Kim
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We love, Ghee. But, our go to is LAN. They are under Target near Dadeland. It's quick, with easy parking and my girls are vegetarians and it's easy for them to find food they love. It's easy for the rest of us too, who are not vegetarians. Ghee is good for a special occasion. I also like Seasons 52. I know it's a big chain, but it has a nice feeling. There's a middle eastern place in the Royal Palm Hotel, at the end of Lincoln road, called Byblos that transported me. We went for Miami Spice.
Gretchen
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I love Ghee. I think Niven is doing Indian food like nobody else in this country. And the fact that he's growing much of it is just so special. We went to the opening of Salumeria 104's second location. They've had one in Midtown for a few years. It's very Italian, and it's reasonable. You can get three different kinds of prosciutto. It's just terrific.
Leticia
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I still find myself at the Bar at Michael’s Genuine occasionally. When they have it, I like the wood-oven roasted eggplant with tahini. When they have simple vegetable soups at lunch, I really enjoy it too- broth and veggies. Whisk Gourmet when I’m craving a 3-D, satisfying sandwich. Chef Brendan makes the best ones in town. He and his sister Kirsten are really special people, and that makes everything taste even better.
Alex And Danielle
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Alex: We like Asian and Japanese in particular, Matsuri is our go to for sushi. Also, Wabi Sabi, which is a little bit more north, closer to my office, is not very well known but has great Japanese. Danielle: For Italian, I like Sapore Di Mare in Coconut grove and Kyu in Wynwood for Asian, and Mandolin for Greek.
Jim
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We've been enjoying Bonefish Grill. They've been doing great takeout deals. The baja shrimp tacos are awesome. And, Sushi Sake in the Redlands. And then on the weekends, coming to the drive through. The smoothies are so good. And you know, everybody's cooped up at home with nothing to do. Going to get a smoothie is a good outing, and you don't have to get out of the car. That's awesome.
Tora
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I'm always looking through your newsletters for places. I've found a bunch of restaurants, that I didn't know about, that were really interesting, and I've tried everybody's suggestions!
David
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
That list is supremely long. Do we go geographically...alphabetically? My buddy Niven, just opened up (Mamey) a new spot in Coral Gables. The food looks great, but I haven't been yet. The guys that Bar Lab cocktails opened up their natural wine popup on South beach, and it looks amazing. I still haven't gotten my hands on one of those pizzas that Brad and Old Greg's are doing in the Design District. I really miss the eating the ceviche at Itamae on an everyday basis. I still get my share of my EL Bagels - that's like my essential breakfast and brunch item. I still eat a ton of Stanzione's pizzas. I had an amazing lobster roll from Justin Flit and Mike Beltran at Nave. They're doing a New England style clam shack menu on the weekends. Aaron Brooks is doing a pop up at Stanzione 87. It's like a Turkish inspired pide and lahmacun. Aaron is supremely underrated. His food is incredible. One of the silver linings of the pandemic is all the creativity that's coming out of it. I've also had some random homemade things. There's a nice girl, that I met through the Miami food community, that's making homemade Armenian food every weekend. People are signing up and she's selling out every weekend. Her name is The Spicy Dolma. The guys from Kyu, Chef Raheem and his crew, are doing amazing barbecue right out of their front yard. It's impossible to list everyone. Jaguar Sun is doing amazing things right now in Little River. People are finding ways to survive. They're finding ways to thrive. They're finding ways to support their teams and to support their families. All of that is really amazing.
Denise
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I love St Roch Food Hall in the Design District. I love Vietnamese noodle soup, and there's a stand with great pho and bahn mi sandwiches. And then, there's an Israeli street food place across the way from them that has this great whole roasted cauliflower with amazing dipping sauces. And then, there is another seafood place there with a fantastic mahi-mahi sandwich with shaved fennel. One of my favorites is Michael's Genuine. It's old school, but so far I haven't found anything to replace it. Michael is a really nice guy. They also have a roasted cauliflower dish with a parsley sauce that is amazing.
ANDREA
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Steve and I have been going down, on Sunday afternoon around three o'clock, to Key Largo and watching the sunset at the Marriott, and eating dinner outside on one of the outdoor patios. We've been eating at Snook's a lot. You're far from everybody and it feels very safe. It's all outside, right on the water. That's a really great thing to do.
Joel
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I can speak about breweries. When I first moved to Miami, Lincoln's Beard had this thing called recess, which was meant for parents of young children to come and hang out and have beers. It's a super good vibe, really mellow place. After that, Unseen Creatures, which is in the same area. They're focused on almost terroir level yeasts and other things to produce their beers. It's just spectacular and I totally love their stuff. The other one would be Tripping Animals. It's a little further afield. I will take a pilgrimage, at least once a week to one of these, to buy our stock of beer.