There was a time when Hialeah had more western than tropical flair. Little remains of the city's Old West character when, according to local lore, the Graham brothers rode their horses on dirt roads to Hialeah High School, home of the Thoroughbreds. One of the few remaining holdouts is the Hitching Post Barbecue Ranch, an intriguing outpost on bustling Okeechobee Road, where semis and tow trucks come barreling down at amazing speeds (and some park here to eat and run).
Neon yellow and orange signs light up the ranch-style wood diner. A pickup outside shows a sign of the times: A small Cuban flag hangs from the rear-view mirror and Old Glory proudly flutters from the antenna.
Like the Latin American city that rose around it, the 58-year-old Hitching Post and its menu have evolved. The restaurant is now owned by Isidro Pérez, a Cuban refugee who came to the United States in 1986.
The same old colorful murals adorn the back wall -- cowboys lassoing cattle in the desert, and sitting around a campfire at sunset. The same wagon-wheel chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the seating remains sturdy picnic tables. But the menu of barbecue, french fries and cole slaw now also includes some staples of Cuban and Latin American cuisines, and all the offerings come with translations in Spanish.
STANDARD SIDES
Black beans and rice, moros ($1.89) and fried yuca ($1.99) are offered as side dishes. The yuca strips were fried to a nice golden glow and were crispy enough, although the frying oils here are thick and all the fried foods have a heavy texture. Likewise for the heap of onion rings ($2.79) and the french fries ($1.29).
We didn't sample the black beans, preferring to stick to all-American favorites. The corn on the cob ($1.39) was swimming in too much butter but was quite good, and the baked potato ($1.89) turned out to be the healthiest choice because you control the embellishments.
The sandwich lineup includes pork, beef, ham, steak, burger, turkey, fish and chicken. We sampled the barbecued pork ($3.49) and found it a little dry but the barbecue sauce much improves it.
TRY THE RIBS
The best fare here are the ribs, slowly grilled over oak logs on an old-fashioned open-pit barbecue. Hitching Post's ``famous'' pork ribs ($8.69 for half a slab) are the juiciest. Ours were meaty, but this portion comes with only five ribs. It won't satisfy a healthy adult appetite because the standard accompaniment (potato, cole slaw or yuca) isn't that generous either. It's best to go all the way with the full slab ($13.79) and take home what you can't handle.
The barbecued baby back ribs ($8.99 half, $13.99 full slab) were tender and flaky, but also small on the half portion. In contrast, the beef ribs ($8.39) were almost nearly a foot long, and although the portion of four wasn't brimming with meat, size alone was enough to satisfy.
Among the steaks, the Cuban palomilla ($7.39) and the Latin American churrasco ($10.39) round out a list that includes a 12-ounce Delmonico rib eye ($10.99). We chose to sample the churrasco, a modest rendition of the long and tender steak that didn't come with the traditional chimichurri sauce. We settled for the barbecue sauce in one of those only-in-Miami moments when the merging of two cultures creates a unique third. But in this case, it didn't quite hit the spot.
Desserts have also taken on a Latin flair with the addition of flan ($1.69) and tres leches ($2.29). The kids will love the ice cream cake roll ($2.19), a swirl strip of cake wrapped around vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate syrup. The adults will find the homemade Key lime pie ($2.19) not as tangy nor sturdy as the norm but still a pleasing way to end a trip to South Florida's own version of the Old West.
