Best Spa 2009 | Nouvelle Day Spa | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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Best Spa

Nouvelle Day Spa

Sure, there are plenty of fancy-pants spas in town, but with the recession threatening to crater the world as we know it, we've got to keep our splurges within reason. And there's no better place for working girls looking to indulge in an orgy of hedonistic excess than this soothing health retreat. It's a full day's pampering fit for a queen. Nouvelle offers services ranging from facials to manicures, pedicures, massages, and exotic spa packages anyone can afford. Need to tighten your sagging skin for wedding photos? Check out Nouvelle's strong herbal peel, using a custom blend of proteins, silicates, sea salt, and calcium guaranteed to knock years off of that weary mug.

Best Laser Eye Center

The Laser Center of Coral Gables

Staffed by doctors Albert Aran and Adam Stelzer, two of Florida's finest eye surgeons, this über-friendly, state-of-the-art practice will tweak your peepers into 20/20 perfection in super-fast time. Thousands of their clients, who have ditched their contacts and eyeglasses to become free of their Mr. Magoo-like fumbling, swear by these guys. The procedure is quick, uncomplicated, and painless, and the center offers free consultations. Best of all, you can charge the procedure on a credit card, be out in a flash, and even claim the surgery as a deductible when you file that income tax.

Best Wine Store

Bin No. 18

Courtesy of Bin No. 18

Overzealous lovers of vodkas and gins and cognacs are called alcoholics no matter which way you slice it, but wine lovers' affection for their potion is so severe they have their own cute little moniker: wino. These grape-loving creatures roam the Earth searching for a vine from the right place at the right time. They twirl wine glasses, looking at legs and sniffing the head. They let the juice coat their tongues and, finally, let it trickle down their throats. Mmmmm. Bin No. 18 is an enophile's dream. A cadre of more than 50 varieties of wine (priced $24 to $110) from across the globe lines the right wall of the restaurant, begging you to try a flight for lunch or six for dinner. Merlot maniacs and Riesling rioters alike can choose their poison from a list that categorizes by Lean and Racy, Stylish and Palatable, or Elegant and Round. Or you could lay back and be a lush while one of the waiters chooses the best grape to pair with your dinner of eight-ounce Angus New York strip or filet mignon. You can try the Verdejo from Spain or a Sangiovese from Italy, and you won't even need your passport. The icing on this drunken cake: The bottles are priced at up to 50 percent off retail, and this full-service bistro serves delicious food.

Best Liquor Delivery

M & B Liquors

It's 2 p.m. on a Tuesday and you're craving something stronger than the 2 percent milk in your fridge. You tell yourself a bit of Belvedere would be nice, a shot of Scotch even more proper, and a jigger of Jäger would be right on time. The problem? You're home alone, in a full body cast, and controlling everything around you with a long stick outfitted with a prosthetic hand. The solution? Call up M & B Liquors and have a bottle of your favorite spirits delivered to your bedside. Every type of firewater is fair game, from wine to beer, liquor, and a $1,799.99 bottle of Louis XIII. You may think that liquor delivery is excessive, but this is South Beach, baby, and nothing is too convenient. Have the kind folks at M & B bring your sauce to the beach, the pool, or your mom's house on Passover. As long as your location is in Miami Beach from First to 40th Street, consider yourself served.

Best Liquor Store

Mr. Liquors

This friendly Little Havana booze emporium is well stocked and open from 9 a.m. to midnight year-round. Locals often gather at the counter for a complimentary shot of the weekly "specials" and to help Guillermo, the owner, with his crossword and jigsaw puzzles while arguing for hours on end about Hugo Chávez and his new chum Obama.

Best Botanica

Brave Guede Botanica

Brave Guede has everything from voodoo dolls and the pins to prick them to herbal flu and impotence remedies, but the highlight of this mystical one-stop in the heart of Little Haiti is the vast behind-the-counter collection of oils. Tiny $5 vials of seemingly innocuous liquid are labeled "Quick Money" or "Destroy Everything," and resident priestess Marie warns that those stated powers are not to be scoffed at. Rub some of the former on your hands before a trip to an Indian casino — and the latter before dinner at the in-laws' house. There are bath gels too; with names like "Jinx Remover" and "Success Bath," these potions will make your body a temple impenetrable to evil spirits.

Best Plant Nursery

Log Cabin Nursery

There's no shortage of plant nurseries in our subtropical clime, but something besides its excellent selection and reasonable prices puts Miami Beach's Log Cabin Nursery at the top of its category. The pleasant one-block complex features an open-air garden ringing the center cabin. It's also a nonprofit organization that trains and employs the developmentally disabled. An on-site "coach" helps adults through the everyday rigors and hurdles of independent living, from finding an apartment to keeping up with monthly bills and shopping for oneself. So while the plant you buy might not appreciate your purchase — you really think you're going to remember to water that azalea? — the people who sell it to you do.

Best Green Store

Imagine Gifts

Unlike skinny jeans and nerd glasses, going green is a trend everyone can rock. We don't need to mention that each ounce of environmentally friendly living is like giving Mother Earth a great big hug — but we do hear she likes hugs. A store that's participating in some major PDA and selling goods to help you do the same is Imagine Gifts. This Midtown Miami shop is a haven for organic, recycled, all-natural, and eco-friendly items from wrapping paper to jewelry. The bright, candy-colored gem of a store supports companies that are either locally owned, charitable, or pay fair-trade wages, so your overspending will always be guilt-free.

Best Pawn Shop

Cash Inn of 79th Street

Peddle your late abuela's sterling flatware set or live by candlelight until the end of the month? To us, that decision is an easy one. With South Florida's economy about as vibrant as Kimbo Slice's fighting career, sentimentality has become an unaffordable luxury. Pawn shops are paying less for merchandise these days, but well-equipped ones such as the heavily bulletproofed Cash Inn of 79th Street — located in North Miami's unofficial Consignment District, a mile-radius area cluttered with nearly a dozen pawn shops — will still buy anything you bring in, stockpiling for a better economy. And if you're a consumer (a mythical creature at this point), now is the best time to do some vulture-shopping at Cash Inn. Buy a Cartier watch, a big-screen plasma TV set, and one of those riding lawn mowers. Then wager the thousands you won from the blackjack tables at Seminole Hard Rock. Trust us: It's a better investment than the stock market.

Best Gun Shop

Sunshine Air Guns and Collectibles

T.I. had to learn the hard way, but trust us when we tell you not to purchase your weaponry off the street. Sure, it'd be hard for a multiplatinum artist to fly under the radar when doing some illegal ish, but even Tom, Dick, and Harry can't be promised a smooth getaway. So where do you go to replenish your arsenal? Sunshine Air Guns and Collectibles has all of your rat-tat-tat needs covered. The shop specializes in new and vintage air guns of every design — whether you're in the mood for a Hunter Pro ($259.99) or a Baby Desert Eagle ($42), S A&C has what you need. Since 2001, owner Jorge A. Chavez has acquainted the Magic City with exotic weaponry, and some of the items in the store are from his own collection. "I started out in this business because I used to go to gun shows and people would always ask me if I was selling my pieces," Chavez explains. "Now, in addition to those, we also sell vintage guns that are very hard to find." This guy is a pro, so he can surely help you pick out a lil' NightStalker that won't knock you off of your feet with its recoil.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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