Croquetapalooza Photos
You might also consider
More like Croquetapalooza
Recommended Reviews - Croquetapalooza
Start your review...
Reviews With Photos
This is the most Miami event that exists! Endless amounts of croqueta options and flavors plus fun drinks (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and of course cafecitos to top it off! Croqueta palooza is such a fun time! Live music..games...croqueta eating contest...the 3 hours fly by so fast and you leave so full and happy highly recommend!!! Burger beast is the best
2014: Croquetapalooza began. 2015: I heard of the marvel that is Croquetapalooza and missed getting tickets by a couple of days. 2016: I didn't buy tickets as my appetite shrunk around this time. My stomach wouldn't have benefited from a party full of heavenly bites. 2017: Heard about it, wanted to purchase tickets, and decided not to because I've been saving money for other things deemed priorities. Posted the event and thought I would have to wait it out for next year. A raffle was then had and I literally found out the day of that I had won two tickets to this festival. Before I go on any further, thank you, Yelp Miami, for finally making it so I could go and get my croqueta on. YOU ROCK! Cough, anyway - Croquetapalooza 2017 was held at Magic City Casino. Parking was painless, free and ample. Getting in and out was a breeze, even after the event ended, given that it was a night with pouring rain. Now as for the event itself, we got there pretty early I have to say. The event started at 7 and a bit past 6, we were already there. We gave our tickets, got wristbands, and then managed to make a line by the door. We were in the first section, actually able to see the door. The event promptly opened up its doors at 7, and well, when we went inside, holy moly! I have never seen so many croquetas in my life! They came from near, from far, and many brought extra treats. Flans, cookies, and even alcohol. Over twenty competitors amassed and that's without talking about fritas. The room where this was held was massive and there must have been at least a thousand people there. It was spacious, though, and I never felt cramped. It seemed people alternated enough that you could grab different foods, as well as chairs, because they had several. They even had the VIP Lounge open and there you could have a cafecito with your croqueta. Oh, and Nutella doughnuts. Goodness, those things made me ecstatic. *Daydreams* After making the rounds a couple of times, we were stuffed, and well, my boyfriend and I had thought we would go to dinner afterwards, but nope, that was completely unnecessary. This event in itself is dinner, dessert, and drinks combined and in an excessive manner. I definitely have to manage my eating as I am pretty sure I had a croqueta overload, but that pales in comparison to those who partook in the Croqueta Eating Contest. The man who won is nicknamed "El Machine" and he really is. He inhaled ten large croquetas in 32 seconds! Oh my God! Other than this, they had the Croqueta Showdown and the Frita Showdown. For the croquetas, they had Judges' Choice and People's Choice. The winners (in no particular order): 1) Judges' Choice: Doce Provisions; 2) People's Choice: Croquette who came all the way from Dallas, Texas with 70 lb+ of croqueta batter; 3) Frita Showdown: El Rey de las Fritas. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, if you had a wristband for Croquetapalooza, when the event ended, you could go in for free at the Burger Beast Museum, so yep, this was worth it and then some. I cannot wait until next year's event. Also, I am beyond flabbergasted that the People's Choice in croquetas is outside of Miami. Definitely want to visit Dallas, Texas even more now and that's saying something as boyfriend and I have severely bingewatching Dallas. Hmm... but those croquetas deserved the win. Creative, chewy, and clearly meriting consumption.
It was our first time attending this event after following @burgerbeast for years & it was one of the most fun & well organized events we have attended! The food was spectacular & we loved all the local vendors! We can't wait to attend next year!! I wish I would have taken more pics but was too busy trying all the great food!
I write this review with hopes Croquetapalooza becomes an annual thing. Why do I love Miami? Well, no other city could get away with throwing a festival centering around croquetas. Burger Beast brought together the top Cuban bakeries, along with some wild card restaurants, for a true battle royale that had me stuffed and happy. Oh yeah, it wasn't just croquetas, there was a flan competition too. General admission got us all the croquetas and flan we could eat, along with some batidos, Perrier and a few other treats like Nutella-filled pastelitos. Attendees voted on their favorite croqueta, with one named the victor at the end (Barley & Swine). A panel of judges chose the best flan which deservingly went to Fireman Derek. There was even a croqueta eating contest which I really wanted to participate in (and honestly could've dominated after seeing what went down) but knew I wouldn't probably enjoy too much afterwards. Maybe next time. This was inside the Magic City Casino which was great since it was rather toasty outside. While pretty bare, the space was very open and there was scattered seating for resting your stomach in between bites. Like most food festivals, the key is to pace yourself. With practically no wait at each of the tables, it was easy to get full fast! I'd rather complain about that than long waits and not enough food any day. All in all, it was such a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I didn't even mind the debilitating croqueta coma I endured afterwards.
