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• Best Japanese Lunch Counter
  Japanese Market Inc.
  Sometimes you just need to eat raw fish and drink beer. It's not a fancy or a pretentious thing. And it need not be expensive. It just needs to happen.Thank god for this little counter. For $10.95, the congenial chef, Michio, will fix you up with a tray of the old standards (octopus, salmon,... More >>
• Best New Restaurant
  Two Chefs Too
  In 1997, two new things came to South Miami: a great restaurant (Two Chefs) and Danish people (Jan Jorgensen and Soren Bredahl (the restaurant's chef/owners). Basic, comfort-style New American cuisine, albeit with European touches and considerable flair, established the restaurant as a South... More >>
• Best Vegan Lunch Counter
  Beehive Natural Foods Juice Bar
  Miami's food critics have long neglected this healthful gem. You'd barely notice it, tucked in the rear of a cluttered health food store. Load up on soups, Jamaican patties, and pies prepared fresh by Carlos Schichi, the delightful Japanese-Brazilian chef. The wild-haired Schichi was on track to... More >>
• Best Early-Bird Special
  Steak & Ale
  From the outside, the place resembles an old Masonic lodge. Although some folks consider Steak & Ale a chain restaurant, this one is a relic. Let's call it the "dinosaur of chain restaurants," since there are not many left. The interior ambiance is elegant and romantic, in a late-Seventies... More >>
• Best Outdoor Dining
  Grass
  Grass is a veritable Garden of Eatin'. The carpet is a lush lawn. The walls are covered in climbing vines. There is bamboo, bonsai, all manner of bushes, trees, and plants, as well as a beautiful bar, behind which is a wall of illuminated apothecary jars flush with vivid flora. A thatched,... More >>
• Best Predinner Bread
  OLA at Sanctuary
  Do not eat the single and singular meatball-size sphere of pan d'bono that gets plunked upon your bread plate at OLA. Oh no. Made with yuca flour, mozzarella cheese, sugar, and milk, this ungodly delicious little ball will cause you to crane your neck to seek the waiter who traipses through the... More >>
• Best Place to Dine Alone
  Blue Sea
  Dining alone is one of life's underrated pleasures. Eat quickly; eat slowly. Gawk at other diners; bring a book. Have a glass of wine; have six. Every choice is sweetly your own, including the most important: Which restaurant? Blue Sea works on all sorts of levels. First, the food, an innovative... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Intimate Conversation (1 Comment)
  North One 10
  Monday: "You don't love me anymore!" he says to his wife with a fury, between bites of North One 10's signature pan-seared crabcake with whole-grain mustard aioli and apple-calabaza salad ($16). "I haven't loved you for a long time," she replies matter-of-factly, before commenting on the earthy... More >>
• Best Waterfront Dining
  Garcia's Seafood Grille & Fish Market
  Garcia's Seafood Grille is on the waterfront in a very On the Waterfront way. The family-owned venture isn't glitzy, pretentious, or expensive (sandwich with a side is $8, dinner with two sides $12 to $14). The outdoor terrace view is not of yachts and million-dollar marinas, but of... More >>
• Best Restaurant to Keep Warm on a Chilly Night
  Con Tutto
  During those uncommon evenings when there's a winter bite in the air, dining outdoors at Con Tutto can still feel like summer. The secret is to nab one of the outdoor tables closest to the grill, which is ensconced in a blazing brick furnace. As traditional parrillada components sizzle on the... More >>
• Best Late-Night Dining
  Buena Vista Bistro
  "Labor of love" is a cliché, but it's an accurate description of this new neighborhood eatery, owned by a charming May/December married couple: Callie Postel, who runs the front of the house, and her husband Claude (who had several restaurants in Quebec before relocating to Miami), who... More >>
• Best Service in a Restaurant
  Pascal's on Ponce
  Phyllis Richman abhors restaurants that provide "service that isn't really a service, such as by pouring your water every time you take a sip." Robert Sietsema bemoans "the frequent difficulty of getting the check," while Gael Greene's main gripe concerns waiters asking, "Are you still picking... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Gluttons
