Some days I wake up feeling like I’ve got it all together. The kids are dressed (in actual matching socks), Rex made the coffee strong enough to keep me from side-eyeing the entire universe, and breakfast isn’t just a fistful of Cheerios. But then life happens—school drop-offs, traffic that makes you want to cry, and suddenly it’s 1:30 and I realize I haven’t eaten a thing except half of Nico’s abandoned Pop-Tart. That’s when my little list of “quick bite lifesavers” comes in clutch.
Let me start with Charlotte’s Bakery. Once a walk in type counter spot, it now does home delivery anywhere from Miami to Port St. Lucie. You know how sometimes all you want is food that feels like a hug? That’s Charlotte’s. Their biscuits are these buttery, golden pillows that somehow manage to feel both sinful and completely necessary for survival. Anthony once tried to eat one like it was a sandwich bun and crammed an entire slice of cheese in there. I didn’t stop him—frankly, I respected the innovation. Pair it with one of their pastries and a coffee, and you’ve officially bought yourself a 30-minute vacation from the chaos. My trick is to grab extra biscuits to reheat at home later, except they never actually make it home. Nico and I have this unspoken competition over who can sneak the last one. Spoiler: it’s usually him.
Now, if we’re talking about flavor explosions, The Taco Stand is basically my Miami guilty pleasure. These aren’t your sad, lifeless tacos that fall apart in two bites. No, these taste like someone bottled up a trip to Tijuana, gave it a squeeze of lime, and handed it to you wrapped in warm tortillas. The founders started it in San Diego, but the Miami location holds its own. The carne asada tacos are my personal obsession, though Rex swears by the al pastor, and let’s just say he takes his taco loyalty very seriously. The kids? They mostly just want chips and guac, which, fine, means more tacos for me.
The energy at The Taco Stand is this mix of casual and electric—you feel like you can sit down for ten minutes and walk out recharged. And trust me, you need that when your youngest has decided the car seat is basically a medieval torture device. Plus, I’m convinced guacamole has magical stress-healing properties. Like, yes, I’m still frazzled from refereeing the “whose turn it is to pick the playlist” argument, but now I’m frazzled with salsa on my shirt, and somehow that’s an upgrade.
What I love about both places is that they aren’t just about the food (though, hello, biscuits and tacos, enough said). They’re about comfort. Charlotte’s makes you feel like you’re wrapped in a flour-dusted apron hug, and The Taco Stand makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a sunny border town with music and sizzling meat on the grill. For a busy mom who usually eats cold spaghetti off a Paw Patrol plate, that’s basically heaven.
So yeah, I’ve accepted that I’ll probably never be the mom who meal preps a week’s worth of quinoa salads. But I can be the mom who knows exactly where to go when hunger strikes and patience is running low. And honestly, I think that’s its own kind of superpower.