Places to eat/see in Miami, FL

[gregdacat]

Last year it was barbecue at Nick and Jim's in Birmingham, AL. (Which was quite good.) This year it looks like I will spending New Year's Day in Miami. Anyone know any can't miss places to eat or see in Miami that are easy to find from the Orange Bowl?

Would you take your Boxster? (About 1800 miles in 4 days.)

Ho-hum Another New Year's, another bowl game.

GO BEARCATS!

:dance:

[Jeph]

I'm not a Miami regular, but I hear good things about a place called "Villagio."

[Lil bastard]

Villagio is great. But the best Miami Restaurantsn lie in South Beach. Joe's Stone Crab in South Beach is a Landmark and a Must Do - NOT the chain you see elsewhere, Joe's has hosted the great and near-great for decades!

Tropical Chinese is another must do - http://miami.about.com/od/restaurantreviews/gr/tropicalchinese.htm

Azul in the Madarin Oriental Hotel is wonderful - http://miami.about.com/od/restaurantreviews/gr/azul.htm

News Cafe' for Beakfast and people watching can't be beat!http://miami.about.com/od/restaurantreviews/gr/newscafe.htm

For Burgers and Bar food, go to Tobacco Road - http://www.tobacco-road.com/

Other than that, park the car in South Beach and walk!... The restaurants turn-over so frequently here, you really need to burn some shoe leather and check out the 'Carte de Fares' if you really want the latest, greatest food shops!

[chrisdridley]

X2 on the Joe's Stone Crab and South Beach.
A walk down South Beach on a sunny afternoon and then again around midnight will provide many lasting memories.

[gregdacat]

Thanks guys. I knew you guys could point me in the right direction

[Perfectlap]

oh boy that place is a zoo during big events. South Beach is just not well equipped to hold large numbers of people at one time. The biggest problem down there is parking. You really don't want to have your car down there unless you absolutely must. The other problem is that the night life venues are really on the small side. So they fill up quick and then you've got to deal with these ultra ridiculus bottle service rates to just to get in.
I was a crazy South Beach regular for years in the mid 90's and then it all became a little too mainstream and touristy. It went from being very European and to very hip hoppy and too many of the worst NY/NJ elements (think growing up Gotti). But there are still some great places. The action seems to have moved from Ocean Drive to Lincoln Road. I now avoid Ocean Drive althogether.

There's a few places I would say to check out. Joe's Stone Crab, Barton G, Pearl (upstairs from the Niki beach club), Sushi Samba (more than just Sushi) on Lincoln Drive, and maybe stop in for an overpriced drink at bar at Setai and the Delano (go late afternoon or early evening). A fun thing to do is to go on one of these amphibious Duck tours that pick up passengers on Collins and Lincon Road. Its like a tour bus for the first half but then they drive this thing right into the ocean and you sail around the celebrity homes.

[Lil bastard]

+1 on the Delano, esp. for a nice Lunch. Also, the Astor Hotel (very small boutique) is a great place for quiet drinks.

[stuttgart46]

+1 on Joe's Stone Crab, especially this time of the year. It's a great place to see and the best Stone Crab in the world.

[Jump]

If you want to do a little "window shopping" I'd suggest checking out The Collection in Coral Gables.

http://www.thecollection.com/

On the same block (but at the other end) is a great Latin fusion restaurant called Chispa

http://www.chisparestaurant.com/

Their fish tacos are by far the best I've ever had. I used to work a few blocks from there and it was a regular stop.

[gregdacat]

Got back from Miami yesterday. Had a great time. I did not get much site-seeing in. Between the game, pre-game festivities and visiting in-laws not much time left for anything else. We did eat out one night at a little greek mom and pop dinner in Fort Lauderdale named Peter Pan's Dinner and Bakery. The food was really good, but everyone from the waitress, to the hostess, to the cashier acted like they were pi$$ed off at the world.

Dolphin stadium was very nice. Very state of the art. I think their jumbo-tron had a better picture then my home TV set. Much nicer than Paul Brown stadium in the Nati. (But then when you only have one winning season in 20 years you don't deserve a nice stadium) Doobie brothers were okay. Although it would be nice for just one of these bowl games to have half time entertainment by someone other than a has been 80's group. I hear the national championship game is going to have Bruce Springsteen. I also hear after the show he is going to set his walker on fire.

Drove the Boxster. 2300 miles in 5 days. Top down in FL. No RMS leaks. No IMS implosions. Made drving all those hours alot more fun than driving the wife's jeep would have been. I spent less than $150 for gas for the entire trip.

It was 75 degrees out. People in FL were bundled up complaining about how cold it was. I told them hey it was 25 at home count your blessings. That being said it was good to be home. Newport was 45 and sunny yesterday. I would rather have that in Jan. than a muggy 75. I need a break from the humidity and heat.

Thanks for all the advice. Maybe next time the Bearcats can bring back a victory.