Felix’s Place: A Cuban favorite finds a new home
Felix Fajardo’s dream that his small Cuban restaurant Felix’s Place would one day soar to new heights has finally gotten off the ground with a move to loftier quarters at the corner of Airport Boulevard and Aviation Drive.
Just a week ago Friday, Felix’s Place – until mid-April cramped in a building near the southern end of 43rd Avenue – reopened its doors in space occupied until very recently by the Theatre-Go-Round dinner theatre (and before that by La Fonda).
While this is not quite as convenient for beachside fans as would have been the former Modernage building, which Felix had hoped to move to until lunchtime parking (or the lack thereof) became an issue, the new location is certainly much easier to get to than his former venue in South Vero.
And Felix’s new building, which he is leasing from the City of Vero Beach, is big – which is just as well since Felix has big plans.
In addition to a raised dining area, where dinner and lunch are now being served, a large adjacent dance floor will swing into action at the end of the dinner hour, with salsa lessons on Wednesdays, music from the ‘70s and 80’s Thursdays and Fridays, and Spanish music on Saturdays.
Felix also is remodeling a currently sealed off area at the western end of the building which ultimately will become his main dining room. The current dining area will then be used for special functions.
While this is a bit of a work in progress, a visit last Saturday night – the second night the restaurant was open in its new quarters – demonstrated that the Cuban cuisine Felix prepares remains the best around.
On this evening, for starters I decided on the special crab ceviche ($10.95), my husband ordered the fried calamari ($7.95), and our companion opted for the black bean soup ($3.50).
The crab ceviche, nice chunks of lump crab marinated in citrus and cilantro, was served with four toasted pieces of Cuban bread. Superb. The calamari, very lightly breaded and flash fried, was extremely tender. The black bean soup was an excellent rendition of this classic Cuban dish.
For entrees, I selected the langostinos ($18.95), my husband went for the evening’s snapper special ($21.95), and our companion chose the picadillo ($12.95).
The langostinos were four very large prawns, grilled and served with the shell and head on to be as flavorful as possible. Perfectly cooked, their meat was sweet and tender, and the dish was nicely complemented by sides of white race and sweet plantains.
My husband’s very fresh snapper was topped with baby clams and served in a luscious saffron sauce. Yum. It was accompanied by white rice and black beans. Our companion’s picadillo – true Cuban comfort food made largely with ground beef mixed with raisins, olives and potatoes – was served with yellow rice and black beams. A very nice dish.
For dessert, we ordered Felix’s homemade flan ($4.75) and tres leches ($5.25). My husband preferred the tres leches, a light cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream and topped with whipped cream; I was more impressed by the flan, a dense version of this Cuban egg custard dish. We concluded with espresso ($2).Dinner for three with a nice bottle of Spanish wine and dessert runs around $110, before tip.
Is the new Felix’s Place – which by the time you read this still will have only been open a week -- ready for an influx of visitors? “I could handle 150 for dinner tonight,” he declared confidently.
We can only hope he is right, because as he settles into his new quarters – serving some of the best authentic Cuban food to be found this side of Miami – we suspect Felix’s will be a busy place even during a Vero summer.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
Hours
Tuesday through Saturday - 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Bar
Full Bar
Address (MAP)
2625 34th Avenue (corner of Aviation Blvd. and Airport Drive) in Vero Beach, FL, Telephone: (772) 562-3317
