BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE 2005 | The café at Books & Books in Coral Gables | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE

The café at Books & Books in Coral Gables

BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE The café at Books & Books in Coral Gables 265 Aragon Avenue

Coral Gables

305-448-9599

www.booksandbooks.com You're not really alone when you're with a good book. At least that's what you can tell yourself when you're seated, alone, with a good book plucked from the shelves surrounding you at the Books & Books café. Honestly, words can provide incomparable companionship, and there are millions and millions of words available here to serve as erudite escorts for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The indoor portion of the café is located in a passageway between the two main retail rooms, a series of booths facing the cookbook section and a charming courtyard -- the preferred seating on most occasions (as well as one of the nicest spots for an informal Sunday brunch). The menu is a medley of sprightly soups, salads, sandwiches, and specials. The baked goods and steamy cappuccinos are especially apt for a sweet afternoon rendezvous with Rabelais. Maybe you'll meet someone else dining alone, with a good book, and you'll fall in love and live happily ever after. Or is that the book you're reading?

Readers´ Choice: Home

BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE

The café at Books & Books in Coral Gables

BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE The café at Books & Books in Coral Gables 265 Aragon Avenue

Coral Gables

305-448-9599

www.booksandbooks.com You're not really alone when you're with a good book. At least that's what you can tell yourself when you're seated, alone, with a good book plucked from the shelves surrounding you at the Books & Books café. Honestly, words can provide incomparable companionship, and there are millions and millions of words available here to serve as erudite escorts for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The indoor portion of the café is located in a passageway between the two main retail rooms, a series of booths facing the cookbook section and a charming courtyard -- the preferred seating on most occasions (as well as one of the nicest spots for an informal Sunday brunch). The menu is a medley of sprightly soups, salads, sandwiches, and specials. The baked goods and steamy cappuccinos are especially apt for a sweet afternoon rendezvous with Rabelais. Maybe you'll meet someone else dining alone, with a good book, and you'll fall in love and live happily ever after. Or is that the book you're reading?

Readers´ Choice: Home

BEST EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL

Crystal Café

BEST EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL Crystal Café 726 Arthur Godfrey Road (41st Street)

Miami Beach

305-673-8266 When Sal Dicembrino took over Crystal Café from Klime Kovaceski this past year, he didn't do a whole lot of tinkering with the restaurant's successful formula. In fact the décor, menu, recipes, kitchen crew, and waitstaff have hardly changed a whit. That's good news for Crystal's long-time loyal clientele, who regularly pack the house for generous portions of contemporary Continental cuisine. Sal kept Klime's early-dinner special as well, which allows patrons who dine any night of the week (closed Mondays) between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. to add a complimentary soup or salad, coffee, and dessert to their main course. So signature osso bucco, book-ended by house salad and warm chocolate bombe, goes for the osso-only price of $26.95. Crystal's incomparably crisp duck à l'orange with a cup of the day's soup and luscious strawberry shortcake becomes a full and filling dinner for $22.95. For the more common early-dinner price of $16.95 you can add the accompanying courses to pasta dishes, roast chicken, or sautéed calf's liver with applesauce, bacon, and grilled onions. But the high-end cuisine, extensive wine list, elegant design, and professional service isn't meant for those birds who chirp "cheap cheap cheap." It's for those who are looking to catch a deal.

BEST EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL

Crystal Café

BEST EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL Crystal Café 726 Arthur Godfrey Road (41st Street)

Miami Beach

305-673-8266 When Sal Dicembrino took over Crystal Café from Klime Kovaceski this past year, he didn't do a whole lot of tinkering with the restaurant's successful formula. In fact the décor, menu, recipes, kitchen crew, and waitstaff have hardly changed a whit. That's good news for Crystal's long-time loyal clientele, who regularly pack the house for generous portions of contemporary Continental cuisine. Sal kept Klime's early-dinner special as well, which allows patrons who dine any night of the week (closed Mondays) between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. to add a complimentary soup or salad, coffee, and dessert to their main course. So signature osso bucco, book-ended by house salad and warm chocolate bombe, goes for the osso-only price of $26.95. Crystal's incomparably crisp duck à l'orange with a cup of the day's soup and luscious strawberry shortcake becomes a full and filling dinner for $22.95. For the more common early-dinner price of $16.95 you can add the accompanying courses to pasta dishes, roast chicken, or sautéed calf's liver with applesauce, bacon, and grilled onions. But the high-end cuisine, extensive wine list, elegant design, and professional service isn't meant for those birds who chirp "cheap cheap cheap." It's for those who are looking to catch a deal.

BEST FROZEN YOGURT

Tasti D-Lite

BEST FROZEN YOGURT Tasti D-Lite Various locations in Miami-Dade County

www.tastidlite.com Calling it a culinary revolution may be a bit much, but for the Beach's waist-conscious, the arrival of the NYC-based Tasti D-Lite chain was earth-moving. Virtually fat-free yet creamier than any other yogurt on the market, it almost seems too, ahem, tasty and delightful to be truly low in calories. Indeed, one vintage episode of Seinfeld even revolved around that very fear, with the action centering on a thinly veiled stand-in for Tasti D-Lite and a pint of the suspect confection being surreptitiously spirited to a lab for fat testing. No doubt cynical locals are contemplating much the same trial for Tasti D-Lite's divine French Vanilla. In the meantime, mmmmm.