What an amazing event, hands down to the Burger Beast himself. This event was held at Magic City Casino inside the 305 stage. I am so thankful that, I'm such an active Yelper, and manage to come across this. I managed to get the early bird sale pricing of $25 a ticket. I've attended a previous engagement here at the casino, and I have nothing negative to say. This was my first time attending Croquetapalooza. Upon arrival, I was met with a very long line, but we got in very quickly. I was so amazed when I entered, there was an assortment of different vendors with all types of croquetas, fritas, and desserts. My first stop was Fireman's Derk, they offered tres leche on a spoon. Omg, the dessert was so delicious. My next stop was Cuban guys. I've always been a fan of their very juicy and tasty fritas, like always. There were an assortment of croquetas, I had the pleasure of eating a smoked serrano croqueta, a vegan croqueta, short rib croqueta, and cod croqueta, which had a very odd taste. There was two stations that offered refreshments, anything from water, Materva, Cawy lemon-lime, iron beer, etc. I want to give an honorable mention to: Vicky Bakery, Pinecrest Bakery, El Rey de la Frita, El Mago de la Frita, and Owl Cookies (don't know if I saying the name of the business correctly. Towards the end, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Burger Beast himself, and I almost forgot, I bumped into my fellow Yelper, El Comelon 305. I enjoyed watching the Croqueta eating contest towards the end, hands down to the winner, I can't eat like that, but it was fun to watch. Note: it's a must come event if you are a fan of fritas and croquetas. I will be returning in 2017.
Croqueta heaven!! Can the year go by already I don't want to wait for this event to come back. Loved seeing all the miami influencers involved. Loved stuffing my face with all the delicious croquetas. The conteSt was hilarious to watch. All the local beers were amazing. Funky buddah PBJ beer is still my all time favorite so happy it was available. Overall they did a fantastic job and I hope this goes on for many years to come.
What an amazing event by Burger Beast! I brought along my parents and they loved it as well! They've never been to his events before and are looking forward to attending the next! We arrived promptly at 12 because my dad wanted to make sure we were able to taste all of the croquetas. We grabbed a table and took turns going up and sampling those delicious Croquetas. Everything from Serrano ham and cheese to guava and even ropa vieja croquetas. Muy delicioso! Azucar ice cream and Nightowl cookies teamed up for a delicious ice cream sandwich. I just book marked those two places so I can check them out again! Tito's Vodka was giving out samples of Tito's with watermelon soda which was very refreshing. Burger Beast did an amazing job with this event! We can't wait until the next one!
Croquetapalooza 2016 was a success! I knew it would be because Burger Beast and his team really don't leave out any details when hosting a good festival of this magnitude. The ticket included all you can eat and drink. Everything inside Stage 305 was unlimited to guests except the cash bar areas. All the restaurants gave away fresh Croquetas and FRITAS to all. I honestly tried everything and never had anything cold. Everything was always fresh. I barely had to wait for food items to come out of the back when there was nothing on the table. All the restaurants were staffed appropriately to meet the needs of all who attended. My fraternity brother Victor Aldrich won the Croqueta eating contest which I thought was pretty sweet. He's actually opening a Giardino Gourmet Salads in Broward and everyone is happy/supporting him. Magic City Casino has plenty of parking for all who attend these magnificent Burger Beast events. The Magic City Casino staff are all wonderful and make entering the casino a breeze. Throughout the event there's a few bathroom attendees to make sure the bathrooms stay spotless and continuously restock on paper towels and soap throughout the event so that everyone can wash there hands when done using the restroom (this is a food eating event). I'm really looking forward to the next Croquetapalooza.
If you've ever wanted an overview of the best croquetas in Miami, this is the event for you! The venue was a bit dark, but there were lots of tables and some cushy sofas for seating. I'm glad we got there early, because it got harder and harder to find a place to perch as the afternoon went on. The music was (thankfully) not too loud and had a pleasant variety. I never knew there was such a variety of these fried treats. Overall, there must have been around 30 different ones from vendors from throughout the area. While the ham croqueta dominated the event, there were also some made with chorizo, fish, guava, cheese and other ingredients. Several of them had really good sauces. Our favorite croquetas were the guava cheese, from the Latin America Bakery and Cafe and the one from Palomilla. But the best bite of the day went to the caramel flan from The Cuban Guys. So, if croquetas are your thing, you don't want to miss this when it rolls around again. :)
Omg!!!! Croquetta and Fritas overload!!!! I call that pure bliss. This was my first time at this event and believe me I was all smiles. At the beginning to get into the event you had to wait in the longest line ever but it was so worth it and it moved pretty fast. While waiting in line they made an announcement that the event tickets were completely sold out, glad we had ours in advance. One guy offered us $70 per ticket, I'm not going to lie, I was tempted but then I realized this event had to be croquetta serious and I wasn't about to pass on this experience! I have to apologize for not taking any food pics. I couldn't, I was to busy devouring every croquetta and fritas that we could get our hands on. Let me tell you, I didn't have anything that was bad. Everything was delish. I don't remember all the restaurants that participated but I will say all of them were delish. My favorite croquetta though was that mahi mahi, omg, I went back twice. Of course we were full so we didn't really try alot of fritas. We tried to just get one sample and share so that we could try it all. I definitley loved this event and you can definitely count me in for next year. The venue also had live music from talented musicians and when they had their breaks they played some classic spanish songs. I can't dance salsa but that didn't stop me,lol. The crowd was upbeat to and just had a great ambiance.
