Rincon Escondido Café

This teeny, tiny little Spanish outpost in Edgewater earns its moniker (Rincon Escondido, roughly translated, means secret corner). Tucked away in a strip mall, they serve up tasty tapas and Spanish wine at budget-friendly prices. From various montaditos to tortilla Dde patatas to jam

Cantina Beach

Why travel to a luxury resort in Mexico when you can experience authentic cuisine and vacation-like ambiance in Key Biscayne? At the Ritz-Carlton’s Cantina Beach, you’ll find an open-air, poolside dining room. Don’t overdo it at the addictive guacamole station. Save room for inventive menu additions such as tostadas de cochinita pibil, made from delicately […]

Casa Juancho

One of the very first Spanish restaurants — and longest-standing — in the Magic City, Casa Juancho has a reputation that precedes itself. Large parties and families gather here for graduations, birthdays, and anything else worth celebrating. And why wouldn’t they? Guitarists serenade guests with old-school Spanish tunes inside this cozy restaurant, which feels authentically […]

Casa Lario’s

Though Casa Larios’ claim to celebrity fame is that Gloria Estefan launched her career here, the real draws are the close-to-homemade Cuban staples. Dishes include ample servings of fried pork, roast chicken, and rice and beans. The moist, sweet plantains are actually better than many an abuelita’s home cooking. (But don’t tell her!) Regulars like […]

Casa Vieja Restaurant & Bar

Casa Vieja is a spacious community gathering spot for Kendall’s sizeable Colombian population — politicians have campaigned there, many a large family birthday party has been celebrated in the space, and local cumbia acts have partied the night away on the large stage. The interior is designed to look like, well, a casa vieja. The […]

Catch Grill and Bar

Though Catch Grill and Bar is located inside the Marriott Hotel on Biscayne Bay, it is so much more than the dark ho-tel bar of our collective imaginations. Catch’s decor mixes river rocks, shim-mering tiles, and wood to create the sen-sation of being under the sea. A huge outdoor seating area is a wonderful place […]

Chef Chen Chinese Restaurant

Miami’s not exactly a bastion of quality Chinese cuisine, but it is possible to sniff out fresh, inexpensive Asian eats if you know where to look. Chef Chen’s two Palmetto Bay locations are known for crab rangoon, fried rice and egg foo young – along with all the other Chinese takeout stand-bys. Just your basic […]

Chef Chen Chinese Restaurant

Miami’s not exactly a bastion of quality Chinese cuisine, but it is possible to sniff out fresh, inexpensive Asian eats if you know where to look. Chef Chen’s two Palmetto Bay locales are known for crab rangoon, fried rice and egg foo young – along with all the other Chinese takeout stand-bys. Just your basic […]

Chez Madame Johns Restaurant

Madame John used to cook and sell griot (Haitian-style fried pork) out of her Little Haiti home. Her griot became so popular that at certain hours on weekends, cars would clog the street and lines would spill outside. A few years ago, no doubt at the urging of customers and code-enforcement inspectors alike, the operation […]

The Chinese Restaurant

There’s no “bamboo,” “lotus,” “moon,” or “panda” necessary in the name of this beloved Kendall institution. This take-out restaurant, nestled in the Crossings shopping center, serves up is simple American Chinese carry-out classics that come hot and plentiful. Years of doing it right have earned this spot a small, suburban cult following. Try the honey […]

Choices Organic Caf

Even the most ravenous meat-eater has days when a T-bone or pulled pork feels like a little too much. On those days, do your body good with some eats from Choices Organic Caf

Cioppino

The ingredients do the talking at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne’s clean and classic Italian outpost with a modern twist. Raw fish junkies will melt for the Pacific Coast wild salmon crudo, visually pleasing in shades of pink and green, featuring delicate but generous slices that come nestled beside a manicured micro-herb salad drizzled with Sicilian […]

Cipriani Downtown Miami

During the Roaring Twenties in Venice, Italy, a bartender named Giuseppe Cipriani loaned a customer 10,000 lire (about $5,000) after hearing that the man, a wealthy Bostonian named Harry Pickering, was cut off from his fortune after his family found out he was drinking much of his money away. Sure, that was generous for a […]

CJ’s Crab Shack

Despite its location at the center of the tourist universe, CJ’s feels like a hole in the wall that you might find on a beach in Clearwater. The ambiance is perfect for unwinding; the outside has shell-adorned mirrors hanging from the walls while flat screens peep out from second floor windows. After sunset, tea-light lanterns […]

Clive’s Cafe

This is truly the hole-in-the-wall that has it all. Almost indistinguishable from the other storefronts along this part of North Miami Avenue, Clive’s makes its mark at the cozy counter set up with great Jamaican favorites like curry goat, oxtail, and cowfoot. With ample food packed on a $5.50 special this is a can’t-miss deal […]

Coco Gelato

Desire leads to desserts. Or at least that’s how Gustavo Sidelnik first began to make gelato. One day in Italy, Cupid pricked him hard with an arrow of amore when Sidelnik caught sight of a beautiful bombshell named Rosa lounging at the counter of her father’s gelateria. Dumbstruck, Sidelnik strolled in and begged the owner, […]

Coco Gelato

Desire leads to desserts. Or at least that’s how Gustavo Sidelnik first began to make gelato. One day in Italy, Cupid pricked him hard with an arrow of amore when Sidelnik caught sight of a beautiful bombshell named Rosa lounging at the counter of her father’s gelateria. Dumbstruck, Sidelnik strolled in and begged the owner, […]

The Commons

Tucked into a science lab and classroom building at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science on Virginia Key, this bar-cum-eatery began life as a cafeteria for students who might have cared more about describing the life cycle of Ocyurus chrysurus — that’s a yellowtail snapper to you — than eating […]