In case you've been living under a rock the last few days, we want to spread the good news: Best of Miami 2013 is out.
That means that in newsstands all over Miami-Dade County, you have Miami Bibles to pick up. Think of them as the ultimate guide to eating your way through the city.
No need to share -- there's plenty for everyone.
But if you haven't picked up a copy yet, allow our guide to show you a great time with a Best of Miami edition.
It doesn't get better than this.
Lets face it: There's no party in your mouth unless you've got some chicharron going on in there. And the weekend is all about letting loose and having fun, right? Right. But we're not talking about the kind of fun that leaves you blacked out in some abandoned alley on Washington Avenue. Those questionable people lurking around? Yeah, that's not part of our plan. Back track a bit to the morning's breakfast. Did you head over to Palacio de Los Jugos? Did you [painfully] avoid the hot food counter and wander into the tiendita inside? Did you get a waft of the bacalao? Ay, hopefully they put it out already, and you weren't wafting yourself. Que pena. Anyway, did you take a tour through the juice menu ($2 each)? Pineapple, sapodilla, guarapo... what looked good? Did you sit down on the little banquitos and eat your chicharron ($9.99 per pound) like a 6 year-old happy camper at Disney? If you answered 'no' to any of these questions, you're doing a Miami breakfast wrong.
Breakfast was heavy -- but who could blame you? Time to lighten things up. On the west side of i95, in the blurred realm between Brickell and Coral Gables lies a spacious-yet-cluttered grocery store and bakery filled with treasures from Syria, Greece, and Armenia. Not the kind of treasures that could be cashed in for money -- we mean the edible kind. Wander through the aisle of pastel-colored Jordan almonds and ground spices and arrive at the hot food case. At Oriental Bakery & Grocery Co., there are a few tables in front of the coolers that hold spanakopita and other goodies. At the counter, you'll find dolma (beef wrapped in grape leaves), baba ghannouj, hummus, and a case of fresh falafel. The falafel sandwich ($4.50), made with tahini, cucumbers, tomato, is wrapped in house-made pita bread. It makes a fine lunch. A fine lunch indeed.
