A croqueta bar is opening next week in Miami, and it even has its own craft beer

The most important news to hit Miami is here. You may want to sit down for this.

The croqueta bar is opening next week.

That’s right. Dos Croquetas is ready to celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent home, which honors the most magical things in the universe - croquetas and beer.

It all begins May 10.

“It’s surreal,” says owner Alec Fernandez, who started the craft croqueta delivery service in 2016 with his aunt Victoria Carballo, a caterer. “We came from our pop-up two and a half years ago. We worked out of a commercial kitchen in the middle of a warehouse district. And people would come out and munch on croquetas. And now we’re here. It’s crazy.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. May 10 at the new, 1,200-square-foot restaurant in Westchester. The first 50 or 100 people in line will get “croqueta swag.” We are not entirely sure what “croqueta swag” is and neither is Fernandez at the moment - he’s kinda busy - but we are sure it will be awesome.

What’s on the menu? Plenty of craft croquetas like two of Dos Croquetas’ most popular items: the 305 (Cuban style picadillo, sweet plantains and queso blanco paired with guava aoili) and the Mexican street corn (chargrilled corn, cotija cheese with a chili-lime crema). You can also order mac and cheese with bacon and a buffalo chicken croqueta with ranch dipping sauce, and frankly we are putting on weight just thinking about all this.

Dos Croquetas also makes sandwiches out of appealing items like arepas and tostones and serves craft beer from local breweries to wash it all down (though you can get your croquetas to go). Fernandez also has partnerships with local breweries like Lincoln’s Beard Brewing Co., The Tank Brewing Company and Concrete Beach Brewery, and with the help of MIA Beer Company Dos Croquetas has created Dame Dos Ale, created to pair perfectly with signature croquetas.

And if beer isn’t your thing, there’s a shake bar with such concoctions as The Cuban Dole Whip, with pineapple, vanilla ice cream and condensed milk.

As for the look of the place, Fernandez reports “lots of gold and opulence.”

“It’s a bougie croqueta bar,” he says. “I’m super excited.”

Dos Croquetas

• Where: 10505 SW 40th St.
• Opens: 7 p.m. May 10

This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 5:03 PM.