long day of playing catch up at work, dealing with fires while putting out new ones that were popping up everywhere, I was beat. There was only one thing I was thinking about that would put me in a nice, sleepy mood: a good burger. I had heard thru the Grapevine that the Taurus had reopened and supposedly used to be known for having a killer burger. Being that the new owners were completely different from the old, I was a bit skeptic but I decided to stroll on over to give this meat patty a shot. A nearby lady friend of mine was feelin my burger buzz and met up with me at the Taurus.

The Taurus is a tiny little hole-in-the-wall on Main Highway in Coconut Grove. They have outdoor patio seating and an indoor bar with bar seating, a few hightops, and then an area with couches and chairs. Some of the chairs are made from horse saddles which was pretty cool but I cant imagine it being comfy. I ordered a Guinness to start and asked if they had a menu. The bartender pointed to a blackboard on the wall at the end of the bar and said, "Here's what I've got today." There were 3 choices: a burger, 6 wings, or 12 wings. That makes things easy I guess. The bartender confirmed my assumption that the reason for the limited menu was so people could smoke in the bar. I guess this is great if youre a smoker. I personally dont like inhaling secondhand smoke while I eat and a suit-clad press type of guy was sucking em down like his life depended on it. Luckily he left right as our food arrived.

We both opted for the burger. I went with medium-rare with swiss cheese, she went well done with american. The burgers come piled with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and a pickle. There was also some sort of mayo-based sauce smeared on the bottom bun. I added a little ketchup and mustard and decided Id do a few bites without Tabasco to get the regular burger flavor before getting the awesome burger flavor (Tabasco + burger = awesome) and went to town. The burger was juicy, seasoned, and cooked a perfect medium rare. It was also a rather large burger. I muscled my way thru it but my friend raised the white flag halfway thru and took the other half home. Burger aside, the huge surprise for me was how kickass the fries were. Crispy fries are my favorite and these ones were mega-crispy. They also had some sort of paprika seasoning on them that really enhanced the flavor and complimented the awesomeness of the burger.

After mowing down my plate of fries, I noticed my friend had a few on her plate that looked poisonous so I made sure to eat those just in case. Nice guy I am, right? Now me belly was full. I enjoyed a few Makers Mark on the rocks while she sipped a couple of the bartender's lemon drop martinis. When we got the bill, it came to about $80 with tax and tip included. I thought this was kinda high but most alcohol in the Grove is kinda high in price anyways. The burger was about $11 or $12 which seemed fair for its size and the amount of toppings and fries. The owner stopped by (he owns Calamari Restaurant next door) and asked if we had made it for happy hour. I said we just missed it and he suggested that maybe they would increase it to 8pm from 7pm. Nice guy. The bartenders were also really cool and attentive and seemed to match the casual vibe of the place. All in all, I can definitely see myself having a few more burgers at the Taurus, most likely at an outdoor table if its not too hot so I can avoid the chain smokers. Hell, forget the burger, Im going back for the fries. :)

Taurus (Another Round!)
3540 Main Highway
Coconut Grove, FL 33133
305-441-0219

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Taurus fans........

Gino, thanks for opening up our favourite 'watering hole" in all of Miami......

We have all MISSED it....the spirit of Butch our every so loved bartender, that passed on.....his spitir lives on in all 500 or so of us who have met at the Taurus thoroughout the years.

Early day week-end get togethers would be a good idea for ""us oldies but goodies""" patrons of the Taurus......
Gino:::Try to get a BIG mailing list together.....

Looking forward to meeting all my friends at the Taurus again......Sonia

Anonymous said...

You can get the same burger with the same fries at the non smoking bar at Calamari just steps away. The reason for the limited menu at the Taurus is because it has no kitchen. The food comes from the kitchen at Calamari. I'm a non smoker but I have a lot of old Taurus friends that are, and I have enjoyed seeing them again. FYI-the owners back two times ago put in a super ventilation system so as not to offend non smokers. I guess it's OK to die by grease, just not smoke. I hope your review doesn't screw up the plan man.

SteveBM said...

I highly doubt my comment about bar smoking is going to "screw up the plan". Like I said, the easy solution is to eat outside which is what Im most likely to do next time.

Anonymous said...

What I really miss from the old Taurus is the great calamari they used to make. It had lemon zest added to the fried stuff which made that dish sing. Now if that came back, I wouldn't care who smoked whatever!

Unknown said...

im really a taurus and i think think that i have to control my anger and my stubbornness just today i've encountered a devastating day and when go home i reflect on everything i've did today and probably im probably gonna cry while sleeping cause i feel like dont nobody understand me like my grandma used to it seems like everyone wants to do is judge me just because they never saw me fight or argue wit anyone at this school and i think only my best friends accept my friends like Teva, Dashawn,Breann, and thats it i only have 3best friend aint that f@&#ed up but anywayz holla @cha gurl$$$$$$$$$$