  Pescecane
  A big nugget of Parmigiano-Reggiano, spicy slices of fried zucchini, bruschetta, Italian bread, focaccia crisps. Flutes of Prosecco. The menu (voluminous, plus about 30 verbally recited specials). A bowl of pasta e fagioli and a trio of breaded, garlicky shrimp, each the size of a lobster.... More >>
• Best Natural Foods Restaurant
  Juice & Java
  Though "local" is all the rage now, there's still something to be said for food un-injected with high-fructose corn syrup, a.k.a. "having undergone little or no processing and containing no chemical additives," a.k.a., "natural." There's also a lot to be said for any natural-foods restaurant... More >>
• Best Pizza Joint (2 Comments)
  Primo Pizza
  Vinnie Oreganata is a man of habit, and none as regular as his Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday jaunts to Primo Pizza for dinner. When people ask Vinnie why not Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, he replies, "That would be crazy." Vinnie is a little displaced — you can take the kid out... More >>
• Best Barbecue (2 Comments)
  Bar-B-Que Beach
  Hunks of meat wood-smoked slowly at low temperatures, so the fatty juiciness doesn't cook out, with enough natural smoky flavor cooked in that sauces are an enjoyable extra rather than a necessity: that's real barbecue. And that's hard to find in Miami, though our town is geographically about as... More >>
• Best Seafood Restaurant
  Maison d'Azur
  Ten reasons why Maison d'Azur is the catch of the year: 1. Whelks and periwinkles, which are so unique in these parts they really should count as two reasons. The former are conchlike in texture, the "winkles" teeny and sweet. 2. It is located in the Anglers Resort, which in the Thirties was... More >>
• Best Steak House
  Bourbon Steak
  Maine lobster, spice-poached prawns, stone crabs, East and West Coast oysters, littleneck clams, and complete caviar service. That's the raw bar. Lobster, crab, foie gras, and American Kobe beef compose some of the appetizers — each luxe item offered three ways. Such as... More >>
• Best Sandwich Shop
  Pineapple Blossom Tea Room
  For reasons that elude all logic, some foods just taste better when someone else makes them. Tea sandwiches are definitely in that category, possibly because the whole idea of afternoon tea should be supremely relaxed indulgence, not something one has to work for. Who has the patience to cut off... More >>
• Best Soul Food Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Mahogany Grille
  Miami's hip-hop fans are quick to identify our city as part of the "Dirty South." Musically, perhaps there's an argument to be made. But when it comes to cuisine, Miami may as well be North Dakota. It's practically impossible to find a decent soul food joint in these parts. We're talking real... More >>
• Best Chain Restaurant
  Chipotle Mexican Grill
  There is the burrito of soft, warm tortilla stuffed with succulent shreds of cumin-spiced, chipotle-marinated barbacoa beef. The burrito bursting with slowly simmered pork carnitas. The burrito caressing chunks of chipotle-marinated chicken. Fact is, the burritos here make those you get at other... More >>
• Best Chefs (2 Comments)
  Michelle Bernstein and Michael Schwartz
  This is a lifetime achievement award one can win only once. The first five inductees were Norman Van Aken, Mark Militello, Allen Susser, Pascal Oudin, and Philippe Ruiz. This year's entries into our hallowed hall of fame are two toques who have been wowing Miami diners for more than a decade and... More >>
• Best Cuban Restaurant
  Molina's Ranch Restaurant
  So you're tired of all those Little Havana joints where the tourists go? Try Molina's, with branches in West Dade and Hialeah — the real Cuban Miami. This place feels like old Havana with a touch of Miami cool. The day we were there recently, nobody — including the waitress —... More >>
• Best Haitian Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Chez Le Bebe
  Short of having a Haitian grandmère up to her apron strings in pigs' feet at home, you aren't likely to find better-tasting and less-expensive Haitian comfort food than this. The griot (fried pork) is tender and the stewed goat heavenly. The menu is short and sweet, so just pick the type... More >>