Very fun event put on by Burger Beast. 2017 had many exhibitors giving you a great taste of Miami's Cuban food culture. From cafecito Cubano to fritas, doughnuts, and churros... it wasn't just about the croquetas! I got the tickets a bit later, so ended up paying $40 per person. I thought it was a bit pricey, but once I arrived and saw the breadth and selection of vendors, the price seemed pretty reasonable. I also love that it takes place INSIDE the Magic City Casino at the 305 Stage. Great big event space and you don't get hot or rained on.... score! Can't wait for 2018 :)
For those who don't know what a Croqueta is... A Croqueta (from the French Croquette/ Croquer "To Crunch"...is a small bread crumbed fried roll, specially filled with Ham, Chicken or Cod, traditionally served as Tapas in Spain, and inherited to our gastronomy by our Spanish Ancestors...Since most of Miamian's are from Cuban descent...there is not a restaurant in Miami that won't serve this delicious piece of heaven!!! This was my first time attending this event. Croquetapalooza is hosted by burger beast and held at the Magic City Casino. I thought this was going to be an outdoor event, but for my surprise it was luckily held in one of the private spaces inside the Casino; Miami is HOT so very well planned! As soon as you walked in they put on a bracelet and off you go to pig out LOL. With low lights, nice music, a DJ, live Jazz and divided into one right and left side with a big stage on the center, the Venue offered Croquetas from local bakeries and restaurants, some dessert stations, some cocktail "Rum and Vodka" stations, one Cafecito place, and coolers with water and soda. All participants were competing to win the best Croqueta of 2015, and at the end of the event before they announced the winner a croqueta eating competition took place. Ok so lets start with the croquetas...I sampled all of them...yes I did!!! and I rated them from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest score)// Left Side Area: *Barley Miami: Mexican Croqueta , made of Mexican chorizo, Mexican cheese and other ingredients- 5 (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and delicious garnishes and sauces/ best presentation as well/ went outside the box with the ingredients) *Cinebistro: Croqueta de Chorizo- 5 (perfect bite size and delicious) *Larios at the Beach: Jamon Croqueta with Guava Sauce- 3 (Event Winner/ to be a winner you should have the best flavor, consistency, size and presentation, to me out of the other 6 Croquetas de Jamon served on the event this was not the best, it was ok but nothing extraordinary /to me a simple guava sauce doesn't fool me to make this croqueta a winner) *Fish House: Croqueta de Pescado (fish) - 3 *Finka Table: Crab Croqueta and Ham Croqueta - 3 (I was really disappointed because this is one of my favorite places to go eat croquetas and to me the croquetas they made for this event were not as good as the ones they have at the restaurant/ the Crab Croqueta lacked flavor and didn't taste like crab, more like fish and the Ham one was not as good as the restaurant one, and the size was too big/ presentation on both was pretty though) *Breadman: Croqueta de Jamon- 2 (lacked flavor) *Latin American: Chorizo Croqueta - 2 *Cuban Guys - serving desserts - 5 BEST FLAN EVER OMG! obsessed *Azucar- serving dessert- Ice cream Cookie- 2 (the cookie was thick, dense and tough and the French vanilla ice cream was meh/ I have to say my husband brought me the cookie so I rated the dessert before knowing where it was coming from) Right Side Area: *Palomilla Grill: Ropa Vieja Croquette- 5 (one of the best to me, unique, flavorfull, good size, had a delicious Asian glaze on top, super crunchy crusted on the outside, delicious) *Piripi: Serrano and Swiss Cheese - 4 (crunchy, soft on the inside, flavorful, well balanced and different) *Munchie's: Croqueta de Jamon - 3 *The Local: Country Ham and Cheddar- 2 ( too dense on the inside, hard to swallow, the cheddar melted on the outside made the crust hard and not crunchy/ good presentation though, and creative ingredients, could have been better executed) *Sergio's: Croqueta de Jamon - 1 *Latin Café: Croqueta de Jamon -1 *Pincho Factory: Brisket Croqueta- 1 (couldn't find the brisket/ tasted like flour mixture/ for some reason they didn't have the croquetas ready until later on the event) *Exquisito: serving desserts: 5 -Artisanal S'mores/ Pumpkin and Cuban Coffee S'mores and Frangelico Hot Chocolate Shots... Delicious, great presentation! *Rey de las Fritas: Serving Dessert / Dulce de Leche Cortada and Smoothies- 3 My Opinion on the event: 1) I would recommend that for the next year's event the vendors would take in consideration making a bite size Croqueta so people can sample better all of the croquetas and not throw away food...I saw a lot of food wasted, most people would not even eat half of the croqueta and then throw it away. It was sad to see all that food wasted. 2) Also from 14 Croqueta Vendors i tasted, 7 of them were serving Jamon/Ham Croqs...What ever happened to Chicken and Cod?? I really missed them/ I give kudos to the restaurant's that were creative with the ingredients. 3)There was only one prize, the winner...only//They should consider second and third winner categories as well....all that effort for just one winner is not fair. There were a lot of good participants, that deserved to be recognized. 4)Ok so my overall experience was great...I would definitely go back next year, I had a great time! Hope they do it as an annual event.
