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Best Bike Shop

Broken Spoke Bicycles

If you're a yuppie, this may not be the place for you. It's not in hip South Beach. Not even in kinda-hip South Miami. It's on NW Seventh Avenue, in an area some might charitably call industrial. And hey, there's not a lot of Lycra here, but there is a 1973 Orange Crate stingray, which sells for $2200. Owner Chris Marshall has rented bikes to movie and television producers, including the hipsters who made There's Something About Mary. And Broken Spoke is one of Florida's oldest cycleries, having opened nearby in 1944; it's been in its present location since 1976. The store has a few road bikes and a solid collection of off-road models at decent prices. Marshall, who sponsors a team of off-road racers, was instrumental in setting up a cycling course in Oleta State Park, and he's advocating for another at Miami-Dade's Amelia Earhart Park. What's more important, Marshall fixes flats for kids who need help, just like neighborhood bike peddlers of yore. "We are a family shop," Marshall says emphatically.

Best Soccer Shop

Soccer Locker of Miami

This little warehouse has a large, knowledgeable staff and the best selection of gear in town. Balls include the phosphorescent yellow Diadora ($17) and the traffic-cone-orange Fila ($25); cleats range from a $38 pair of black-and-white Diadoras to the flashy $152 Puma Cellulators; Adidas and Umbro shin pads start at $15. What do you need to judge the joint besides the endorsement of Juan Carlos Michia, a loyal customer who happens to be the U.S. Soccer Federation's head scout in the United States? "They can help you with any product you want," raves Michia, a native of Argentina who played pro ball in the United States. As any soccer mom knows, fútbol-mania extends far beyond the field. Store hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. This giant locker for all things soccer is closed Sunday.

Best Liquor Store

Fox's Sherron Inn walk-up window

It's late. You're home alone, and that Coke you're sipping just isn't cutting it. Definitely needs to be jacked up. You need a hit of the hard stuff. But you're out of whisky and worse, out of cash. Those not-so-convenient drugstore liquor emporiums shuttered their doors hours ago. What to do? Get on the horn and hit your friends up for free booze? Go to a bar, start a tab, and guzzle a few alone? We think not. Take a stroll over to Fox's handy-dandy walk-up window. The dark bar may have the illicit feel of a speakeasy. The well-lighted window, open until 2:00 a.m. daily, is a different story altogether. The friendly attendant won't mind answering incessant questions about what size bottle is the best deal for your money, and trust us, you'll have a variety of sizes and brands from which to choose. Pick your potion, hand over your credit card, and in no time at all you'll be toting home the toxin of your choice in a lovely brown paper bag, you lush!

Best Toy Store

Dr. Einstein's Science Store

Have you been searching for a gem-hunter's kit? A solar-powered model biplane? An ant factory, a hand-held metal detector, or ingredients to brew your own root beer? You have? Then breathe easy. Dr. Einstein has blown into town. Or rather his namesake, this toy store, has arrived. With a terrific selection of scientific, ecological, and mathematical games and experiments, Dr. Einstein's ranks as a good idea that borders on genius. Of course the shop's location in Miami's hookerville is a little weird, but it beats all those other mall-rat-infested stores and toy shops in the area. And there's more to attract you to this place than just the educational fun a kid can have assembling his own robot. You won't find Tickle Me Elmos or Furbies, or even Teletubbies. Take that, Tinky Winky.

Best Asian Grocery

PK Oriental Mart

When Norman Wong left Hong Kong twelve years ago, he moved to Miami "because," as he says, "somebody's got to live there." He founded PK in 1994 and has worked hard to build the market's reputation as one of the most reliable sources of East Asian foods in South Florida. The store has a down-home, middle-America feel, with no trace of the religious paraphernalia, sexy videos, or raggedy clutter that tends to show up in smaller, mom-and-pop specialty stores. Instead you'll find well-scrubbed aisles, a sweet smelling fish market, and a dandy supply of the goodies that a wok-wielding cook will need to stir some of the multitudinous styles of Asian grub at home: hot chili oil, live blue eels, Florida farm-grown Chinese vegetables, ya pears flown in fresh from China, and -- our favorite -- the best brands of frozen dumplings imported all the way from Brooklyn.

Best Place To Buy A Bonsai

Miami Tropical Bonsai

Imagine a delightful forest of hundreds of varieties of tropical and subtropical trees. There are old-growth hardwoods, including a 600-year-old bald cypress, its snarled trunk dappled with green moss. Nearby are rare Florida native species like lysiloma, also known as wild tamarind, and lignum vitae, nicknamed iron wood for its strength. Color is added by flowering bougainvillea and the white petals of Suriname cherry. Now imagine this forest in miniature, and you have Miami Tropical Bonsai. More than 10,000 trees, many of them from Asia, spread out over five acres in this family-run grove. Classes on bonsai styling and care are offered for experts and novices. Tree prices range from an affordable $15 to thousands of dollars. A small manmade pond with a waterfall at the entrance underscores that the art of bonsai is the patient cultivation of beauty in nature.

Best Place To Buy Haitian Music

Boujoly Music & Communications

Can't tell your compas from your rara? Wondering what the difference is between the groups T-Vice and Top Vice? Are you dying to explore the world of Haitian music but don't have the foggiest clue where to jump in? Proceed to Boujoly, which boasts a wonderful selection of Haitian CDs (as well as the latest flyers announcing all those local shows that never seem to make it into the above-ground media) as well as a staff that's more than happy to help introduce neophytes to the pleasures of the island nation's sumptuous rhythms. Don't be afraid to ask for their personal recommendations. Just allow the employees to argue with one another over their faves. Tabou Combo's 1969 debut was a unanimous pick in the classic category when New Times visited. But the merits of current top dog Sweet Mickey were still being hotly debated as we headed for our car, gleefully cradling a stack of purchases.

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 Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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