Xixón Spanish Restaurant

Whether you’re into almejas en salsa verde (steamed clams in green sauce), empanadas de atún (tuna empanadas), or gazpacho Andaluz (a spicy version of the classic chilled soup), Xixón Spanish Restaurant is one of the few places in Miami that serves northern Spanish fare. The restaurant opened in 2001 as a market but now includes a fine-dining establishment complete with a cellar that makes you feel as though you’ve been spirited off to wine country. The menu offers four kinds of paella, including an arroz con bogavante rife with shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, and Maine lobster. If you still have room for postre, an expansive dessert menu lists more than a dozen unique sweets, including a carpaccio de piña topped with house-made mint ice cream. New Normal: The market on the first floor of this two-story space has a deli counter serving fresh-carved jamón and an assortment of Spanish cheeses, which you can turn into a sandwich — not to mention Spanish staples you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in town, and a great selection of wines by the bottle.