Jacinta de Mexico Debuts Valentine's Day 'Love Bugs Sampler'

The Aventura Mall restaurant offers a unique plate of insects on a heart-shaped tortilla for the holiday.

Published on Feb. 13, 2026

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Jacinta de Mexico, a restaurant located in Aventura Mall, is offering a limited-time 'Love Bugs Sampler' for Valentine's Day. The dish features a heart-shaped tortilla topped with escamoles (ant eggs), toasted grasshoppers, and pan-fried mezcal worms. The restaurant is known for its traditional Mexican recipes and hand-pressed tortillas made from scratch.

Why it matters

Jacinta de Mexico's 'Love Bugs Sampler' is an innovative take on traditional Valentine's Day fare, appealing to adventurous diners looking to try unique and ancient Mexican ingredients. The dish highlights the restaurant's commitment to honoring traditional culinary practices while also offering a memorable and shareable experience for couples and groups.

The details

The 'Love Bugs Sampler' is made with a heart-shaped tortilla that is quickly fried to puff up, then stuffed with nixtamalized organic black beans and avocado puree. The insects - escamoles (ant eggs), toasted grasshoppers, and pan-fried mezcal worms - are then placed on top of the tortilla. The dish is meant to be shared and is available Thursday through Sunday at Jacinta de Mexico.

  • The 'Love Bugs Sampler' is a limited-time offering available from February 13-16, 2026 (Valentine's Day weekend).

The players

Jacinta de Mexico

A restaurant located in Aventura Mall that is known for honoring traditional Mexican recipes, including hand-pressed tortillas made using a 4,000-year-old process.

Lalo Durazo

A representative from Jacinta de Mexico who discussed the restaurant's commitment to using high-quality, traditional ingredients in their dishes.

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What they’re saying

“Tortillas that are home-made from scratch in-house. Using Criollo corn. It's the blue corn that we bring from Mexico, that is the best quality of corn you can use for a corn tortilla!”

— Lalo Durazo

“This we prepare very simply, so that you can get the taste of it! And we're going to place them on a heart-shaped tortilla. We quickly fry them so they puff, and then we stuff them with nixtamalized organic black beans, avocado puree, then we put the insects on top.”

— Lalo Durazo

“I totally loved it, it's very crunchy, and full of love. Loved it!”

— Guest

“The experience, for anybody, anybody that's open and wants a little adventure, and wants to try something different, and wants to surprise their significant other.”

— Lalo Durazo

What’s next

The 'Love Bugs Sampler' will only be available at Jacinta de Mexico during Valentine's Day weekend (February 13-16, 2026).

The takeaway

Jacinta de Mexico's 'Love Bugs Sampler' offers adventurous diners a unique and memorable Valentine's Day experience by highlighting traditional Mexican ingredients and culinary techniques in a shareable, heart-shaped dish.