• Best Indian Restaurant (2 Comments)
  Mint Leaf
  So Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Shilpa Shetty, and Ravi Shankar Jr. are marooned on a desert island. No wait, sorry — they are in Coral Gables, and the three of them walk into the new Mint Leaf restaurant. After being seated and starting off with freshly squeezed fruit juices and a... More >>
• Best Mexican Restaurant
  Rosa Mexicano
  Rosa Mexicano brought upscale and authentic south-of-the-border fare to New York City in 1984. It is still thriving there, and in recent times has expanded to new territories; this past year it moved into Mary Brickell Village. A new Rosa Mexicano tribute CD has just been released, in which... More >>
• Best Nicaraguan Restaurant
  Rincon Nica
  Hialeah has a small but bustling Nicaraguan community that finds the comforts of its homeland at Rincón Nica, a homey restaurant just minutes away from the Palmetto Expressway's NW 103rd Street exit. The place is not overly decorated with Nicaraguan artifacts and knickknacks, like other... More >>
• Best Argentine Restaurant (2 Comments)
  Estancia Argentina
  Argentine steaks are revered not because of how they're cooked, but because the meat is incredible. The cattle roam the fertile pastures of the pampas and are never forced to exert themselves (because exercise makes the meat tougher). They are carted around the country in train cars. This... More >>
• Best Brazilian Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Varanda's Cafeteria
  For more than nine years, Aziza Yuself has made Varanda's a place where Brazilians can savor authentic cuisine. That's why the low-key eatery draws so many of the Brazilian expatriates residing in North Beach, who can watch Brazilian television and have long conversations in Portuguese while... More >>
• Best Portuguese Restaurant
  Coimbra
  It would be wrong to say Portuguese cuisine rests solely on its treatment of salt cod, or bacalhau, but it's hard not to admire the culinary alchemy that transforms something resembling salted drywall into one of the tastiest things you can put in your mouth. Which is one reason it's hard not to... More >>
• Best Spanish Restaurant
  Delicias de la Espana
  Ten Reasons why Delicias is better than the rest: 10. Quaint, low-key tearoom setting. 9. Spanish-style breakfasts are served, as well as lunch, dinner, and chocolate con churros for merienda (afternoon snack). 8. Dining room leads to Delicias's Spanish import market (both opened in 1997 and... More >>
• Best French Restaurant (2 Comments)
  Le Bouchon du Grove
  Bistros are like antiques: They are supposed to be old. That's why even new ones often look as though they've been around for years. It's easy to find aged bistros in Paris, not so easy in South Florida. Le Bouchon du Grove has been sating patrons with its rustic French fare for breakfast,... More >>
• Best Under-the-Radar Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Indomania
  Did you know jaja is an Indonesian word for "fishing net," but jaja jaja indicates an AC electrical outlet? Didn't think so. Indonesia isn't the world's highest-profile country, nor is its cuisine globally embraced like that of China, Italy, or Mexico. So it isn't surprising that Indomania... More >>
• Best Inexpensive Bistro
  Cote Gourmet
  When the Chinese chain P.F. Chang's, a frozen meal delivery service, and a complex computer program all use the word bistro to describe themselves, you know just how far the word has strayed from its origins, on virtually every urban street corner in France. Bistros are supposed to be everyday... More >>
• Best Inexpensive Italian Restaurant
  Cafe Ragazzi
  Opera sung to the tune of "Maria," from West Side Story: Fat Man One: Ragazzi, We line up to get into Ragazzi, But once we are inside Hospitality and pride Come through. Fat Man Two: Ragazzi, No glitz here and no paparazzi, It's mostly local folk Who don't like to go broke To eat In... More >>
• Best Expensive Italian Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Escopazzo Organic Italian Restaurant
