Miami eats the way it speaks: in Spanish, Creole and English at once. Three days of ventanita cortaditos, mamey batidos, Nicaraguan fritangas and stone crab claws pulled from Biscayne Bay, ordered where locals actually queue.
Open-air Cuban fruit stand since 1965 at SW 13th Ave. Order a mamey or guanabana batido ($6) and a guarapo sugarcane juice pressed at the machine out front. Open Mon-Sat 07:30-18:00, Sun until 16:00. Cash preferred.
Calle Ocho counter curing its own ham, mojo pork and pickles in-house. The Cubano ($16) is pressed on Zak the Baker bread; the pan con lechon and croqueta preparada rival it. Daily 09:00-21:00, no reservations, small marble bar.
Haitian griot (twice-cooked pork) with pikliz and diri kole at the NE 54th Street corridor. Chef Creole plates conch, snapper and fried plantain for $14-22 and pours kremas at holidays. Cash-friendly, counter service, no frills.
Nicaraguan buffet counter west of the airport where Managua exiles queue for carne asada, gallo pinto, queso frito and vigorón in banana leaf. Plates run $12-18; tajadas and a Toña beer add $8. Open daily until 22:00.
Kosher sourdough bakery in a whitewashed warehouse on NW 1st Court. Sourdough loaves $9, babka $8, and a smoked-fish plate around $19. Open Sun-Fri 07:00-16:00, closed Saturdays. Long communal tables, house-milled rye.
The 1913 institution at 11 Washington Ave sells the same claws next door without the two-hour dining-room wait. Medium claws around $50/lb with mustard sauce; stone crab season runs 15 October to 1 May only.
The Chang family's Peruvian-Nikkei kitchens on NE 2nd Avenue. Maty's serves causa, arroz con pato and leche de tigre à la carte ($22-42); Itamae AO runs a tasting counter. Reserve weeks out via Resy for the omakase seats.
A working fish house on the north bank of the Miami River, run by the Garcia family since 1966. Fried grouper sandwich, conch fritters and stone crab eaten on a dock while shrimp boats unload. Lunch and dinner daily.
Saturdays only, 08:00-16:00 on Grand Avenue at Margaret Street. All-organic since 1977: raw honey, Florida avocados, hearts-of-palm salad and a legendary vegan falafel stand. Bring cash; most vendors don't take cards.
A Cuban burger joint since 1976 selling the frita — chorizo-spiced beef patty, raw onion and a nest of shoestring fries on a soft roll, about $8. Add a batido de trigo (wheat shake). Open daily, counter and booth seating.
Two ventanita institutions: Enriqueta's on NE 29th Street pours cortaditos and stacks pan con bistec ($9), while Mary Ann sells guava-cheese pastelitos by the dozen. Colada for the table costs about $4 and serves six.
A 1935 Calle Ocho bar where Billie Holiday once sang, reopened as a rum-and-son-cubano room. Mojitos and daiquiris $14-16, live salsa on the pineapple-shaped back stage nightly, croquetas and empanadas at the bar.