Restaurant recommendations in Miami

[donheff]

DW and I are going to Miami this weekend. Does anyone have any restaurant recommendations or must do activities I should be aware of?

[mh]

If you are a steak person this is a good place. it's a nicaraguan
steak house. here's the link..

http://www.losranchossteakhouse.com/

the one i went to was the sweetwater one which is the original one
i think. they didn't have all the other ones when i went.

good stuff..

[mh]

If you like pork ribs/BBQ . this is a really good BBQ place.
it's basically a open room with a bunch of long tables w/ benches
really good pork ribs. not those lame dinky baby back things..

http://www.shortysbbq.com/kendall_pinecrest.php

the original one on dixie highway is the one i am talking about.
i have not been to the newer ones.

goood stuf...

[lazygood4nothinbum]

whenever i'm on south beach for brunch (read: lunch at 2 pm) i enjoy the news cafe www.newscafe.com

wolf puppy & i used to eat there all the time. sometimes we'd even invite a human friend or two. haven't been in a while but as it has become a bit of an institution over the years, i assume it is still good.

for dinner you might want to check out lincoln road area of southbeach. it is just south of the miami beach convention center & the jackie gleason theater. lots of good restaurants there and a great atmosphere on this pedestrian-only road.

at fairchild gardens we have the chihuly exhibit for the second time (supposedly the only time he's done a second installment at the same location). www.ftg.org
i went last year and loved it. planning to go again this year. i get to fairchild at least twice a year. one of the premier gardens of the world, they have more than 3000 palm species. the tram ride with tour by a local volunteer is well worthwhile.

a real nice day would be doing the exhibit & garden in the late morning so it is cool enough to walk around without breaking a sweat. then take old cutler road up to coconut grove for lunch. old cutler is one of the prettiest drives in florida. do a detailed mapquest map as there's a circle and a turnoff which can be a little tricky. pick any restaurant downtown coconut grove which is crowded, as probably that's the good one. for dinner head to the beach for www.joesstonecrab.com

if you are here later in the week we have the miami boat show starting thursday. www.miamiboatshow.com
if not here then, when here, they might be setting up so take a drive along north end of miami beach, around the fontainebleau hotel area, to see what you could have had if only you kept on w*rking.

enjoy.

[donheff]

LG4N - DW is an ABA delegate so I am tagging along. We will be leaving before the Boat Show takes over. I will try the South Beach recommendations. On the Stone Crab front, I was at Joe's a long time ago but I read somewhere that the wait is horrendous so I was thinking of looking up some good - but accessible - alternatives.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

understood as i also do not wait on lines to eat. actually i'm not even into joes but a friend loves their stonecrab and highly recommends the place so i thought it would be good for a visitor.

your best bet for dinner by the beach might be lincoln road. i only go every so often but always enjoy it there. can't recommend a particular restaurant as i never pay that much attention to what i'm doing. i'd head for one of the more crowded ones assuming the crowd knows the better food. of course, the problem with that strategy is the crowds. i think dinner crowd there is about 8 pm. so see who's lining up at 7:30ish and grab a table.

i can recommend dessert though, of course. on the south side of lincoln road, about two blocks west of collins is a wonderful gelato store.

for parking, there is a good parking garage on the street just north of lincoln road about three blocks west of collins. i googled and think it might be this one: "multi-level parking garage is located at the intersection of 17th St. and Convention Center Dr. Hourly and metered parking is also located in lots off of 17th St. near Pennsylvania Ave. and Drexel Ave. "

also for something to do in miami beach is just to walk or drive through the deco district. i believe it is the largest collection of art deco buildings in the country, covering (according to http://tinyurl.com/35p9ux ) 5750 acres & 960 buildings.

[donheff]

Thanks LG4N. I will try Lincoln. We will probably cruise through the Art Deco area, we have done that before. My option for Joe's - Monty's Stone Crab - seems to be gone. If anyone has a good Stone Crab option let me know. I don't want the wait that Joe's entails.

[donheff]

Well, Miami was fun. We spent a fair amount of time in South Beach and visited Lincoln Road - pretty nice. We ended up at several restaurants recommended by people we talked to down there.

I like Miami and could see spending time there - DW and I both like the density of big cities. My main problem is that outside of South Beach and to a lesser degree Coconut Grove, there wasn't much of a street scene. Mainly tall condos with no street level shopping and dining. South Beach has the type of street level energy that is attractive for a city visit (from our perspective) -- we will probably stay there next time. Key West is even better for the feel we like but more expensive. One of the things I like about Key West is you can skip the car and get around the whole place by bike.