Bekki
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We love Cafe Portofino. It's in the Marshals shopping center on 136th street. It's a nice Italian place and their food is always delicious and their service is great. I always get the Capellini Castegliano which is pasta with pink sauce and shrimp - and they know that. We also like to go to Sage by Chef's Kitchen, which is a great hole in the wall. The food is always delicious and Hector is great. Now, you can actually sit down and order. Maddie and I like to go there a lot. We also like A-Pizza Brooklyn. My son's favorite restaurant in the world is Five Guys, because he likes the burgers. We also like to stay home and cook. We like the new place, Fiola, in South Miami. It really pretty, quiet, and the food is really, really good. Their short rib ravioli is delicious.
Diane
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Truthfully, we don't like going to restaurants. I like the farmer's market because I like supporting local farmers and buying fruits and vegetables to cook with during the week. We make a lot of vegetables, salads, and greens. My husband and Hannah are also bread bakers.
Jose
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Cafe Bonjour Everything is good! The omelets, beef bourguignon, soups and bakery are superb!
Jessica
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We like Raw South like for a quick light lunch. We like Indian food, so we go to Ghee a lot. We like Glass and Vine, because the kids can play like alongside us at the park. And, we love Hillstone – it’s an oldie but a classic.
Rich
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Ghee, in Dadeland. We really try to stay veggie. Planta Queen in Coconut Grove is really good.
Dani
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Delirio which is also healthy place near me. I like to have breakfast there and support them. Also, Pita Pockets is one of my favorite Mediterranean restaurants. On Saturdays, the fresh market has started opening and you can go in with a mask. I love Kazumi on the Key. They have a sweet sushi roll called the Itchigo role. They don't even have it in the menu anymore, but they'll make it for you. It has strawberries, eel, crab, and shrimp. It's the perfect mixture of salty and sweet. I love Ayesha's Indian restaurant. They also have location in the Grove. Nearby, the River Oyster Bar has amazing food. And Stanzione 87 is my favorite pizza place.
Jacque
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I love Bangkok City on Bird Road - it is a tiny sushi restaurant. It's a small family restaurant and I always feel welcome there and they have such great sushi. I support Brewing Buddha cafe, the art house coffee shop. The owners are wonderful. I've actually run into them at the farmer's market before. Supporting small businesses seems more important now than ever.
Thaddeus
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I love Raw South, which I know was mentioned in one of your recent interviews. And, Black Point has a great dolphin and salad. One of our locals is Alaine's Osteria in Palmetto Bay. It's usually packed, which is great for them, unfortunate for those waiting. But they do hand out wine on the house and make it as enjoyable as they can. I appreciate that. It's good Italian.
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.
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.