big, in multiple contexts: A bite sized review of Barton G. the Restaurant Miami

My first proper night in Miami, I knew it needed to be good. Naturally, this meant I had to check out Barton G’s. After some wandering around aimlessly attempting to find the restaurant, I eventually located the restaurant. As soon as you walk in, you can tell this is a flashy restaurant, where you’re going to spend a lot of money.

To start, my friend ordered a singular drink, because they were…expensive. But, made for some amazing photos.

We then shared the chopped salad, the mac and cheese, and the popcorn rock shrimp. I will say, the portions here are massive, and go hand pretty well with the massive prices. They also are served in very theatric serving dishes that involve some sort of play on the name of the dish, which I appreciated. It’s all a bit much, and slightly kitschy, but, I kind of enjoyed it.

The chopped salad was tasty, albeit nothing super special. I especially enjoyed the creamy green goddess dressing.

My favorite of the dishes we ordered was definitely the mac and cheese, which surprised me, as I am especially picky about my mac and cheese. The pasta was perfectly creamy, but also cheesy, and the pasta was topped with a perfectly crispy layer of cheese.

As a lover of fried seafood, I enjoyed the popcorn shrimp, although to be completely honest, you’re mostly paying for the experience of having a popcorn machine being brought to your table.

For dessert, we obviously had to get the iconic “Dolla Dolla Bills Y’all (their name, not mine),” which to me epitomizes this restaurant. Here is the thing. Was this $42 for cake and some ice cream? Yes. But if I went back in time would I do this again? Also yes. It’s honestly probably the most I’ve paid for one dessert, but this dessert actually lives up to its hype. The experience of having the gold-bar shaped cake that comes with a massive 100-dollar bill being blowtorched at your table is definitely quite the experience. But once all the theatrics are over, the dessert itself is actually quite good. The dulce de leche, marshmallow fluff, creamy vanilla ice cream, rich chocolate cake, crunchy, caramelized caramel corn, and thick, luscious chocolate ganache all come together to make this incredibly rich dessert that makes you just want to take a nap. After all, it’s composed solely of extremely decadent ingredients, that make you feel rich, although your wallet afterwards may suggest otherwise.

Ultimately, I would you try this restaurant at least once, as just the novelty of it is just so unique, and honestly fits in with the reason many people come to Miami in the first place: to just full send it. So if you happen to be in Miami, and are in the mood to spend loads of money, I would stop by, for some true dinner and a show.