I've gone to this event 3 years in a row and I feel like each year is better than the last. To our benefit, chefs from all over compete for top croqueta honors. It's fun to talk to chefs and learn what inspired them to create their unique croquetas. Obviously, some flavor combinations don't appeal to everyone but I'm sure you will find that croqueta that will make you go aye aye aye aye!!! Also don't miss the croqueta eating contest. It sounds cool until you actually see it lol! To my enjoyment they had a flan contest as well. All types of flan...traditional, guava and dulce de leche just to name a few. Thank you Burger Beast for such an amazing event.
Can we make Burger Beast president (or at least mayor)? Miami's connoisseur of all things carnivorous salvaged some sense of normal and delicious out of this very interesting year! Like almost all fun public events, the burger and food festivals were canceled to avoid "that which shall not be named". Therefore I was very pleasantly surprised when I got an email from The Beast (yes, healthy eating and all I'm on his mailing list #cheatmeal) that a socially distanced version of Croquetapalooza was indeed going down. It worked very similarly to how the food bank drive throughs were organized. I pulled up to the Magic City Casino lot (home of many past events and yummy calories consumed.) The Beast's crew confirmed my email and registration and I drove up to a row of tents where I received two bags of awesome. The first was a box - decorated similar to the old school cigar boxes - stuffed with yummy croquetas from the best known Miami vendors. I'm talking Cao, Islas Canarias aka Croqueta County, Dos Croquetas..you know, the good stuff! But wait there's more..bag #2 has a six pack of Jupina and Materva (it's a Miami thing), mini bottles of Havana Club RUM and desserts from NightOwl Cookies and Breadman bakery. In a sign of the times, Cao bakery even threw in a branded mask. Islas Canarias and Cao were my favorite croquetas, with the chocolate chip cookie from NightOwl and the "cangrejitos" from Breadman taking the "cake" for dessert. However I'm still working through them. (KITCHEN HACK: 10 seconds in the microwave and they're perfect a couple of days later.) Thank You again Burger Beast for putting this together. Make Croquetas Great Again and Build our Appetite Better (I just had to ) Here's to many more beastly culinary wonders! read more
This is one of the best south Florida festivals I have ever been to. The croquetas were amazing. Seriously not a single bad bite. What's makes this festival different than the rest is that it actually has other food and drinks available. There was a plethora of croquetas and they were bomb... But sometimes you need something that's not a croqueta and that is what makes this festival better than the others. Options. Also, the lines were all manageable. For once I wasn't standing in line for a long period of time to get a bite. Everything was spread out nicely. There was plenty of drinks. There was no way you could leave that festival hungry. The music was incredible. Plenty of variety. I would highly recommend this festival. Also killer dessert options! read more
5 years ago
4 years ago
This is the most Miami event that exists! Endless amounts of croqueta options and flavors plus fun drinks (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and of course cafecitos to top it off! Croqueta palooza is such a fun time! Live music..games...croqueta eating contest...the 3 hours fly by so fast and you leave so full and happy highly recommend!!! Burger beast is the best read more
2014: Croquetapalooza began. 2015: I heard of the marvel that is Croquetapalooza and missed getting tickets by a couple of days. 2016: I didn't buy tickets as my appetite shrunk around this time. My stomach wouldn't have benefited from a party full of heavenly bites. 2017: Heard about it, wanted to purchase tickets, and decided not to because I've been saving money for other things deemed priorities. Posted the event and thought I would have to wait it out for next year. A raffle was then had and I literally found out the day of that I had won two tickets to this festival. Before I go on any further, thank you, Yelp Miami, for finally making it so I could go and get my croqueta on. YOU ROCK! Cough, anyway - Croquetapalooza 2017 was held at Magic City Casino. Parking was painless, free and ample. Getting in and out was a breeze, even after the event ended, given that it was a night with pouring rain. Now as for the event itself, we got there pretty early I have to say. The event started at 7 and a bit past 6, we were already there. We gave our tickets, got wristbands, and then managed to make a line by the door. We were in the first section, actually able to see the door. The event promptly opened up its doors at 7, and well, when we went inside, holy moly! I have never seen so many croquetas in my life! They came from near, from far, and many brought extra treats. Flans, cookies, and even alcohol. Over twenty competitors amassed and that's without talking about fritas. The room where this was held was massive and there must have been at least a thousand people there. It was spacious, though, and I never felt cramped. It seemed people alternated enough that you could grab different foods, as well as chairs, because they had several. They even had the VIP Lounge open and there you could have a cafecito with your croqueta. Oh, and Nutella doughnuts. Goodness, those things made me ecstatic. *Daydreams* After making the rounds a couple of times, we were stuffed, and well, my boyfriend and I had thought we would go to dinner afterwards, but nope, that was completely unnecessary. This event in itself is dinner, dessert, and drinks combined and in an excessive manner. I definitely have to manage my eating as I am pretty sure I had a croqueta overload, but that pales in comparison to those who partook in the Croqueta Eating Contest. The man who won is nicknamed "El Machine" and he really is. He inhaled ten large croquetas in 32 seconds! Oh my God! Other than this, they had the Croqueta Showdown and the Frita Showdown. For the croquetas, they had Judges' Choice and People's Choice. The winners (in no particular order): 1) Judges' Choice: Doce Provisions; 2) People's Choice: Croquette who came all the way from Dallas, Texas with 70 lb+ of croqueta batter; 3) Frita Showdown: El Rey de las Fritas. