Argentinian Restaurant and Bodegón in Little Haiti: Fiorito

Ask Argentines in Miami for an Argentinian restaurant near me that feels like home, and Fiorito comes up quickly. Fiorito, at 5555 NE 2nd Ave in Little Haiti, is a small family-run room modeled on the bodegones of Buenos Aires, the unpretentious neighborhood restaurants where portions are generous and the bill stays reasonable. Brothers Maximiliano and Cristian Alvarez opened it in 2012, and it still runs on their childhood food: grilled vacío, milanesas, homemade pasta and flan with dulce de leche.

The name is a tribute. Villa Fiorito is the working-class suburb south of Buenos Aires where Diego Maradona grew up, and the restaurant wears its football loyalties openly. Photographs of Maradona, football scenes and tango posters frame the walls, and football is the shared language between the staff and many of the regulars. It is a room where an Argentine expat can talk about Boca, River or the national team over a bottle of Malbec and feel completely at home.

The decoration feels like an old cabin transplanted from the pampas: wood paneling, red brick, and a shelf of antique glass soda siphons, the heavy seltzer bottles that every Argentine grandparent kept on the table. The smell of the grill drifts out of the open kitchen at the back. Cristian is the chef and cooks dishes inspired by what the brothers ate growing up, while Maximiliano runs the front of the house.

The model is the bodegón, the old-fashioned Buenos Aires eatery known for affordable prices, big plates and no fuss. That explains the menu's range, which runs from grilled beef to pasta and fish, and the absence of steakhouse theater. Prices sit well below the Argentine steak rooms of Brickell and Miami Beach, and the portions are large enough that many tables order fewer dishes than they expect and still take leftovers home.

Begin with empanadas at $5 each. The carne a cuchillo is filled with knife-cut steak rather than ground beef, the traditional way in the north of Argentina, and the choclo version is sweet corn with mozzarella. The parrillera sampler of chorizo and morcilla costs $14, and the provoleta con chorizo, grilled provolone topped with sausage, tomato and basil, is $16. Crispy mollejas, the sweetbreads Argentines order first at any parrilla, cost $16 with leek salsa criolla.

For the table, the grilled octopus with romesco and a mint chimichurri costs $24, and the seasonal grilled vegetables with blue cheese and chimichurri are $16. In cooler months the butternut squash soup with provolone and chili oil is $9, a smart opener before a heavy steak. The local burrata with grape tomatoes, basil and balsamic reduction is $16, a lighter option for anyone saving room for the grill.

The core of the menu is beef on the grill. The prime vacío, a 12-ounce flank cut that Argentines prize for its juicy, slightly chewy texture, costs $35 and is the dish to order on a first visit. The churrasco de entraña, skirt steak with home-cut fries and chimichurri, is $37. The bife de chorizo, a New York strip with grilled tomato, eggplant and salsa criolla, costs $35, and a 16-ounce rib eye is $46.

Cuts arrive plainly, the Argentine way, so build the plate with sides at $8 each: home-cut french fries, butternut squash purée, mashed potatoes or mixed greens, with rice at $6. Vacío in particular is best ordered medium-rare, the way it is served at family asados in Argentina. Share two cuts among three people and you will still leave room for dessert.

Half of Argentina has Italian grandparents, and the menu shows it. The milanesa a la napolitana, a breaded steak topped with ham, tomato sauce and melted mozzarella and served with fries, costs $27. Homemade pasta includes short rib ravioli, porcini ravioli with truffle cream and spinach-ricotta canelones at $20 each, and the lamb ragù with house pappardelle is $26. Braised short ribs a la riojana, with peppers, peas and mashed potato, are $34.

If nobody at the table wants beef, there are good alternatives. The wild corvina a la plancha with arugula, tomato escabeche and caramelized lemon costs $29, the roasted salmon with potatoes and mixed greens is $25, and the all-natural grilled chicken breast with arugula, grape tomatoes and Reggianito cheese is $21. The salads are also substantial, including the Fiorito steak salad with vacío and diced provoleta at $23.

Desserts are where the home-cooking idea is clearest. The flan comes with homemade dulce de leche and costs $10, and the panqueques, thin crêpes rolled around more dulce de leche, are $12. There is also a chocolate mousse at $12 and an almond tart with strawberry sauce at $10. If you cannot decide, order the flan and panqueques to share; both are the desserts most Argentine families make at home.

Fiorito opens at noon every day and closes at 10pm from Sunday to Thursday and at 11pm on Friday and Saturday. The dining room is small, so weekend dinner after 7pm fills quickly; call (305) 754-2899 or book through OpenTable, or arrive right at noon for a relaxed lunch. The restaurant also takes online orders for pickup and hosts private parties for birthdays and group dinners.

Service is friendly and unhurried, closer to a family dinner than a polished steakhouse, so plan on a long meal rather than a quick bite. The brothers have since opened a casual sandwich counter, Almacen by Fiorito, a short walk up NE 2nd Avenue, for lunch on the go. When Argentina has a big match, book early, because a restaurant named for Maradona's neighborhood is exactly where homesick fans want to be.

Fiorito sits on one of Miami's most interesting corridors. Walk north on NE 2nd Avenue to the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, with its gallery, performance space and the bright Caribbean Marketplace building, and look for the murals painted on shopfronts along the way. To the south, the Design District is a short drive for galleries and boutiques, and the MiMo historic stretch of Biscayne Boulevard is a few blocks east.

Address: Fiorito, 5555 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137, in Little Haiti. Phone: (305) 754-2899. Schedule: Sunday to Thursday noon to 10pm, Friday and Saturday noon to 11pm. Prices to expect: empanadas $5, prime vacío $35, churrasco de entraña $37, milanesa a la napolitana $27, flan $10. Online ordering for pickup is available from the restaurant's site, and street parking is usually easier on the side streets off NE 2nd Avenue.