Dining in Downtown Miami‏

Dining in Downtown Miami
April 28


Take a different look at
Downtown Miami's restaurants


Spice it Up!
First Spring Miami Spice

Fashionable Putt-Putt:
Style Miami at Upper Eastside Garden

Ponies Galore:
Polo Comes Back to the Beach

True Life: I'm In A
Street Gang!
The story behind the iconic Sesame Street series

Cinco de MiMo:
A street fiesta for all ages this Saturday!
Consider Downtown the Susan Boyle of the local dining scene: not as glamorous or young as some of her surrounding neighbors but full of hidden talent. This week, dream the dream of dining downtown, discovering some enticing new restaurants, and proving Miami's got talent, to spare.

Joseluis A took one step into Matahari and one giant leap into Indonesian food: "The moment I stepped in, I was pleased with the smell of spices... I think I was the only non-Indonesian customer. That's usually a good sign." When Singaporean native Florence Y wants to feel at home without leaving the 305, she checks into Bali Café: "Knowing that true authentic Indonesian food is in my new city is very comforting... each time I go I leave stuffed." Bonus: Both of these eateries serve sushi!

Adriana D's first time at Ceviche 105 proves you can never judge a book by its cover or a restaurant by its front door. "From the outside it looks like a tiny drab cafeteria on a kinda crappy street. Inside it is a bustling large space with a modern décor" and it's their "moderate pricing and yummy, unusual flavors and spices" that have her wanting more. Not one to be easily deterred by first impressions, self-proclaimed "lover of dives" Bradshaw L dove right into Peruvian at La Licuadora: "The atmosphere is horrendous. The service isn't much better. So now you can imagine how good and well priced the food must be, right? It was really simple but some of the best I've ever had (and I've had it a lot)."

Appearances can also be deceiving at Italian eatery Soya e Pomodoro."It's a fantastic bit of preserved architecture from another age," confides Esther G, "the food is great but my favorite part is really the live music on Thursday nights." Cynthia M has her own lunchtime treasure: "Fratelli Milano is a diamond in the rough. This little café offers tasty meals that are beautifully presented. This is my go-to place for when I want to treat myself (or colleagues/co-workers)." And Downtown keeps getting better – newcomer Ecco, a pizza joint with a daily 2-for-1 happy hour, opens this Thursday. With so much going on, all of a sudden Downtown's starting to sound more like Petula Clark!