Astrid
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Black Point Marina. It's so close to my house and I love fish. My boyfriend and I love to try new restaurants, especially healthy ones, so there's not one in particular. We just like to try different things all the time.
Matt
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
You know, we are kind of like creatures of old habit. One of our places we go to pretty often is Hillstone. We just kind of like the vibe and going there. On Saturday mornings, when we don't have soccer or other obligations, we'll ride our bikes to have breakfast at Green Street. We also love Strada in the Grove. That's one of our favorites. We love La Mar in the Mandarin Oriental. That's one of our favorites, especially sitting outside.
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.
Kate
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Right now, my favorite restaurant and the only restaurant we've been going to right now, is La Natural. They have a sourdough made with a really old starter and they make amazing pizza. When I first started going, they had this grilled pineapple, and it was so good. It was seasonal, but now they have these mushrooms with green sauce. My husband and I are both very particular about food and there's certain places where it might taste good, but you don't feel good afterwards, so you don't end up going back. But I feel great after I eat at La Natural. There's another little place that I really love that my husband has been going to since he was a teenager, called Tarragon Middle East Market. It's owned by two Lebanese brothers who are twins and they're just so kind and so nice. The dates they sell are like no other date I have ever tasted in my life. They just melt in your mouth. All their food is really good.
Jacob
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
For a pasta – in the new Brickell City Market there is a hand made pasta station. Their Bolognese is phenomenal. I really like the gator fingers at Lokal – owned by Matthew Kuscher. A new hidden gem is Shelly’s in South Miami. And on Tuesday, you can get their whole fish collar for $20.
Nicolas
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
27 is one of my favorites in Miami. Their roasted cauliflower with pesto is knock your socks off delicious. The sous chef is a young Cuban American like me and he's always embracing South Florida flavors and ingredients that we have here. They actually have their own garden there. The house smoked lamb ribs with pomegranate molasses are delicious. Also, Madruga Bakery. They feel like a farm to table a bakery. They have this amazing guava and cream cheese croissant. But - Babes Meat and Counter is my number one go to spot here in South Florida. My favorite thing on their menu right now is the Italian roast pork sandwich which features some callaloo greens from Margie (at Bee Heaven). It’s like a French dip sandwich, but with fantastic, roasted pork, shaved super thin. It’s served with a provolone cheese and on Sullivan Street bread.
Heidi
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
That's tricky. I have a lot of friends in the industry. I like going to dives as much as I do fine dining. Right around here, Keg South is pretty up there...it's between the wings and the burgers. I think their wings are fried and then tossed with their hot sauce and thrown on the grill. Sometimes - the dirtier the dive, the better the food. I recently found this place Lung Yai Thai tapas. It's on eighth street. When you sit down, you order and then you can't order anything else, they will not allow you. So, it's a conundrum to order too much or not order enough. It's one of my favorite places right now.
Kevens (round 2)
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
If you are in Fort Lauderdale, there is a place called Green Bar. They have great vegan food. I am vegan, but once a year I have poke in Hawaii. For a good bottle of wine, go to Happy Wine in Coconut Grove. You are surrounded by wine and can sit in the middle and order some food. If you eat seafood – they have a great grilled octopus.
Norka
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Fish House on Miller. The first time I went there, I was like 'what in the world, this is so strange and the decor!' But, I love it. I've never had anything that was bad. They have live music on the weekends. Another great place that we go for a treat is, Vicky's milkshake bar. It's in the Grove.
Joe
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I'm not a big restaurant kind of guy. I always recommend Flanigan's to everybody. Up north there's a place called Izziban that's good for Korean barbecue.