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BEST SUSHI

Siam River

BEST SUSHI Siam River 3455 NE 163rd St

North Miami Beach

305-945-8079 In a town where sushi is served everywhere, from normal Japanese restaurants to kosher tea rooms, it's hard to pick just one as the best. If it's fashionable elegance you're after, Bond Street and Nobu can't be beat. If you put your faith in native Japanese chefs, head for Matsuri or Sushi Deli at the Japanese Market in North Bay Village. And if you're looking for "white tuna," head anywhere but Siam River, where chef Kevin Cory, a sushi stickler, refuses to serve the unaccountably popular faux fish. (It's not tuna at all; most often it is escolar, a fish that causes an allergic reaction in many people.) What you will find at Cory's sushi bar (several years old but still something of an insider's secret owing to its location in an out-of-the-way Thai restaurant) is something hard-core sushi mavens most crave: our town's freshest seafood. Local catches of the day, straight from the docks at Haulover, were swimming just hours earlier; exotics are flown in fresh. What you'll never find here is frozen fish being passed off as fresh, an unethical practice all too common in Miami.

BEST BREAKFAST SPECIAL

Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop

BEST BREAKFAST SPECIAL Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop 186 NE 29th Street

Miami

305-573-4681 It's not just low prices that draw the morning crowd to Enriqueta's for breakfast each day, though $3.50 for fried or scrambled eggs, bacon or ham, Cuban toast, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a kick-ass café con leche is pretty tempting by itself. Equally alluring is the cool, communal coffee-shop cachet, with a rainbow coalition of blue- and white-collar workers congregating at the window counter with their cafés cubano, or seated at the indoor counter, or comfortably plunked into tables and booths. No-frills breakfast fare is fulfilling, service is speedy, and if you need to sharpen your basic Spanish skills, ordering breakfast here is a great way to do so.

BEST BREAKFAST SPECIAL

Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop

BEST BREAKFAST SPECIAL Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop 186 NE 29th Street

Miami

305-573-4681 It's not just low prices that draw the morning crowd to Enriqueta's for breakfast each day, though $3.50 for fried or scrambled eggs, bacon or ham, Cuban toast, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a kick-ass café con leche is pretty tempting by itself. Equally alluring is the cool, communal coffee-shop cachet, with a rainbow coalition of blue- and white-collar workers congregating at the window counter with their cafés cubano, or seated at the indoor counter, or comfortably plunked into tables and booths. No-frills breakfast fare is fulfilling, service is speedy, and if you need to sharpen your basic Spanish skills, ordering breakfast here is a great way to do so.

BEST PREPARED FOODS

Joe's Take-Away

BEST PREPARED FOODS Joe's Take-Away 11 Washington Avenue

Miami Beach

305-673-4611

www.joesstonecrab.com With lines perennially stretching outside of Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant, Joe's Take-Away next door has become known simply as "Joe's Without the Wait." Same impeccably fresh stone crab claws of all prices and sizes are sold here by the piece, and they come with the same famous mustard sauce -- as well as with a take-out bag of Joe's assorted rolls and breads. Accompaniments such as hash browns, coleslaw, and creamed spinach are on hand. Not feeling crabby? Tasty alternatives include an array of other warm entrées (fried chicken, lobster ravioli, crabcakes), numerous vegetable and pasta salads, and some of the best sandwiches around; we're partial to the oyster po'boy. A full coffee bar boosted with bodacious baked goods makes Joe's a neat place for cappuccino and signature key lime pie, which, like the food, can be packed up in minutes or enjoyed at counter seating by the front window. The location makes Joe's Take-Away convenient for the nautical set too, allowing them to stock the cabin with all manner of gastronomic necessities and luxuries.

BEST PREPARED FOODS

Joe's Take-Away

BEST PREPARED FOODS Joe's Take-Away 11 Washington Avenue

Miami Beach

305-673-4611

www.joesstonecrab.com With lines perennially stretching outside of Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant, Joe's Take-Away next door has become known simply as "Joe's Without the Wait." Same impeccably fresh stone crab claws of all prices and sizes are sold here by the piece, and they come with the same famous mustard sauce -- as well as with a take-out bag of Joe's assorted rolls and breads. Accompaniments such as hash browns, coleslaw, and creamed spinach are on hand. Not feeling crabby? Tasty alternatives include an array of other warm entrées (fried chicken, lobster ravioli, crabcakes), numerous vegetable and pasta salads, and some of the best sandwiches around; we're partial to the oyster po'boy. A full coffee bar boosted with bodacious baked goods makes Joe's a neat place for cappuccino and signature key lime pie, which, like the food, can be packed up in minutes or enjoyed at counter seating by the front window. The location makes Joe's Take-Away convenient for the nautical set too, allowing them to stock the cabin with all manner of gastronomic necessities and luxuries.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

North 110

BEST NEW RESTAURANT North 110 11052 Biscayne Boulevard

North Miami-Dade

305-893-4211 It's the nailing-down of a simple formula that makes North 110 better than the other notable new restaurants in town: great food plus great service. Chef Dewey LoSasso's New American cuisine is a clean presentation of local seasonal ingredients heightened with inspired and invigorating twists. The food can be clever, as in a glazed brùlée of goat cheese atop ripe red beefsteak tomatoes splashed with lychees and black peppercorns. It can be brilliant, like duck with figs, gorgonzola, and orange-lavender sauce. The flavors, though, are never cluttered or fussy. Prices are lower than other eateries of this caliber: Most appetizers are under $10, most entrées under $30. Dewey's wife Dale runs the front of the house with equal acumen. Her waitstaff is personable, professional, and wine-savvy -- though perhaps not as knowledgeable as Dale herself, who is a seasoned connoisseur and who'll be happy to take you on a wine flight if you'd like. If not, simply dining at North 110 should be enough to keep you floating on air.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