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, if you had a wristband for Croquetapalooza, when the event ended, you could go in for free at the Burger Beast Museum, so yep, this was worth it and then some. I cannot wait until next year's event. Also, I am beyond flabbergasted that the People's Choice in croquetas is outside of Miami. Definitely want to visit Dallas, Texas even more now and that's saying something as boyfriend and I have severely bingewatching Dallas. Hmm... but those croquetas deserved the win. Creative, chewy, and clearly meriting consumption. read more
4 years ago
It was our first time attending this event after following @burgerbeast for years & it was one of the most fun & well organized events we have attended! The food was spectacular & we loved all the local vendors! We can't wait to attend next year!! I wish I would have taken more pics but was too busy trying all the great food! read more
I write this review with hopes Croquetapalooza becomes an annual thing. Why do I love Miami? Well, no other city could get away with throwing a festival centering around croquetas. Burger Beast brought together the top Cuban bakeries, along with some wild card restaurants, for a true battle royale that had me stuffed and happy. Oh yeah, it wasn't just croquetas, there was a flan competition too. General admission got us all the croquetas and flan we could eat, along with some batidos, Perrier and a few other treats like Nutella-filled pastelitos. Attendees voted on their favorite croqueta, with one named the victor at the end (Barley & Swine). A panel of judges chose the best flan which deservingly went to Fireman Derek. There was even a croqueta eating contest which I really wanted to participate in (and honestly could've dominated after seeing what went down) but knew I wouldn't probably enjoy too much afterwards. Maybe next time. This was inside the Magic City Casino which was great since it was rather toasty outside. While pretty bare, the space was very open and there was scattered seating for resting your stomach in between bites. Like most food festivals, the key is to pace yourself. With practically no wait at each of the tables, it was easy to get full fast! I'd rather complain about that than long waits and not enough food any day. All in all, it was such a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I didn't even mind the debilitating croqueta coma I endured afterwards. read more
10 years ago
What an amazing event, hands down to the Burger Beast himself. This event was held at Magic City Casino inside the 305 stage. I am so thankful that, I'm such an active Yelper, and manage to come across this. I managed to get the early bird sale pricing of $25 a ticket. I've attended a previous engagement here at the casino, and I have nothing negative to say. This was my first time attending Croquetapalooza. Upon arrival, I was met with a very long line, but we got in very quickly. I was so amazed when I entered, there was an assortment of different vendors with all types of croquetas, fritas, and desserts. My first stop was Fireman's Derk, they offered tres leche on a spoon. Omg, the dessert was so delicious. My next stop was Cuban guys. I've always been a fan of their very juicy and tasty fritas, like always. There were an assortment of croquetas, I had the pleasure of eating a smoked serrano croqueta, a vegan croqueta, short rib croqueta, and cod croqueta, which had a very odd taste. There was two stations that offered refreshments, anything from water, Materva, Cawy lemon-lime, iron beer, etc. I want to give an honorable mention to: Vicky Bakery, Pinecrest Bakery, El Rey de la Frita, El Mago de la Frita, and Owl Cookies (don't know if I saying the name of the business correctly. Towards the end, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Burger Beast himself, and I almost forgot, I bumped into my fellow Yelper, El Comelon 305. I enjoyed watching the Croqueta eating contest towards the end, hands down to the winner, I can't eat like that, but it was fun to watch. Note: it's a must come event if you are a fan of fritas and croquetas. I will be returning in 2017. read more
7 years ago
Croqueta heaven!! Can the year go by already I don't want to wait for this event to come back. Loved seeing all the miami influencers involved. Loved stuffing my face with all the delicious croquetas. The conteSt was hilarious to watch. All the local beers were amazing. Funky buddah PBJ beer is still my all time favorite so happy it was available. Overall they did a fantastic job and I hope this goes on for many years to come. read more
11 years ago
