BEST SKATE SHOP 2002 | Fritz's Skate & Bike Shop | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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BEST SKATE SHOP

Fritz's Skate & Bike Shop

We trolled bowling-alley parking lots, video arcades, tattoo parlors, and public handicap ramps to survey skate rats about the best shop in town. Whether it was in Kendall, Westchester, or Aventura, the overwhelming favorite was Fritz's. This Lincoln Road storefront distinguishes itself by not only being the coolest place to assemble a new skateboard, but the friendly staff is knowledgeable enough to hook you up with the best trucks, king pins, and baddest-looking deck around. The fact that Fritz's has been on Lincoln Road for more than half a decade is testament enough to its popularity. Many of the independent boutiques that once dotted the mall folded as rents skyrocketed. So skate on over. It's still not a crime to Rollerblade on wannabe-tony Lincoln Road. But skateboarders beware: You're likely to be busted.

BEST VINTAGE STORE

Morningside Antiques

Zoom by too fast on Biscayne Boulevard and you might mistake Morningside Antiques for a small house. And it certainly was once upon a time. Now it's an intimate antique mall featuring a series of rooms that act as booths run by different dealers. Wander through leisurely and you're sure to come upon treasures: tasteful midcentury modern marvels that seem as if they were dropped here from outer space, prim and proper Victoriana, swanky Art Deco delights, rustic French provincial furniture and decorative arts, swinging Sixties and Seventies lamps and the like, tiny silver spoons, un-PC Black Americana, colorful printed linens, and sparkling trinkets galore. So what if the Baroque mahogany rocking chair you bought looks a little odd with the boomerang Formica coffee table in your living room? Tell the friends about to commit you that your style is eclectic -- not schizophrenic.

BEST VIDEO STORE

New Concept Video

If you're looking for a stark example of the difference between a corporate giant and a locally owned emporium, just mosey through the carefully stocked aisles of New Concept Video, which serves up practically everything its surrounding community is after: imported fashion magazines, of-the-moment dance-music CDs, and of course an array of offbeat titles -- both new and old, foreign and homegrown. What really makes New Concept shine, however, isn't just the presence of recent highly touted indie flicks that never graced Miami's theaters (Lisa Picard is Famous, Wet Hot American Summer, George Washington, the list sadly goes on), but a redefinition of that very phrase "blockbuster." Don't have Showtime? Still curious about that cable channel's gay telenovela Queer As Folk and its resultant buzz? Forget about hitting your nearest Blockbuster. That chain's Miami outlets dithered for more than two months before finally overcoming prudish moral concerns and deciding to stock tapes of the series' episodes. As for other "controversial" films, such as Bad Lieutenant, Blockbuster demands its very own customized edit before it'll deign to carry the picture. Over at New Concept, however, from its first day of release there was an entire wall of Queer As Folk (on both VHS and DVD), ensuring the type of "always available" rental status that this store's rivals only extend to more hackneyed displays of male bonding such as Pearl Harbor. We'll stick with the shop that keeps its priorities, ahem, straight.

BEST MANICURE

New Slick Unisex Salon

6726 Bird Road

West Miami-Dade

305-667-9827

In the Bird-Ludlam Shopping Center there are three places to get your nails done, but only one salon will do if you want a seven-dollar manicure and more chisme (gossip) than you can possibly process. While your cuticles are being pushed back and the polish is being applied, you'll hear about what happened this week in the Mexican telenovelas, reviews of Enrique Iglesias's newest release, and why the latest fatal disease to strike Fidel Castro means that for el tirano the end is surely near. Knowledge of Spanish is a help, but the dish comes in English too.

BEST NURSERY

Cornell Landscape Nursery

The topiaries perched on the fence posts give you a clue about what you'll discover at this family-run nursery. The eager assistance, available as soon as you open your car door, will soothe any confusion you may experience gazing upon the tangle of vegetation in front of you. And the landscaping know-how will allow you to select the best ground cover, flowering bushes, ficus hedges, and climbing vines for your home. But sometimes it's all about the veggies. That's what endears us to Cornell's. This Eden stocks the best garden starters around, from beefsteak seedlings to Scotch bonnet peppers already in bloom. Some of the items, including baby mixed greens and flowering purple cabbages, come up from Lovell Farms down south, but others are nurtured in the nursery simply because the proprietors love to experiment. That means when you're ready to plant your plot in the early spring, you can buy the notoriously slow-to-grow garlic and leeks already well established. It also means you can get some produce plants you may not be able to find at Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Whether you're looking for lemongrass or lemon-yellow tomatoes, you have a better chance at Cornell's, where the owners are also students of home agriculture.