North 110

BEST NEW RESTAURANT North 110 11052 Biscayne Boulevard

North Miami-Dade

305-893-4211 It's the nailing-down of a simple formula that makes North 110 better than the other notable new restaurants in town: great food plus great service. Chef Dewey LoSasso's New American cuisine is a clean presentation of local seasonal ingredients heightened with inspired and invigorating twists. The food can be clever, as in a glazed brùlée of goat cheese atop ripe red beefsteak tomatoes splashed with lychees and black peppercorns. It can be brilliant, like duck with figs, gorgonzola, and orange-lavender sauce. The flavors, though, are never cluttered or fussy. Prices are lower than other eateries of this caliber: Most appetizers are under $10, most entrées under $30. Dewey's wife Dale runs the front of the house with equal acumen. Her waitstaff is personable, professional, and wine-savvy -- though perhaps not as knowledgeable as Dale herself, who is a seasoned connoisseur and who'll be happy to take you on a wine flight if you'd like. If not, simply dining at North 110 should be enough to keep you floating on air.

BEST TAPAS

Salero

BEST TAPAS Salero 1000 S. Miami Avenue

Miami

305-371-3473

www.mosaicorestaurant.com Contrary to popular belief, the word tapa does not translate to "small snack" or "little bite," but rather it means "lid." The story starts in the mid-Nineteenth Century, when barkeepers in Andalusia and other warm regions of Spain would protect slender glasses of poured sherry against dust and insects by covering them with a piece of bread, cheese, sausage, or ham. Customers would satisfy their mid-afternoon hunger by eating the salty morsels on top of their glasses, which in turn made them want to drink more. It wasn't long before tapas became an attraction themselves, which they remain to this day in cafés and bars stretching from Seville to South Florida. A choice spot to enjoy them in the latter area would be Salero, the tapas-café-bar situated in the Firehouse Four building, right below its more formal sister from Spain, Mosaico. The setting is breezy, stylish, and relaxed (although crowded on weeknights, owing to its proximity to downtown). A fresh assortment of traditional hot and cold tapas is offered for between $2.50 and $5.00 per plate. Fried Camembert, tuna empanada, and a cazuelita of chorizo cooked in cider would be a nice warm trio to start with, contrasted by a chilled trilogy of white anchovies in vinegar, Serrano ham, and salted Spanish almonds. Most important, a fine selection of Spanish wines and a savvy menu of wine flights allow for pairing tapas with appropriate grapes -- which, remember, was the whole idea in the first place.

BEST TAPAS

Salero

BEST TAPAS Salero 1000 S. Miami Avenue

Miami

305-371-3473

www.mosaicorestaurant.com Contrary to popular belief, the word tapa does not translate to "small snack" or "little bite," but rather it means "lid." The story starts in the mid-Nineteenth Century, when barkeepers in Andalusia and other warm regions of Spain would protect slender glasses of poured sherry against dust and insects by covering them with a piece of bread, cheese, sausage, or ham. Customers would satisfy their mid-afternoon hunger by eating the salty morsels on top of their glasses, which in turn made them want to drink more. It wasn't long before tapas became an attraction themselves, which they remain to this day in cafés and bars stretching from Seville to South Florida. A choice spot to enjoy them in the latter area would be Salero, the tapas-café-bar situated in the Firehouse Four building, right below its more formal sister from Spain, Mosaico. The setting is breezy, stylish, and relaxed (although crowded on weeknights, owing to its proximity to downtown). A fresh assortment of traditional hot and cold tapas is offered for between $2.50 and $5.00 per plate. Fried Camembert, tuna empanada, and a cazuelita of chorizo cooked in cider would be a nice warm trio to start with, contrasted by a chilled trilogy of white anchovies in vinegar, Serrano ham, and salted Spanish almonds. Most important, a fine selection of Spanish wines and a savvy menu of wine flights allow for pairing tapas with appropriate grapes -- which, remember, was the whole idea in the first place.

BEST RESTAURANT FOR SOUTH MIAMI-DADE CHATTER

Capri Restaurant

BEST RESTAURANT FOR SOUTH MIAMI-DADE CHATTER Capri Restaurant 935 N. Krome Avenue

Florida City

305-247-1542

www.the-capri.com Capri, opened by Richard Accursio and family in 1958, offers good, solid Italian-American fare, including various pastas, steak and prime rib, and a number of seafood dishes. Now run by son James, it's also a great listening post for the current affairs and intrigues of life in Florida City and Homestead. Crowds from the racetrack sit elbow to elbow with the farmers, bankers, real estate agents, and politicians who make up the regular clientele. For instance, the current mayor of Florida City, Otis Wallace, worked at Capri as a dishwasher when he was a boy, and he can still be found there hobnobbing with the locals. Lunch 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; dinner 4:00 p.m. till closing. Closed Sundays.

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