Best Secondhand Store 2009 | Give Good Works | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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Best Secondhand Store

Give Good Works

Give Good Works / India Amos

A brief dissertation on the ethics of consumerism during the current depression: Proposition #1: Reject high-volume manufacturing. An object's quality generally lies in inverse proportion to its availability. While this is not necessarily true of simple items (ketchup, pencils, lubricants), it becomes more and more true as the object's construction increases in difficulty (hamburgers, computers, battery-powered sex toys). Proposition #2: High volume necessitates low wages, which in turn leads to overseas production and executive compensation structure based strictly on growth in profit margins, which in turn leads to vanity license plates, niche prostitution, and a general increase in douchebag behavior across all segments of the population. Proposition #3: Douchebag-like behavior leads to corporate malfeasance. White-collar crime and nondiscretionary spending on the triumvirate of skin exfoliation, béarnaise sauce, and Asian-style massage have a one-to-one relationship. Proposition #4: Proliferation of thrift stores curbs douchebaggyness. Based on a philosophy of reuse and inherent worth, thrift has at its essence an ontological resistance to douchebags. The growth of one necessarily means the reduction of the other. Proposition #5: Give Good Works is an excellent location for thrift shopping, owing to its commitment to high turnover of product, its 501(c)(3) status, and its friendly and helpful staff. Conclusion: Supporting Give Good Works reduces the number of accidental deaths due to battery-powered sex toy malfunction.

Best Flea Market

Opa-locka/Hialeah Flea Market

This sprawling, 900-vendor emporium, easily spotted from the Gratigny Expressway for its industrial-yellow mosque-like domes, is a place where empires of dust, disarray, and copyright infringement are bought and sold for the price of a few wrinkled bills. Come with $40 and leave with an artificial-wood-and-leather steering wheel cover, an unlicensed Dwyane Wade jersey, a cockfighting hat, six tropical fish, a parrot, and $1.50 left over. It's the only place in South Florida where you might go for an oil change and leave with a used refrigerator. A word of advice: Spring for the dollar parking if you're female or shopping with one. The free lot requires a trudge through the mechanics' alley on the flea market's outskirts, which doubles as an "¡Oye, mami!" gauntlet.

Best Place for DJs to Buy Vinyl

Uncle Sam's Music

The past decade has been nasty to brick-and-mortar record stores. Almost every week, there has been news of yet another great music shop closing up. That's why it's so refreshing to know Miami Beach's Uncle Sam's is still thriving. In business since 1984, the place remains the sweet spot for local and international DJs and music producers. The selection covers everything on the dance charts — hip-hop, house, and techno. Even better, the staff takes special orders for any of your vinyl needs. With a recently added and well-stocked used vinyl section (prices range from $5 to $10 dollars), Uncle Sam's remains the essential place for dance vinyl crate-digging.

Best Musical Instrument Store

Sim Music

Big-box music stores are all right, but sometimes it pays to venture into the unknown, and for musicians, the right place to set out to is North Miami's Sim Music. This neighborhood institution has three floors of new and used merchandise; from DJ equipment to amps and guitars, this place has the coolest selection of new gear. With a couple of hours to spend, you might find a used Technics SL for $300 as well as brand-new guitars and amps under the $200 mark. The staff is not only well informed but also friendly, meaning you'll get plenty of knowledge on that new purchase.

Best Bookstore

Books & Books

For a town that has produced a substantial stable of top-shelf writers, it's surprising there are so few bookstores in the Magic City to pay them homage. There's a Barnes & Noble here and there, but as far as independent, funky, uniquely Miami booksellers, we have only a handful of options. That said, Books & Books does what any locally owned bookstore should do, and it does it well. No, the selection doesn't stack up to those of national chains, but the shop does an excellent job of showcasing lesser-known works, and what's more, it has fostered a community of readers through its book clubs and author lecture series. There are three locations in Miami-Dade, but this year we're celebrating the new and improved Lincoln Road spot. Forced out of his storefront location by rising rents, owner Mitchell Kaplan made the best of it and actually increased the size of his café and the amount of space he can give to books when he moved to a new location (a courtyard behind his former spot). The restaurant is one of the best inexpensive places to eat on Lincoln Road, and the bookstore is pretty much the only place in Miami Beach where you can find a decent read.

