Both my parents grew up in Miami. I still have family members and close friends in South Florida, so I visit pretty often. Family is the primary focus, since that’s why I fly cross-country, but as a culinary obsessive, of course I explore.

Miami is the flavor bridge between the U.S. and Latin America. The city also benefits from other global influences and is a hotbed for New York City imports. Learn about my favorite places to eat and drink in based on 2016, 2024, and 2026 visits. If you want to go further back, my Miami listings date to 2005, though those listings are less relevant.

UPDATES SINCE NOVEMBER 28, 2016
Additions: Cindy Lou’s Cookies, Cubaton Sandwich Shop, EtzelItzik Deli, Tâm Tâm, True Loaf
Subtractions: 180 Degrees at the DRB [CLOSED], All Day [CLOSED], Beachcraft [CLOSED], Mignonette [CLOSED], Panther Coffee + Vice City Bean (Moved to Miami Coffee Worth Seeking)

Azucar Ice Cream Company
MUST ORDER: Abuela Maria, Waffle Cone

Abuela Maria is Cuban-inspired guava and cream cheese ice cream garnished with cookie shards.

Less than one block from a Pitbull caricature in Little Havana, you’ll find Azucar Ice Cream Company, a shop with Latin flavors that Suzanne Batlle opened in summer 2011. A 3D ice cream cone sign greets your arrival. Inside, you’ll encounter limited bench seating and repeated pops of color. In all, a blackboard menu lists over 50 flavors, including rum cake, dulce de leche, mamey, and sweet corn. I’m partial to Abuela Maria in a house-made waffle cone.

Bachour
MUST ORDER: Chocolate Babka, Guava Cheese Danish, Dulce de Leche Croissant

Antonio Bachour’s braided chocolate babka had flavor and flair to spare.

Puerto Rico native Antonio Bachour (sweet) and Lima native Henry Hané (savory) partnered on Bachour Bakery + Bistro, which launched in March at the base of downtown’s Brickell World Plaza office tower. A patio with tan umbrellas gives way to a glass and steel frame, bamboo lanterns, high-top white tables and cushioned banquettes, all with tiny potted succulents, along with a moss-coated stone wall. I enjoyed a smoked salmon scramble with watercress just fine, but my focus was on the case that contained fancy tarts and chocolates and the counter of baked goods. Bachour impressed me with their oh-so-Miami guava cheese Danish, and rich, flaky dulce de leche croissant.

Cindy Lou’s Cookies – Miami (Little River) ↓
MUST ORDER: Chocolate Chip Cookie

Cubatón Sandwich Shop – Miami Beach ↓
MUST ORDER: “The Classic” Cubano

Doggi’s Arepa Bar
MUST ORDER: Cachapa, Arepa Criolla, Marinated Churrasco

Doggi’s cachapa co-stars gouda, queso de mano, queso guayanes, and organic white cheese.

Doggi’s Arepa Bar started in 2010 as a hot dog (asquerocito) cart. Since then, Giovani Esteves, chef Carlos Esteves, and mother Yoleida Galiano have opened Venezuelan restaurants near Little Havana and Little Haiti that clearly open up the family’s cookbook. The Little Havana adjacent space features wood slats on walls with corrugated metal bases, sports projected on screens, and just nine wood tables inside, plus two outdoors. Arepas, grilled-and-filled cornmeal patties, are now the primary menu focus. My choice – arepa Criolla – crammed fried plantains, a thick slab of organic white cheese (queso de mano) and avocado into the belly. If you prefer something sweeter, I’d suggest cachapa, a supple, cheesy corn cake. If you’re carnivorous, consider marinated churrasco, grilled skirt steak served with sides like grilled vegetables and fried plantains, and if you’re smart, a container of chimichurri sauce.

Etzel Itzik Deli – Miami ↓
MUST ORDER: Branzino, Chicken Heart, Chicken Liver, Kofta Kebab + Young Chicken Parigot

Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop
MUST ORDER: Key Lime Pie, Coffee Flan

Fireman Derek’s coffee flan was impressive, straddling a beautiful bittersweet line.

Sweetness sometimes arises from tragedy. Such is the case with Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop. When Patrick Murdock passed away in 2013, wife Kim Murdock stayed true to her husband’s word, investing in a Wynwood bakery with fellow Miami firefighter Derek Kaplan. The colorful bakery features red tables and chairs, a pie mural on an alley wall, and blackboard menus. Cases contain chicken pot pies, pies, donuts, quiche, muffins, coffee cake, and croissants. Since I was in South Florida, I opted for a textbook Key lime pie with Graham cracker crust and coffee flan.

Tâm Tâm – Miami (Downtown) ↓
Tam Tam
MUST ORDER: Drinking Quail, Grilled Escarole, Salt and Pepper Frogs Legs, Scallop Pomelo Crudo,

True Loaf – Miami (Sunset Harbour) ↓
MUST ORDER: Sticky Bun

Zak the Baker
MUST ORDER: Latke, Ricotta Toast, Sunflower Seed & Sesame Butter Toast, Babka

Zak the Baker serves fantastic versions of Jewish baked goods like babka.

A basic BAKERY sign lines smooth coat stucco, belying the ambition of Zak Stern, the impressively bearded chef-owner of Zak the Baker in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Stern runs the humble bakery-cafe with wife Batsheva Wulfsohn, drawing lines out the door by baiting customers with pastries from the reclaimed wood counter and a butcher paper menu. Latke is especially epic, with a crusty coat and buttery, creamy core, plated with savory country-smoked tuna, fried egg, and tarragon. Creative toasts on crusty slabs of house-baked bread come topped with combos like ricotta, orange curd, and lemon; and sunflower seed & sesame butter with local fruit conserve. Swing by the counter for sweets like rugelach with raisins and cinnamon.