  If you're taking a health-conscious person to Escopazzo, by all means trumpet the rustic 90-seat restaurant's use of local, all-organic fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Definitely mention the beef is grass-fed as well as hormone-and-antibiotic-free, and point out raw selections on the... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant
  Mr. Chu's Hong Kong Cuisine
  Chinese food is probably one of the most amateur-attempted cuisines around; we've all tasted some variation of a beef Szechuan gone wrong. In addition to all of those wokky catastrophes you can create on your own, there are more take-out joints in town than bottles of soy sauce in Publix. Makes... More >>
• Best Thai Restaurant
  Thai House
  Adventures in high-ticket parking and sunburned tourists are just a part of a trip to South Beach. Steps from the din of vacationers is an oasis of amazing Thai cuisine. Once you've removed your shoes and are comfortably perched at a low table inside Thai House, the aromas of curries and... More >>
• Best Noodle Break
  The Noodle Shop at O Asian Grill
  The Noodle Shop is a restaurant within a restaurant, located in the foyer leading to O Asian Grill. Its small but exceptional menu of quick-to-prepare Asian favorites gives shoppers and bar hoppers a much-needed carb recharge in the middle of their activities. Sit at the counter and watch the... More >>
• Best Japanese Restaurant
  Domo Japones
  A makimono roll of scallop, cucumber, and salt-cured plum capped with tobiko fish roe served with ume plum paste pooled in white truffle oil. A box-style roll with squares of pressed sushi rice dotted with pickled vegetables and colorfully covered in flattened fuchsia-hued gomoko flower, green... More >>
• Best Ethiopian Restaurant
  Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant
  At the crossroads of Asia and Africa, Ethiopia took the best of what the old spice routes from the East had to offer and applied it to the local foodstuffs. The result was a hearty array of meats, legumes, and vegetables suffused with complex but delicate flavorings. And the unique injera bread... More >>
• Best Persian Fast Food
  Rice House of Kabob
  Have you been looking for a fresh, fast Persian for lunch? Well, you'll have to provide your own exotic date here, but if you're craving delicious food at attractive prices, Rice House of Kabob is a much shorter hop than a nonstop flight to Tehran. This unassuming little chain dishes out... More >>
• Best Vietnamese Restaurant
  Hy Vong
  Hy vong in Vietnamese means "hope," which pretty much sums up the emotional state of the nightly crowd that lingers outside this 36-seat hole-in-the-wall in the heart of Calle Ocho. "We're running on Cuban time tonight," says Kathy Manning, co-owner of Hy Vong, who placates the hungry mob with... More >>
• Best Defying-the-Odds Success
  B.E.D.
  Admit it: When you first heard about B.E.D.'s concept of high-end dining on oversize mattresses, you figured it would last about as long as the first shipment of sheets. That was more than 10 years ago. Yet after a recent resprucing, the restaurant is still attracting those who enjoy pillow talk... More >>
• Best Kosher Restaurant
  Prime Sushi
  The name "Sam's Kosher Restaurant" would make sense. "Moishe's on 41st" I wouldn't have a problem with. Here we go with the names. I'm sorry, Mr. I've-heard-it-all-before, but I still say "Prime Sushi" doesn't sound right for a kosher restaurant. They serve sushi — what else should they... More >>
• Best Fusion Restaurant
  Cacao
  Tired of pretentious Pan-Everywhere eateries where fusion equals confusion and deconstruction means some sadistic chef screwing with your mind? Try this nonconfusing fusion place, where deconstruction is done for fun — as in congenial, creative chef Edgar Leal's marinated... More >>
• Best Sushi (1 Comment)
  Matsuri
  TRUE OR FALSE: 1. Matsuri looks like a dive. False. Used to be true, but last year the place was renovated. Now it is swathed in soothing woods and exudes a rather upscale appearance. 2. The menu is written entirely in Japanese so non-Japanese diners have no idea what they are... More >>
• Best Restaurant in Coconut Grove
  Ideas Restaurant