What an amazing event by Burger Beast! I brought along my parents and they loved it as well! They've never been to his events before and are looking forward to attending the next! We arrived promptly at 12 because my dad wanted to make sure we were able to taste all of the croquetas. We grabbed a table and took turns going up and sampling those delicious Croquetas. Everything from Serrano ham and cheese to guava and even ropa vieja croquetas. Muy delicioso! Azucar ice cream and Nightowl cookies teamed up for a delicious ice cream sandwich. I just book marked those two places so I can check them out again! Tito's Vodka was giving out samples of Tito's with watermelon soda which was very refreshing. Burger Beast did an amazing job with this event! We can't wait until the next one! read more
10 years ago
Croquetapalooza 2016 was a success! I knew it would be because Burger Beast and his team really don't leave out any details when hosting a good festival of this magnitude. The ticket included all you can eat and drink. Everything inside Stage 305 was unlimited to guests except the cash bar areas. All the restaurants gave away fresh Croquetas and FRITAS to all. I honestly tried everything and never had anything cold. Everything was always fresh. I barely had to wait for food items to come out of the back when there was nothing on the table. All the restaurants were staffed appropriately to meet the needs of all who attended. My fraternity brother Victor Aldrich won the Croqueta eating contest which I thought was pretty sweet. He's actually opening a Giardino Gourmet Salads in Broward and everyone is happy/supporting him. Magic City Casino has plenty of parking for all who attend these magnificent Burger Beast events. The Magic City Casino staff are all wonderful and make entering the casino a breeze. Throughout the event there's a few bathroom attendees to make sure the bathrooms stay spotless and continuously restock on paper towels and soap throughout the event so that everyone can wash there hands when done using the restroom (this is a food eating event). I'm really looking forward to the next Croquetapalooza. read more
7 years ago
If you've ever wanted an overview of the best croquetas in Miami, this is the event for you! The venue was a bit dark, but there were lots of tables and some cushy sofas for seating. I'm glad we got there early, because it got harder and harder to find a place to perch as the afternoon went on. The music was (thankfully) not too loud and had a pleasant variety. I never knew there was such a variety of these fried treats. Overall, there must have been around 30 different ones from vendors from throughout the area. While the ham croqueta dominated the event, there were also some made with chorizo, fish, guava, cheese and other ingredients. Several of them had really good sauces. Our favorite croquetas were the guava cheese, from the Latin America Bakery and Cafe and the one from Palomilla. But the best bite of the day went to the caramel flan from The Cuban Guys. So, if croquetas are your thing, you don't want to miss this when it rolls around again. :) read more
Omg!!!! Croquetta and Fritas overload!!!! I call that pure bliss. This was my first time at this event and believe me I was all smiles. At the beginning to get into the event you had to wait in the longest line ever but it was so worth it and it moved pretty fast. While waiting in line they made an announcement that the event tickets were completely sold out, glad we had ours in advance. One guy offered us $70 per ticket, I'm not going to lie, I was tempted but then I realized this event had to be croquetta serious and I wasn't about to pass on this experience! I have to apologize for not taking any food pics. I couldn't, I was to busy devouring every croquetta and fritas that we could get our hands on. Let me tell you, I didn't have anything that was bad. Everything was delish. I don't remember all the restaurants that participated but I will say all of them were delish. My favorite croquetta though was that mahi mahi, omg, I went back twice. Of course we were full so we didn't really try alot of fritas. We tried to just get one sample and share so that we could try it all. I definitley loved this event and you can definitely count me in for next year. The venue also had live music from talented musicians and when they had their breaks they played some classic spanish songs. I can't dance salsa but that didn't stop me,lol. The crowd was upbeat to and just had a great ambiance. read more
Very fun event put on by Burger Beast. 2017 had many exhibitors giving you a great taste of Miami's Cuban food culture. From cafecito Cubano to fritas, doughnuts, and churros... it wasn't just about the croquetas! I got the tickets a bit later, so ended up paying $40 per person. I thought it was a bit pricey, but once I arrived and saw the breadth and selection of vendors, the price seemed pretty reasonable. I also love that it takes place INSIDE the Magic City Casino at the 305 Stage. Great big event space and you don't get hot or rained on.... score! Can't wait for 2018 :) read more
11 years ago