Best Place to Get Free Wi-Fi

The Bookstore in the Grove

The time will come when charging for wi-fi will seem as ridiculous as charging for air, yet there are still many places that will take your Hamilton if you want to check your email or watch the latest YouTube video of a cat balancing a sardine can on its nose in a hot-air balloon. Because you can't wait till you get home to watch it. We know and we understand, but damn it, don't we deserve a comfortable spot to watch that crazy cat for free? The Bookstore in the Grove is famous for being just about the only decent bookstore in the City of Miami limits, but it's also a bastion of free wi-fi. Comfortable seats, cool air, available outlets, and café cuisine that's better than the food at most of those places that end up charging you for wi-fi anyway.

Best Foreign Video Rentals

Lion Video Foreign Films

Take one: A teenage boy pursues his masochistic piano teacher (The Piano Teacher). Take two: A dying Spanish fisherman fights to legalize euthanasia (The Sea Inside). Take three: A child sells himself on the streets of Brazil (Pixote). Doesn't sound like the plot of Hollywood's latest blockbuster? That's because they're all foreign-made films stocked at Lion Video, where 80,000 of the world's most brilliant and obscure movies are categorized according to country. Shot on seven continents, films are offered with both Spanish and English subtitles in a multitude of genres including documentary, comedy, gay/lesbian, and American independent. Some are imported and converted to multiregion DVD, making even the hardest-to-find niche films accessible. For lovers of the local scene, Lion also carries the widest selection in the county from the Miami International Film Festival. It's $4 for a five-day rental, and every fourth video is free. And that's a wrap.

Best Bollywood Style

Bhoom Shanti

Miami's Indian population has slim pickings when it comes to restaurants and even slimmer pickings when it comes to authentic fashion and home décor. That's why Biscayne Boulevard's Bhoom Shanti is a mini-mecca for expats and India-philes — a riotous explosion of ornate fabrics, dazzling jewelry, and heavily carved furniture housed in the corner storefront of an otherwise vanilla mixed-commercial strip mall. There are enough saris, salwars, wraps, and dresses here to clothe the cast of a Bollywood musical. And now that Slumdog Millionaire is the hottest film of the year, we've noticed more and more curious Westerners checking out stores in the quiet strip mall, seeking bindis and anklets of their own.

During special events, Bhoom Shanti brings its culture to ornate, intoxicating life. Stop by the store to sign up for the mailing list, and the ladies of Bhoom Shanti shall keep you abreast of the monthly happenings. On those enchanting evenings, Indian music resounds, the family and friends of the store's owners emerge, and you can even get your eyebrows threaded by a steady-handed expert for a mere $5. Score!

Best Asian Market

Japanese Market Inc.

There's an old proverb that goes, "First the man takes a drink; then the drink takes the man." Whatever. At Japanese Market — a tiny stop-and-shop with a fresh, by-the-roll sushi counter — sometimes the drink is the whole point. With more than 50 brands of hot and cold sake ranging from $4 to $74 to choose from, you can pluck chilled sake from the fridge and drink at the counter while you munch a spicy tuna roll. The place is set up like an old-fashioned drugstore, except with an emphasis on food. It specializes in ingredients from Japan, such as fish sauce and canned curry. Looking for something sweet? Try the Pocky. It's a biscuit stick coated with chocolate, green tea, mint, or mango for $2 to $3. Or opt for Hi-chew, a fruity Starburst-like candy that comes wrapped in wax paper for $2. The saying should go, "First the man takes a drink; then the man takes a bite." Mmmm.

Best Place to Buy Gourmet Goodies at 4 a.m.

Compass Market

Late-night food runs on South Beach usually mean pizza pies or greasy (yet delicious) tacos. Sure, it's fun to stumble out of the club and end up at 7-Eleven, stuffing footlong hot dogs down your gullet, but you could hit Compass Market for gourmet goodies that are worthy of A-list munchies moments. Got two gallons of tequila in your stomach? Hit the refrigerated case for ready-to-eat empanadas, wraps, panini, and ceviche. Sometimes food is the last thing on your mind, so the cases of Izze natural beverages and juices will help replenish the electrolytes you lost in that bottomless glass of gin, and a bottle of Perrier-Jouët bubbly has "hair of the dog" written all over it. Snacks and sundries. Papaya and arugula. Grab a pack of fresh-roasted gourmet java straight from the Keys to your coffeemaker and your hangover. The wall of cigarettes, cigars, and, um, rolling papers means your club-worthy lung destruction doesn't have to end. Ever.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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