  We could start by making a joke at the expense of Coconut Grove's grim dining scene — such as how choosing the best restaurant in this area is like selecting the best Jewish football star. But that would be needlessly snarky. Besides, since Ideas Restaurant opened here in late 2006, the... More >>
• Best Restaurant in South Beach
  Sardinia Enoteca
  Ever since Norman Van Aken copped our award for Best Restaurant in Coral Gables for 10 years straight, there has been an aversion to repeating winners in the same category. It's so lazy. So boring. So predictable. But when an establishment is as singularly rewarding as Sardinia, there really... More >>
• Best Restaurant in Coral Gables
  La Cofradia
  This stylish Peruvian/Mediterranean restaurant excels in everything a dining establishment can. The room is modern and elegant, imbued with warm walnut notes and a sky-high ceiling. Service summons a professionalism not seen often in these parts. The wine list (and for that matter, the artisanal... More >>
• Best Restaurant in South Miami-Dade
  Cafe Pastis
  Houdini would have been hard-pressed to match the magical act of Marseille-born, Paris-trained chef Philippe Jaccquet, who somehow produces a full menu worth of authentic Southern French bistro cuisine from a kitchen smaller than Richard Simmons' wardrobe closet. The cramped dining room is... More >>
• Best Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant
  Cafe Le Glacier
  In the walls are actual holes that are bigger than this tiny, French-ified Biscayne Boulevard café, but Le Glacier makes up for its lack of size and spiffy ambiance with simple, honest, well-prepared food at blessedly modest prices, with a big helping of neighborhoody charm thrown in for... More >>
• Best Food Court
  Dadeland Mall
  You can walk around this food court, eating free samples of international culinary treats, until you are just about full. Once you have finished making the rounds and have purchased some food, have a seat near Enrique's Café, where beer is served all day. This food court is not just about... More >>
• Best Restaurant in a Shopping Mall
  Pilar
  Scott Fredel opened this stylish contemporary American bistro in Aventura's sprawling Promenade Shops to show that white-tablecloth dining didn't have to come at white-knuckle prices. Four years later, he's made his point and then some. Sophisticated dishes such as slow-roasted salmon with... More >>
• Best Breakfast Special
  Flora's East Side Pizza
  Bacon? Check. Overly strong coffee? Check. Overly sweaty line cook? Check. Eggs served in multiple forms, including breakfast sandwiches? Check. Paper plates and plastic cutlery? Check. Setting of sublime urban decline punctuated by traffic jams and rusted fences? Check. A place, like a pizza... More >>
• Best Diner
  S&S Diner
  The door of the S&S Diner opened and two men walked in. They sat down at the counter. There were no tables. "What's yours?" the waitress asked them. "I don't know," one of the men said. "What do you want to eat, Al?" "I don't know," said Al. "I don't know what I want to eat." Outside it... More >>
• Best Coffeehouse
  Cafetto Coffee and Cocoa
  Opened in 2006, Cafetto is a French-style coffee shop with a local flavor. On any given morning, owners Anne-Marie and Oliver can be found behind the counter serving freshly roasted java while chatting up the mostly local clientele. There are eight coffee flavors to choose from, including... More >>
• Best Restaurant When You're Paying (1 Comment)
  Dolores but You Can Call Me Lolita
  This newcomer to the Miami dining scene is located on South Miami Avenue near downtown, but you can call it the old Firehouse Four building. The two-level restaurant is stylishly decorated, but you can call it duplex chic. For a prix-fixe charge of either $18 or $23, diners begin with a choice... More >>
• Best Restaurant When Someone Else Pays
  Il Gabbiano
  The chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano that gets plunked upon your plate is complimentary. So are toasts piled with bright bruschetta, a plate of garlic-fried zucchini slices, and sourdough bread with olive oil. At the end of the meal, glasses of limoncello are poured — free of charge.... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Celebrity-Watching
  DeVito South Beach
