Robert Is Here

Robert Is Here is an oversized, overcrowded, South Florida fruit stand and tourist destination, complete with playground, live music and a petting zoo.  In other words, just the type of place we typically avoid.  But after only one visit sampling the amazing fresh fruit milkshakes, we can’t imagine coming to Miami without stopping here.

There is an impressive variety of fresh fruit, many of it exotic and unfamiliar to us snowbirds.  As tempting as it is to take home papayas, jackfruit and guanabanas, those in need of immediate refreshment brave the long line to order a fruit shake.  The list of available flavors is dizzying, made even more so by the fact that you can combine up to three different fruits. You can’t make a bad choice.

The biggest seller is Key lime, which leans more towards tart than overly sweet.  Thick, creamy, with an unmistakable  freshness apparent on first sip, this is everything you want a shake to taste like. My Philippine-born wife misses the fruits she grew up with and ordered dragonfruit.  With its striking neon pink hue, you would think the flavor would be equally bold, but its subtle sweetness is reminiscent of kiwi.  She gulped it down in record time.

So impressed by what we had already tried, I got back in line to order a mamey shake.  We have enjoyed mamey batidos in Miami area Cuban restaurants, but this was far better than anything we have tasted before.  Decadently rich and so thick the straw was all but useless, mamey can best be described as a cross between banana and peach.  If I had to recommend one flavor, it would be mamey.

Still under original ownership, Robert Is Here’s origins go back to 1959, when seven year old Robert Moehling’s father set him up at the side of the road selling cucumbers.  After no business that first day, a sign was put up proclaiming “Robert Is Here.” The rest is history.  For those driving from Miami to the Keys, Robert Is Here is a short detour off of Highway 1.

Big thanks to chibbqking for this great recommendation.