For those who don't know what a Croqueta is... A Croqueta (from the French Croquette/ Croquer "To Crunch"...is a small bread crumbed fried roll, specially filled with Ham, Chicken or Cod, traditionally served as Tapas in Spain, and inherited to our gastronomy by our Spanish Ancestors...Since most of Miamian's are from Cuban descent...there is not a restaurant in Miami that won't serve this delicious piece of heaven!!! This was my first time attending this event. Croquetapalooza is hosted by burger beast and held at the Magic City Casino. I thought this was going to be an outdoor event, but for my surprise it was luckily held in one of the private spaces inside the Casino; Miami is HOT so very well planned! As soon as you walked in they put on a bracelet and off you go to pig out LOL. With low lights, nice music, a DJ, live Jazz and divided into one right and left side with a big stage on the center, the Venue offered Croquetas from local bakeries and restaurants, some dessert stations, some cocktail "Rum and Vodka" stations, one Cafecito place, and coolers with water and soda. All participants were competing to win the best Croqueta of 2015, and at the end of the event before they announced the winner a croqueta eating competition took place. Ok so lets start with the croquetas...I sampled all of them...yes I did!!! and I rated them from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest score)// Left Side Area: *Barley Miami: Mexican Croqueta , made of Mexican chorizo, Mexican cheese and other ingredients- 5 (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and delicious garnishes and sauces/ best presentation as well/ went outside the box with the ingredients) *Cinebistro: Croqueta de Chorizo- 5 (perfect bite size and delicious) *Larios at the Beach: Jamon Croqueta with Guava Sauce- 3 (Event Winner/ to be a winner you should have the best flavor, consistency, size and presentation, to me out of the other 6 Croquetas de Jamon served on the event this was not the best, it was ok but nothing extraordinary /to me a simple guava sauce doesn't fool me to make this croqueta a winner) *Fish House: Croqueta de Pescado (fish) - 3 *Finka Table: Crab Croqueta and Ham Croqueta - 3 (I was really disappointed because this is one of my favorite places to go eat croquetas and to me the croquetas they made for this event were not as good as the ones they have at the restaurant/ the Crab Croqueta lacked flavor and didn't taste like crab, more like fish and the Ham one was not as good as the restaurant one, and the size was too big/ presentation on both was pretty though) *Breadman: Croqueta de Jamon- 2 (lacked flavor) *Latin American: Chorizo Croqueta - 2 *Cuban Guys - serving desserts - 5 BEST FLAN EVER OMG! obsessed *Azucar- serving dessert- Ice cream Cookie- 2 (the cookie was thick, dense and tough and the French vanilla ice cream was meh/ I have to say my husband brought me the cookie so I rated the dessert before knowing where it was coming from) Right Side Area: *Palomilla Grill: Ropa Vieja Croquette- 5 (one of the best to me, unique, flavorfull, good size, had a delicious Asian glaze on top, super crunchy crusted on the outside, delicious) *Piripi: Serrano and Swiss Cheese - 4 (crunchy, soft on the inside, flavorful, well balanced and different) *Munchie's: Croqueta de Jamon - 3 *The Local: Country Ham and Cheddar- 2 ( too dense on the inside, hard to swallow, the cheddar melted on the outside made the crust hard and not crunchy/ good presentation though, and creative ingredients, could have been better executed) *Sergio's: Croqueta de Jamon - 1 *Latin Café: Croqueta de Jamon -1 *Pincho Factory: Brisket Croqueta- 1 (couldn't find the brisket/ tasted like flour mixture/ for some reason they didn't have the croquetas ready until later on the event) *Exquisito: serving desserts: 5 -Artisanal S'mores/ Pumpkin and Cuban Coffee S'mores and Frangelico Hot Chocolate Shots... Delicious, great presentation! *Rey de las Fritas: Serving Dessert / Dulce de Leche Cortada and Smoothies- 3 My Opinion on the event: 1) I would recommend that for the next year's event the vendors would take in consideration making a bite size Croqueta so people can sample better all of the croquetas and not throw away food...I saw a lot of food wasted, most people would not even eat half of the croqueta and then throw it away. It was sad to see all that food wasted. 2) Also from 14 Croqueta Vendors i tasted, 7 of them were serving Jamon/Ham Croqs...What ever happened to Chicken and Cod?? I really missed them/ I give kudos to the restaurant's that were creative with the ingredients. 3)There was only one prize, the winner...only//They should consider second and third winner categories as well....all that effort for just one winner is not fair. There were a lot of good participants, that deserved to be recognized. 4)Ok so my overall experience was great...I would definitely go back next year, I had a great time! Hope they do it as an annual event. read more
I've gone to this event 3 years in a row and I feel like each year is better than the last. To our benefit, chefs from all over compete for top croqueta honors. It's fun to talk to chefs and learn what inspired them to create their unique croquetas. Obviously, some flavor combinations don't appeal to everyone but I'm sure you will find that croqueta that will make you go aye aye aye aye!!! Also don't miss the croqueta eating contest. It sounds cool until you actually see it lol! To my enjoyment they had a flan contest as well. All types of flan...traditional, guava and dulce de leche just to name a few. Thank you Burger Beast for such an amazing event. read more
Oh-eM-Gee! The words #foodcoma and #croquetatilyoudrop come to mind... I'm still full daydreaming of all that yumminess (okay maybe I'm not full anymore but yesterday I swore I wouldn't eat for the next 24hours of how stuffed I felt :D)! This was my first time going to Croqueta Palooza and I have to say, I'm really hoping they do it next year because I am already clearing my calendar for that date! They had all sorts of croquetas, fritas and desserts!! They also had alcoholic drink samples, cafesitos, water and canned soda! I really enjoyed the fact that they kept on refilling the refreshment bins with ice, water and soda as well as continually changing out the trash cans full of empty plates! Everything seemed well organized and there was plenty of food to go around! My friend and I concentrated on one side of the venue first and then went to the other