Miami Restaurants

  1. Enriqueta's

    Back in the day, Puerto Ricans, not installation artists, ruled Wynwood. Have a taste of those times in this perpetually packed roadhouse, where the Latin diner ambience is as strong as the steaming shots of cortadito served at the counter. Balance the local gallery fluff with a steak-and-potato-stick sandwich.

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  2. Islas Canarias

    Islas may not look like much, sitting in a strip mall, but it serves some of the best Cuban in Miami. The ropa vieja is delicious, and there are nice Spanish touches on the menu (the owner's father is from the Canary Islands, hence the restaurant's name). Don't pass up the signature homemade chips, especially the ones cut from plantains.

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  3. Jamaica International Café

    This is a friendly, eclectic spot, serving a truly mind boggling range of global dishes. But the way to go is Jamaican, via the curry lobster, stewed peas with pork, jerk chicken or vegetable curry (one of the veggie options here). Traditional breakfasts include eggs or akee served with boiled bananas, and dessert spoils you rotten with sweet-potato pudding.

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  4. Mi Rinconcito Mexicano

    The Mexican clientele here is the surest sign of quality, but if you need more evidence, try the tampinquena (steak with enchiladas and green sauce) or pollo mole (chicken in mole), authentic but cheap Mexican that beats the hell out of your run-of-the-mill burrito.

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  5. Oasis

    This excellent Cuban café has a customer base that ranges from the working poor to city players. Between the super-strong coffee and masas de puerco - marinated pork chunks, which go great with hot sauce - we're in corner spot heaven.

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  7. Puerto Sagua

    There's a secret colony of older working-class Cubans and construction workers hidden among South Beach's sex-and-flash, and evidently, they eat here (next to a Benetton, natch). Puerto Sagua challenges the American diner with this reminder: Cubans can greasy-spoon with the best of them. Portions of favorites such as picadillo (spiced ground beef with rice, beans and plantains) are stupidly enormous.

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  8. San Loco

    You'd think laid-back, Latino-influenced South Beach would have more burrito places, because let's face it, nothing goes down better after a cold swim (or beer) than guac, sour cream and beans. But there was a serious shortage of this genre - and then San Loco arrived. The industrially cool interior is fun, but the burritos are better - they kick your hunger in the ass, but in an oh-so-delicious way.

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  9. Tap Tap

    In Haiti, tap-taps are brightly colored pickup trucks-turned-public taxis, and their tropi-psychedelic paint scheme inspires the decor at this excellent Haitian eatery. 'Um, what do Haitians eat?' Meals are a happy marriage of West Africa, France and the Caribbean: spicy pumpkin soup, grilled snapper with lime sauce and Oh-God-yes curried goat. If you need some liquid courage, shoot some Barbancourt rum, available in several grades (all strong).

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  10. Versailles

    Versailles (pronounced ver-sigh-yay) is an institution, and a lot of younger Cubans will tell you it's an overrated one. But older Cubans and Miami's Latin political elite still love coming here, so much so that folks say CNN has reserved a parking space for the day Fidel Castro dies. The Cuban cuisine is decent and unsurprising (there's no French food to be found, incidentally) but the real draw is coming as close as most outsiders can to the city's Cuban aristocracy.

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