BEST NURSERY FOR TROPICAL FRUIT TREES

Clinica de las Plantas

You've got the family, the job, the little plot of land. What's missing from your idyllic life? Oh, right. The folks from whom you bought your house had thumbs about as green as the sky. You need trees, and since you live in Miami you figure they might as well bear fruit and save you some bucks in the end. Not that they cost that much to begin with, if you buy them young and do so at Clinica de las Plantas. "Florida Master gardener" Jesus A. Ramos stocks a large supply of subtropical saplings in this nursery. Don't be fooled by the flowers in front; make your way to the back. There you'll find sapodilla, mamey, guayaba (guava), lychee, and longan trees. In the market for mangoes? You can find at least five different varieties here, including the ever-popular Haden, football-size Keitt, juicy Edward, sun-yellow Carrie, fiberless Beverly, and top-notch Nom Dac Mai. Bargain-hunting for bananas? Buy them if you see them -- these are the Clinica's biggest sellers and Ramos is often out. Trees range from $29.95 to $39.95, depending on size, and the staff will assist you in choosing the nicest specimens and then carry them to your car for you. In fact, the only thing they won't do is help you plant them at home. But that's okay. Nothing's more satisfying than knowing the fruit of your labors is yours alone.

BEST COMIC BOOK SHOP

Super Heroes Unlimited

This is the place for those who want to scope out their funnybooks and still feel like a grownup. The Archie/Pokémon/Disney presence is relatively low-key. Cutesy card games and movie tie-in toys clearly aren't this previous "Best of Miami" winner's reason for existing. Instead the haphazardly stacked selections feature everything from Marvel to Oni Press, plus a good variety of gaming materials and Japanimation. It can be a little tough to find that one specific title in this tiny space, but the friendly folks behind the counter will be happy to get it for you.

BEST LAST-MINUTE GIFT IDEA

Cookies by Design

You're a generous person with a heart for gift-giving, but you're a lousy shopper without an ounce of creativity. Every Mother's Day you do five laps around the mall looking for the perfect gift, only to end up empty-handed, bitter, and with sore feet. Wearily you lick the envelope on yet another cheap greeting card and drop it in the mailbox -- without a package -- and wonder how you will ever break this cycle of gift-giving failure. Fear not, for there is a solution that will turn you into the hero of all holidays: Cookies by Design. Stop by any of three locations in Miami-Dade to check out their patented "Cookie Bouquet" gift concept: Freshly baked, oversize sugar cookies are playfully hand-decorated with vibrant colors and arranged in baskets to create a treat as lovely to look at as it is sweetly satisfying. Acknowledge any holiday, recognize any achievement, or express any emotion through a variety of theme baskets. They also have a line of Disney characters that any child would go nuts over. Finally it's not even necessary to leave home to do your good deed. Orders can be placed online or by phone.

BEST BOTANICA

Botanica Oricha

All the usual potions and talismans and statuettes and candles and flowers any good santero needs are here in the heart of Allapattah. On the exterior green walls of this building are painted colorful renditions of some of Latin America's more popular Catholic saints, such as Caridad del Cobre and Niño de Antocha. If you and your Santería santo have a certain problem or situation requiring a particular herb or tincture or perfume, just tell the knowledgeable people who work here. They know what you need. They also stock a nice selection of melodiously crowing and cackling roosters and hens, just in case you're looking for a back yard pet.

BEST PLACE TO BUY A SHIRT AND CHAT WITH A LEGEND

La Casa de las Guayaberas

Guayaberas may now be ubiquitous, as familiar a sight in South Beach as in Little Havana, as popular with club-hopping twentysomethings as with potbellied old men. But there is still only one mago de la guayabera (guayabera magician): Ramon Puig, owner of La Casa de las Guayaberas, the famed Miami emporium. The Cuban-born Puig has been making guayaberas for more than 60 years. His client list has included Cuban President Carlos Prio as well as U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton. The man has stories, and he'll gladly share them with anyone who wanders into his shop. But the guayaberas -- gorgeous creations in a variety of fabrics and colors -- are a different matter. Those he'll charge you for.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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