Best Comic-Book Store 2000 | A&M Comics and Books | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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Best Comic-Book Store

A&M Comics and Books

The reek of aging paper and incense that assails you upon entry is a tip-off this is no Magic: The Gathering-come-lately comics-and-collectibles joint. In fact A&M has been slaking the thinking nerd's thirst for all kinds of four-color pulp fiction since before Chris Claremont drew the X-Men. It took owners Jorge Perez and Richard Cortina years to accumulate the hillocks of trading cards, graphic novels, paperbacks, and model Millennium Falcons that teeter precariously on top of the rows of DC and Marvel back issues. Still, there is an order to the chaos. Although you may have to move aside a stack of She-Hulk action figures and a half-empty bottle of orange Fruitopia to get there, you eventually will locate that copy of Animal Man No. 26 -- the last Grant Morrison-penned issue. Whether you're into the gritty Spawn, the lyrical Sandman, the magical realist Love and Rockets, the campy Betty & Veronica, or the vampy Betty Pages, you'll find it here -- or the accommodating owners will order it for you.

Best Indoor Nursery

Motes Orchids

Two wandering academics, Mary from Britain and Martin from the States, met and married in Kosovo in 1976. Within a year they decided to move to South Florida and set up an orchid ranch. Just another typical South Florida story. Today the sight of thousands of orchids in one of the couple's several shady sheds is an overwhelming life experience; nothing can truly prepare an observer for the sensual onslaught of the speckled tangelo, the fire of Motes flamboyant, or the emotion created by dozens of other compelling breeds and hues. After more than twenty years in business, Mary and Martin primarily sell their own line of orchids, which has been cited by experts for fragrance, color, and frequency of bloom. The farm is open to the public one day per month and by appointment.

Best Record/CD Store

Blue Note Records

Much like the fabled jazz label from which it takes its name, Blue Note Records remains an easy reference point when seeking quality sound. Sure, other shops around town may dig a tad deeper into their chosen niches, but as a one-stop destination for all the music that truly matters, Blue Note reigns supreme. Indeed it's a testament to owner Bob Perry and his quest for inventorial breadth that Blue Note is three separate stores. The front room is devoted largely to R&B in all its historical permutations, from mint vinyl copies of Funkadelic's 1970 tweaked-out masterpiece Maggot Brain to the latest bass-flavor hip-hop CD from Juvenile. Mosey past a respectable blues section through a doorway into a second room, and you're in a guitar freak's paradise. Even better is the attendant staff, equally versed in the fine points of Eric Clapton-ology and Sonic Youth's postpunk squall. Finally there's the backroom, devoted to jazz in all its myriad forms, from Forties bebop to Sixties free jazz to contemporary honkers and blowers. True, you could probably hit the Internet and order many of these releases online, but what music fan would pass on the sheer joy of losing oneself amid all these great records?

Best Florist

Roses by Karla

A rose by any other name? Easy enough. Call Karla, Karla Dascal to be specific, the innovative designer behind aromatic floral arrangements such as Jungle Love, Jungle Passion, Papayas, Grapes, and Manzanas. Dascal might be better known in some circles as florist to the stars, because she has delivered blooms to Madonna, Steven Tyler, and Sylvester Stallone, to name a few. Dascal has even been quoted as saying, "Basically all of my clients are famous in one way or another." But we less-than-famous folks also can appreciate the blossoms she imports and puts together. Her petal-filled vases are almost decadent; they look and smell so good. When it began in 1993, Roses by Karla wasn't open to the public. It still isn't a store in the normal sense, though walk-ins are welcome. And Dascal is as selective as ever about whom she graces with her art. Dascal has a Website, so give her a shot; log on and tell her why you deserve roses.