side. They had old school Cuban music playing by a live band and to end the night a "Croqueta Eating Contest" which was extremely entertaining!! My favorite croquetas were from "TRUST Co." (they even gave me a voucher for 1 Free Drink which I will totally redeem along with another order of croquetas) and Ms. Cheezious (their innovative combination of gorgonzola, Granny Smith apples and smoked bacon topped with a strawberry balsamic reduction was simply exquisite)! In my opinion Ms. Cheezious should have won the prize for the Croqueta Showdown but as long as they add that to their menu, I'll be a happy customer! Only complaint I have is that if the event was from 7-10 why did several booths run out of food by 9pm?! Booths such as "La Fresa Francesa", "Cuban Guys", "Dolores but you can call me Lolita" had no food left and closed out 1 hour early! I was not impressed by this at all, as these booths must be prepared for this type of multitude and bring enough food! I did however have a great time at this event and will be attending next year! I'll just have to come up with a strategy to be able to taste all the sample pieces before they run out of food! read more
Croquetas, croquetas everywhere. Being an avid Croqueta lover, I knew this event was for me. It took place at Stage 305 in Magic City Casino(plenty of free parking). Inside, it was very spacious, kind of dim, and smelled like Croqueta heaven. The general admission ticket included unlimited samples of croquetas, flan, cafecito, sweet treats, vodka, and more! My favorite bites were the ropa vieja croquetas by Palomilla and the offspring of Night Owl cookies and Azucar ice cream. They also had a panel of judges to vote on the best Croqueta and Lario's was the winner. Our girl, Cassie G., participated in their Croqueta eating contest and did a great job! Croquetapalooza was an amazing event and I really hope it becomes an annual thing. Thank you Burger Beast and everyone else who made it happen! Dale Croquetica! read more
Another Croqueta Palooza bites the dust. We had an awesome time sampling the many croquetas from some of Dade and Broward restaurants. There was music, food, drinks and even cafecito! This year it was held outside under the bleachers and while there were fans it got hot. It was a well organized event but you come to expect that from Burger Beast. My favorite was the Worlds Famous there honestly was not a bad croqueta in the house. Deserts ranged from flans to donuts yummy!!! Tio Colo offered up a flan ice cream sandwich that was tasty and Mojo Donuts was well represented with a flan donut that inspired. A new comer this year The Creamy Creations was my fav for favorite flan. Good food and fun time! read more
Well, who ever is a lover of croquetas this is your type of event and in addition Flan heaven and Martha of miami with her famous croqueta shirts. Great music and ambiance, I had a wonderful but just needs air conditioning or more fans but the event was worth it for a nice weekend event. read more
Thanks Yelp Miami for the opportunity to attend this cool event! This was a Burger Beast event. What's not to love about ham and potatoes that are mashed together and then fried? There were a ton of different vendors offering croquetas. My favorite was the guava and cheese but I think that's one of my favorite combinations. It was nice because the vendors were telling people to take as many as they wanted and to come back for more. Most times, vendors run out of food and would never tell you that. There were tables with alcohol too. Mainly vodka drinks. There was also plenty of seating and tables to stand at so you could eat all the croquetas you could hold. They had coolers of bottled waters and sodas for people to drink. I tried a pineapple soda which was actually quite yummy. It was refreshing after eating a ton of heavy fried food. They also had a bar to buy alcoholic beverages. The music was loud but not so loud you couldn't hear what people were saying and later they did drawings for prizes. I wasn't sure how that was going to work because we didn't have raffle tickets or anything. This was at the Magic City Casino down in Miami so parking was plentiful and you definitely had to be 21 to enter the casino. They check ID's before they let you enter the casino floor. There was one couple that had tickets to the croquetas event but weren't 21 so the staff wouldn't let them in. read more
11 years ago
First of all with a name like Croqueta Palooza you already know you're in for quite the treat(s). Just when you thought that croquetas were only breaded mashed ham, here come completely genius versions of this savory Latin treat. I was half way through the booths and was already full and satisfied by all of the yummy versions of croquetas I was trying but I kept going and even had seconds. Such a great event and I am so thankful to have won tickets through Yelp to attend because this is just one of those must-go annual food events (well anything Burger Beast related is genius). Larios by the Beach won as Best Croqueta but I know it must have been hard for the judges to choose just one winner. Last year's winner, Barley, offered up a delicious croqueta with a savory sauce and topping. Palomilla Grill's version of the ropa vieja croqueta made me come back for more. Chorizo croqueta bites from Miami Smokers were so delicious I know I need to go pay them a visit for more. Dessert you ask?! Well oh well how I enjoyed the Night Owl Ave Maria guava sandwich cookies filled with Azucar guava ice cream! Lets just say I definitely got my croqueta fix for the rest of the year. Great event worth going to every year! read more
11 years ago
10 years ago
