Reviews for Huahua's Taqueria and Hot & Soul

Huahua's Taqueria gets a visit from Short Order's Emily Codik, who describes the "quirky late-night" spot as "the kind of place you usually visit after midnight, on evenings when you've perhaps had too much to drink and when nothing but a deep-fried avocado taco will do". As far as the food goes, Codik writes, it's the "offbeat eats that sets Huahua's apart from similar places".

Tacos here are mischievous little things, branded with neat grill marks and crammed with unusual fillings such as fried chicken and jalapeño-flecked cornbread. The flour-dredged chicken is perfectly cooked, doodled with an ancho-infused ranch sauce that tastes somewhere between gringo sports bar and taqueria.

Though she adds that "there are gentler tacos here", that are "often, they're dryer than they should be", she praises mostly everything including "the taqueria's best creation": elotes. [SO]

Zachary Fagenson makes a stop at Hot & Soul, a Fort Lauderdale eatery owned by Christy Samoy and Mike Hampton, whose "one-page menu is as much the story of their lives as it is the bill of fare". Fagenson writes "they're following some of the best trends in dining. Appetizers and entrées are offered in full and half sizes, allowing sharing and the opportunity to taste the entire menu".

Those that aren't, like the steak culotte, are worth the stomach space. The top cut of sirloin is cooked to a perfect medium rare and served with slender, crispy, seasoned fries topped with a fried egg. Yet the highlight of the dish is the house-made steak sauce that blends savory Worcestershire with sweet berries and is good enough to lick off the plate. [CPC]