BEST FROZEN YOGURT

Tasti D-Lite

BEST FROZEN YOGURT Tasti D-Lite Various locations in Miami-Dade County

www.tastidlite.com Calling it a culinary revolution may be a bit much, but for the Beach's waist-conscious, the arrival of the NYC-based Tasti D-Lite chain was earth-moving. Virtually fat-free yet creamier than any other yogurt on the market, it almost seems too, ahem, tasty and delightful to be truly low in calories. Indeed, one vintage episode of Seinfeld even revolved around that very fear, with the action centering on a thinly veiled stand-in for Tasti D-Lite and a pint of the suspect confection being surreptitiously spirited to a lab for fat testing. No doubt cynical locals are contemplating much the same trial for Tasti D-Lite's divine French Vanilla. In the meantime, mmmmm.

BEST FISH SANDWICH

Jumbo's Restaurant

BEST FISH SANDWICH Jumbo's Restaurant 7501 NW Seventh Avenue

Miami

305-751-1127 It's sweet that Jumbo's turned 50 this year, and noteworthy that it was one of the first Miami restaurants to integrate, but excuse us for being more impressed with the golden fried fish sandwich than any golden anniversary celebrations. This 24-hour Liberty City soul food diner fries up bountiful platters of chicken, shrimp, and all sorts of battered delights, and red-state sides like biscuits, gravy, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. All well and fine, but the crackly battered and fried whiting, a delicate, low-fat, white-fleshed relative of cod, is a revelation when plunked into a soft dinner roll -- and it's a complete lunch or dinner when sided with Jumbo's steamy-hot fries or signature homemade coleslaw. The fried fish sandwich is $4.74, and a dollar more for your choice of side. No extra charge for neon lights, yellowed menu signs, or the gloriously distinctive aroma of grease that only a true fry-joint can impart.

BEST FISH SANDWICH

Jumbo's Restaurant

BEST FISH SANDWICH Jumbo's Restaurant 7501 NW Seventh Avenue

Miami

305-751-1127 It's sweet that Jumbo's turned 50 this year, and noteworthy that it was one of the first Miami restaurants to integrate, but excuse us for being more impressed with the golden fried fish sandwich than any golden anniversary celebrations. This 24-hour Liberty City soul food diner fries up bountiful platters of chicken, shrimp, and all sorts of battered delights, and red-state sides like biscuits, gravy, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. All well and fine, but the crackly battered and fried whiting, a delicate, low-fat, white-fleshed relative of cod, is a revelation when plunked into a soft dinner roll -- and it's a complete lunch or dinner when sided with Jumbo's steamy-hot fries or signature homemade coleslaw. The fried fish sandwich is $4.74, and a dollar more for your choice of side. No extra charge for neon lights, yellowed menu signs, or the gloriously distinctive aroma of grease that only a true fry-joint can impart.

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Pacific Time

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT Pacific Time 915 Lincoln Road

Miami Beach

305-534-5979 They are white, they are off-white, they are pink; some may be described as a pearly shade of gray. They come by boat from close by and are flown in from afar. More often than not they appear draped in fashionable Pacific Rim dress. They are always fresh but never ostentatious. They are tender, chewy, briny, and sweet. More specifically they are Pacific blue mussels with Rocky Mountain sake and lime leaves; tempura-crisped, ginger-stuffed whole yellowtail snapper from our local waters; fresh steamed Atlantic halibut with crushed tomatoes, lemon grass, fresh coriander, and sea vegetables; pink shrimp netted in the Keys and abetted on the plate with green curry, green bananas, coconut juice, and jasmine rice. To be even more precise, they are the fish of brilliant chef Jonathan Eismann's Pacific Time (far and away the best restaurant on Lincoln Road), and you won't find as diverse or impressively prepared an assemblage anywhere.

Readers´ Choice: Joe´s Stone Crab

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Pacific Time

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT Pacific Time 915 Lincoln Road

Miami Beach

305-534-5979 They are white, they are off-white, they are pink; some may be described as a pearly shade of gray. They come by boat from close by and are flown in from afar. More often than not they appear draped in fashionable Pacific Rim dress. They are always fresh but never ostentatious. They are tender, chewy, briny, and sweet. More specifically they are Pacific blue mussels with Rocky Mountain sake and lime leaves; tempura-crisped, ginger-stuffed whole yellowtail snapper from our local waters; fresh steamed Atlantic halibut with crushed tomatoes, lemon grass, fresh coriander, and sea vegetables; pink shrimp netted in the Keys and abetted on the plate with green curry, green bananas, coconut juice, and jasmine rice. To be even more precise, they are the fish of brilliant chef Jonathan Eismann's Pacific Time (far and away the best restaurant on Lincoln Road), and you won't find as diverse or impressively prepared an assemblage anywhere.

Readers´ Choice: Joe´s Stone Crab

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Best Of Miami®

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