  If you want to see how the other half lives, or at least eats, what place could be better than a restaurant owned by a genuine celebrity in the most celebrity-obsessed burg in the nation? Michael Caine, Andy Garcia, Pat Riley, and Eva Longoria are just a few of the A-listers who've slipped into... More >>
• Best Wine Selection in a Restaurant
  Captain's Tavern
  This old-fashioned family seafood restaurant boasts large aquariums, filled with live exotic fish, that surround the restaurant's eating area. We recommend going on Tuesdays for two-for-one Maine lobster (market price). And what better way to wash down some fresh lobster than with a bottle of... More >>
• Best BYOB
  Sawaddee Thai-Sushi and Coffee Corner
  No more eating at the restaurant and then drinkin' in the alley for you, oh no. Have your dinner and drink, too, at Sawaddee on Normandy Isle. The menu, which comprises a great selection of Thai food along with the apparently mandatory assortment of sushi, is reasonably priced enough to justify... More >>
• Best Restaurant in a Wine Bar
  Copas y Tapas
  Most wine bars could just as easily be called whine bars, as in: "How come there's nothing decent to eat here to go along with all the great wine?" Well, your sniveling pleas have been answered at this cozy, comfy Coral Gables wine shop/tapas bar. To go along with more than 100 bottles of (all... More >>
• Best Restaurant for an Anniversary
  The Village Chalet
  The kids can be snotty, the dog smelly, and weekends sexless, but there's still a lot of love to celebrate. The Village Chalet is a charming spot to remember the day you got hitched, kissed, or whatever fell between. Tucked into historic Cauley Square off South Dixie Highway, the restaurant... More >>
• Best Restaurants to Bite the Dust
  Norman's and Pacific Time
  David Bouley Evolution. Johnny V South Beach. Mark's South Beach. Restaurant Brana. Afterglo. Cafeteria. Duo. Frankie's Big City Grill. Karu & Y. The list of this past year's local restaurant victims is as lengthy as a dessert menu at The Cheesecake Factory. The closings that shocked this... More >>
• Best Sunday Brunch
  Joley Restaurant & Lounge
  More than a decade ago, the Hotel Astor in South Beach was renowned for its Sunday brunch. The food was good, but it was gospel queen Maryel Epps who brought the crowds in. Well, Ms. Epps has once again been belting out soulful tunes at the Astor's "Inspirational Brunch," but this time she is... More >>
• Best Restaurant Décor
  Ortanique on the Mile
  When Orson Welles described style as being "unique for yourself yet identifiable to others," he could have been talking about Ortanique. Chef Cindy Hutson's Caribbean-based "cuisine of the sun" is bright enough to delight in a coal mine, but achieves optimum taste when in harmony with the warm... More >>
• Best Part-Time Restaurant
  Dinner in Paradise
  Three years ago, Gabriele Marewski of Paradise Farms joined chef Michael Schwartz to stage a series of organic dinners forged from products grown in South Florida. The setting is outdoors amid Paradise Farms' five acres of avocados, microgreens, heirloom tomatoes, and tropical fruits. Dinners... More >>
• Best Last Meal on Earth
  La Quebradita Taqueria
  Fergus Henderson's last meal would consist of sea urchins, goat cheese, and dark butter chocolate ice cream (with Muscadet). Nobu Matsuhisa's not-surprising pick for a final feast includes a number of sushi selections capped by a cucumber roll. Daniel Boulud says he'd eat whatever Alain Ducasse... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Lunch
  Pelican Restaurant
  Choose the number that matches the letter: a. Ocean Drive restaurants b. 168 people were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty, and Pelican Restaurant opened in the Pelican Hotel c. $7; $18; $15 d. Gliding by are rollerbladers, skateboarders, bicyclists, baby... More >>
• Best Restaurant for a Power Lunch
  PrimeBlue Grille
  Since opening almost a year ago, Prime Blue Grille has attracted a steady stream of clientele hungry for veal chops, short ribs, rack of lamb, and seven cuts of steak seared upon an 1,800-degree hickory-burning grill. Even more types of seafood are available, from yellowfin tuna to whole... More >>