The best guacamole I’ve ever had was from a fruit stand in Homestead, Florida, around an hour’s drive from the city of Miami depending on traffic.

I found the Robert Is Here fruit stand while looking for highly rated places to check out around Florida. With more than 8,000 reviews and a 4.6 star rating on Google, it seemed like a must do.

The unusually named Robert Is Here was established in 1959 as an actual fruit stand before becoming what their website describes as a “complete tourist destination”. Along with an indoor section selling fruits, vegetables and more, it also features an animal farm and play area.

If you’re driving from down into the Florida Keys (or vice versa), it isn’t much of a detour. But this isn’t an ad for Robert Is Here. It’s a story about the best guacamole ever.

Both of my visits to the fruit stand happened in early 2020. The first was on a morning drive from Miami to the Keys. Robert Is Here claims to be world famous for its banana milkshakes, which seemed like a good option for an on-the-go breakfast.

My friend got one of the famed banana shakes and really enjoyed it. I for some reason opted for a key lime flavoured one, maybe because it’s a rare flavour in Australia. I was a little less impressed but it was still good.

All in all, it seemed like a solid fruit stand and probably worthy of its reviews. But Robert Is Here only left a strong impression after a second stop a few days later.

Getting the guac

Following a look around the Everglades Alligator Farm, we began the hour drive to the Shark Valley Visitor Center. Conveniently, this meant passing by Robert Is Here again, providing the perfect opportunity to get some snacks for the road.

Not being sure what to get, I grabbed a tub of homemade guacamole and bag of tortilla chips. From what I can see online, it must’ve been 16 ounces or around 450 grams. What a great decision that was. Chips and guac won’t win any awards for being an easy to consume car snack. In this case, it was worth the hassle for truly the best guacamole I’ve had.

Talk about the perfect blend of fresh avocado, tomato, onion, coriander (or I guess cilantro) and all the other ingredients that make this dip great. It was just the right texture as well.

We put in our best effort to finish it all, helped by a long line to get into Shark Valley. I think we got close, because there was some discussion about whether it would be okay to leave in the car and finish later. There wasn’t much left at all though. Along with being the best, this was also surely the most guac I’ve ever eaten.

Sadly, I didn’t snap any pictures of the illustrious guacamole, or the fruit stand itself (I guess I was too busy eating). Hence, the featured image of this post is actually from a completely different place in Miami. Sorry if I misled you, I just didn’t want to use a stock guac image.

There are certainly more authentic places to get guacamole, obviously including Mexico, and I hope one day to try them. But Robert Is Here has set the benchmark for me.

Guacamole in Australia

In Australia, it can be a struggle to find any good guac outside of proper Mexican restaurants. In my experience, the options in the dip section at supermarkets are all pretty awful.

The only exception to this is Harris Farm, which I think has the best packaged guacamole locally. I’d be glad to hear about any other good choices though.

When it comes to the big Mexican fast food chains, I reckon Guzman y Gomez is the best option both for guac and its menu overall. It all just seems fresher. I’ve never taken to Zambrero’s guacamole and a few times I’ve had Mad Mex’s and it’s been a bit sour.

Okay, I think I’ve typed guac and guacamole enough now. Time to go and get some.