Toma
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
My favorite Mexican place – anywhere I’ve ever been! It’s down in Florida City, across from the Cracker Barrel. It’s a taco stand called Rosita’s. It’s the best Mexican, hands down, you will ever eat. There are only a few things on the menu. I just point to order and you can’t go wrong. I also love the Asian Thai Kitchen inside the Quickie Mart on Grand Avenue in the Grove. $11 for Pad Thai – no question. So good.
Donna
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Since the pandemic, we have not really eaten out that much. I love Two Chefs in South Miami. I like the Cheese Course in Pinecrest for lunch. Both are absolutely wonderful. The café at Nordstrom's is very good. And, Alaine's Osteria, on 168th, is fabulous Italian.
Susan
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I really enjoy Whisk, with my husband, for a date night. We love Tropical Chinese. They've been around forever.
Steve
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We'll use Uber eats for PF Chang's or Diced. We'll order from A Brooklyn Pizza or Steve's Pizza. We just had the new pizza on 152nd last Friday. It was my wife's birthday and we had some people over and did the whole social distancing happy hour in my yard. Everyone brought their coolers and what they wanted to drink. Pizza was great. Everyone loved the pizza place when they were in the Grove (behind Johnny Rockets).
Ray
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
Well I'm a pretty serious sushi eater and I frequently go to Sakura on US-1 and LeJeune Road. They have a large selection of great rolls but I always order Nigiri only. Which is usually raw fish over rice. I like the salmon belly, toro tuna, lean tuna and eel. I also suggest their excellent shrimp tempura. My next place is a Thai restaurant called Thai Suvi on NW 36 St in Miami Springs. I order the Ginger Snapper and fried rice. And on occasion I'll also have the Royal Thai Duck. For dessert I suggest the Thai doughnuts. They're light and fluffy.
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.
Pedro
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
We travel up and down Krome Avenue a lot. So, we like to frequent the nurseries and the natural fruit stands around that area. I like the Last Carrot in Coconut Grove. I've been going there since I was a teenager. It's funny that question brought me to realize how long I've been here at home and not going anywhere.
Vanessa
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
For clothing, there's a small boutique near Pinecrest that's wonderful, called Indigo Republic. I love going there with Aly and just getting a few things. As far as restaurants, Guadalajara is a Mexican spot that's family owned that we enjoy. We also like Anacapri, the Italian spot. Those are our go-to places.
Dan
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
My wife’s favorites are Zuma and Petite Mason. Also, we love Bazaar Seafood at the SLS. Sakura on Le June always has high quality sushi and the chef has been there for 35 years. For Valentines dinner, I blind folded my wife and drove her around the city and then came back home. As she opened her eyes, our boys were the host, waiter and cooks. They had the table set for two with a menu they prepared. She cried all night and said it was the best dinner ever.
Lauren
What local restaurants or businesses do you recommend?
I love exploring new restaurants and that's been hard this year with COVID, but I make all outdoor reservations. I call in advance to make sure that we have outdoor seating. If I see that it's too crowded, I won't go. We just went to Red Rooster last Saturday night in Overtown. It was probably the best mac and cheese I've ever had. In the Design District, my favorite is Mandolin for Greek food. It's a romantic, beautiful restaurant. We just went to the new Cote Miami, which is like culinary theater. In Coral Gables, Mamey is really good, with great outdoor seating. In terms of the Grove, we probably go to Green Street every two weeks because we love the waitstaff there, we know what we're going to get, it's dependable. For Thai food, we love Atchana. For Indian, we love Bombay Darbar. Paulo Luigis is like the Italian that I was used to grow up in New Jersey. And, the new ghost kitchen in Coconut Grove is Two Korean Girls. I love their concept. They come in these fabulous, bright pink boxes and the food is a great combination of flavors.