Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
options and presentation, but the trend is toward ostentatiousness. Even the stripped-back
places are pretentiously underdone, if you know what we mean. All those restaurants with
loud hostesses fronting Ocean Dr get mixed traveler reviews, so be warned that the price
of pedestrian-watching might be an expensive, mediocre meal.
North Miami Beach
There are three good clusters of eats here: Mid-Beach, particularly 41st St, with its Jewish
delis, steakhouses and sushi bars; Normandy Isle, with its expat South Americans, Brazili-
ans, Uruguayans and their penchant for coronary-inducing cuisine; and far North Beach,
around Sunny Isles, home to some eclectic little gems. In general, this is an area that ex-
cels in the cheap- to-midrange-eatery category.
Downtown
Downtown's eating options run, like Downtown itself, between extremes: from high-end
corporate power lunches in glass-and-steel hotels in Brickell to down-home Latin hole-in-
the-walls. The latter characterizes the center of Downtown, where you can easily find a
filling Latino meal for well under $10.
Wynwood, the Design District & Little Haiti
This area, collectively known as Midtown Miami, and nearby neighborhoods including
Buena Vista and North Biscayne Boulevard, is where the best food in Miami is being
served. It's as trendy as South Beach but far more reliant on local clientele. Eating out here
is a joy, be it in a cute cafe, fine-dining restaurant or wood-fired pizzeria-cum-craft beer
house.