Best Bird Shop

The Aviary

One begins to hear the birds at this South Miami-Dade wonder from the parking lot long before glimpsing a single brightly colored feather. Shielded by tall wooden fences and dense foliage is an exotic avian world full of amazing hues and wild calls. Among dozens of cages spread out over the immense shaded patio are white cockatoos with yellow spiked crowns, and deep-red macaws. Inside the store are even more birds and a nursery for hatchlings. There are yellow nape amazons, chattering lorries, lovebirds, finches, canaries, parakeets, and cockatiels, among others. Prices stretch from seven dollars to several thousand. And of course, because this is Miami-Dade County, one can find parrots that speak both English and Spanish. Best of all for conspicuous consumers, amid the feathered assemblage are dozens of accessories, including an enormous selection of bird toys, seed, and an astounding assortment of cages and perches.

Best Used Bookstore

Eutopia

Someone obviously forgot to explain to Eutopia's owners that Lincoln Road -- once the repository of charming funkiness and strolling artistes -- has been transformed into a generic strip mall. How else to explain the existence of this recently opened bookshop brimming with out-of-print treasures just steps from the Gap, Pottery Barn, and Banana Republic? Eutopia has a fiction section full of honest-to-gosh literature rather than the romance paperbacks that clog several other used bookstores around town. There's also a Florida nook, where you can snag hard-to-find copies of T.D. Allman's Miami, City of the Future, John Rothschild's hysterical local chronicle Up for Grabs, and even (now here's the perfect gift for the friend who already has everything) several bound volumes of congressional testimony about Fifties FBI investigations into commie subversion in the Magic City. While this last batch of tomes is unintentionally hilarious, with J. Edgar Hoover seeing red inside every retirement home, it's also precisely the kind of historical curio that makes browsing the shelves at Eutopia such a joy.

Best Place To Buy Vinyl

Yardbird Records (inside Esperanto Music)

For years Hallandale's Yardbird Records was a local fave for snagging rare vinyl treasures, making the shop's closing in late 1998 a sad day for the turntable set. With little fanfare however, Yardbird owner Michael Dean has renested behind the counter of the Beach's Esperanto Music. He's also taken over the backroom, filling it with his still-sprawling assortment of tough-to-find jazz, soul, outré Sixties folk, and Seventies prog-rock -- most at affordable prices. Don't be shy about pestering Dean for his recommendations; asking his opinion on an out-of-print Fred Neil album not long ago produced some fabulous tales of Coconut Grove late-night hippie madness back in the day, as well as the realization that Neil's bike actually was on the premises. Esperanto's heavily trafficked Lincoln Road locale means it's only a matter of time before some wealthy out-of-town record collector stumbles across this mother lode of vintage platters, and, after he picks up his jaw from the floor, simply writes out a check for the whole lot. So what are you waiting for?

Best Reason Not To Go To Cocowalk

Because it's there.

Best Hip-Hop Barbershop

The Back Way

An unlikely combination in an unlikely place. During the day this little storefront, wedged between an antique shop and a plumbing-supply store near the Miami-Coral Gables frontier, is mostly a haircut hangout. Nelson, an affable, experienced barber, dispenses 'dos and relationship advice, in both English and Spanish, to customers who recline in two barbers' chairs. DJ Flex Perez devotes one wall to baggy jeans and T-shirts the size of pup tents. Perez also oversees a rack of vinyl for party-spinning (heavy on rap and house), a few CDs, some caps, and some videos for sale. But the place's real genius lies in the crossmarketing. On his business cards, Perez emphasizes Nelson's scissors skillz, including "Fadez," "Caesars," and "Close Cuts." If you're kickin' it old-school, Nelson offers a half-price senior-citizen discount on weekdays -- five bucks.

Best Pawnshop

The Loan-ly Pawn

A John Deere lawn mower, a pair of K2 snow skis, used IBM computers, Madonna's Erotica CD, a metal folding bed, an antique Kodak camera, silver chains, Sony cordless telephones, a Huffy mountain bike, a pair of Pioneer stereo speakers, gold watches, a pneumatic hammer, a JVC car radio, a Panasonic video camera, used Nintendo video games, and best of all: no guns.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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