Prime 112

Prime 112

112 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139

If you're looking for an A list restaurant in Miami, this is the spot to be seen. Every celebrity and athlete is dinning at this eatery. For reservations after 9:00 PM on a Friday or Saturday night, expect to wait about 45 minutes. The bar will be quite full as well. The scene is definitely happening at Prime 112! Upon sitting, the waiter brings you the most delicious three cheese bread you've probably ever had. If you want something unique, try their Maine Lobster Cocktail, it was so yummy we had to order two. The Shrimp Cocktail was also very good their shrimps were the size of my fist (four people can eat off one order). Prime Steak Tartar, very well prepared, if raw is what you crave. Kobe beef sliders were good. Their Prime Steaks are all mouth watering and tender, cooked to perfection. Loved Prime 112! Make plans to go with a fun group of friends and expect to have a night you’ll never forget! Remember to bring your camera. 

Yard House

Village Of Merrick Park

320 San Lorenzo Ave
Coral Gables, FL 33146

Loved it! What else can you ask for, an eatery with the world’s largest selection of draft beers?  Rock and Roll music, high end burgers, truffle fries, and 250 draft beers to choose from. You can never go wrong at Yard House. If you’re looking for a great place to eat in the Gables, the Yard House has lots of mouth watering Unique Foods to taste.

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill & Wine Bar

Seasons 52

321 Miracle Mile
Coral Gables, FL 33134

Seasons 52 is housed in the heart of Coral Cables, right on Miracle Mile. The atmosphere is inviting, the bar is dim and delightful with a piano player at the bar. The menu changes with the Seasons, hence the name Seasons 52 (52 weeks in a year).  What’s more is that every food on the menu is no more than 475 calories! Seasons 52 claims to be the pioneer, originator and founder of the mini indulgence (small portion size).  Although, I’m not sure that is entirely true, they are definitely risky when it comes to preparing their dishes. An absolutely must try “Unique dish” of Seasons 52 is, the Buffalo (yes, Buffalo or Bison) Chili. If you’ve never tried Buffalo before, this is the place to expand your pallet. This bowl of chili is made with black beans, corn cake and cilantro sour cream. The meat is tender and delicious, when you put it in your mouth you say, WOW! I’m in Heaven! Also a must try is, the Somona Goat Cheese Ravioli. This giant luscious creamy ravioli sits on a bowl of tomato consommé and diced tomatoes. Light, simple and fresh. What more can you ask for? The dishes at Seasons 52 are outrageously yummy and sexy!  

Bonefish Grill

Looking for something deliciously unique to eat today? Try the Bonefish: Baja Fish Taco, deliciousness... The fish is seasoned and grilled to perfection, topped with lettuce, mango salsa, and sour cream. The flavors melt in your mouth. The Baja taco goes perfect with any of Bonefish's awesome martini. Stay hungry.

Previously Houston's, now Hillstone Coral Gables

201 Miracle Mile
Coral Gables, FL


If you are looking for a diverse American classic meal, Houston's in Coral Gables is a great place to start. I had the Famous French Dip Au Jus, slow roasted prime rib, thinly sliced, and piled high on a house made French roll. Delicious! It comes accompanied by a homemade horseradish creamy sauce and shoe string French fries. The Spicy Tuna Roll is also a must try. Finally, if you are a vegetarian as some of my friends are the Farmer's Market Vegetable platter rocks!

Tarpon Bend Coral Gables

65 Miracle Mile

Coral Gables, FL

As far as staples that define Coral Gables eateries and hot spots, Tarpon Bend stands out as the leader of the pack. From the awesome happy hours with the best the Gables has to offer to their Wednesday Mojito Madness where all types of Mojitos are just $3.50. Pair that with one of the freshest seafood menus in town and you are in for a real treat. The general manager, a handsome British-bred delight of a person that goes by the name of Wayne is always keeping things running in top notch. The menu consists of seafood fare from Cold Water Oysters to their Oyster Shooters and if you top the shooters with a shot of Stoli vodka you are definitely taking it up a notch. Their San Diego Fish Tacos of crispy corn tortillas filled with lightly battered fish, tomato, avocado and chipotle cream is an explosion of flavors waiting to go off in your mouth and at less than $5.00 apiece; a real bargain.

For the special, I recommend the Sizzling Seafood Kettle. This was a mixture of clam, mussels, shrimp, calamari and fresh fish in a light tomato sauce. This is the definite follow up to a couple of the Stoli Oyster Shooters.

For the non-seafood eating among us… the Churrasco Chimichurri is a definite must. Also, the Marinated Pork Tenderloins marinated with citrus and served with yucca fries and a mojo dipping sauce will leave you wanting more.

All in all Tarpon Bend has a lot to offer other than just seafood. From light and refreshing salads to real fresh, well-prepared seafood to their Tarpon Specials and their unique Buns like the Dolphin Reuben; Tarpon Bend is sure to please the most unique tastes in all of us.

Michy's Miami

6927 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL



Michy’s is located in the “Upper East Side” of town.  Dinning style is casual.  As you walk in you’ll notice the dim glowing lights coming from the chandeliers spread out about the room. The crowd consisted of a mixed array, from the older to the younger looking. The room felt a bit tight and very dark. No kids involved in this production. For starters they brought us raisin bread with butter, which would have gone nicely with a martini, but Michy’s only serves beer and wine.  The menu has several options to choose from, or you can go with the chef’s tasting menu (the chef chooses for you) and let your palate take a ride! I decided to choose for myself. I started with the creamy polenta (truffle, poached egg, bacon bits), jamon serrano & blue cheese croquetas (fig marmalade), and tuna tartar. As you can imagine, the tastes of all these dishes were delightful.  For main course, I had the Chupe or Peruvian seafood stew (Florida caught, fish, mussels, clams,) this too was delicious. The food was most enjoyable, good quality ingredients from local farms. The service on the other hand, was not what I expected. Our waiter Rafael failed to thrill. Even though we told him we were new comers, he was not very welcoming or informative about the food choices.  To make matters worse my water had a fly floating in it. Would I return? Probably not...

Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill

3252 NE 1 Avenue
Miami, FL

Sugarcane, located in the Design District is unique foods all the way. If you are looking for a high energy, gastronomic experience…this is the place to dine. The menu selection of fresh food and diverse ingredients is plentiful. Must haves are: kobe beef sliders (yum, yum, yummy), lamb meatballs, goat cheese croquets, duck and waffles, ox tail, crudos, oysters, and if you are willing to take a walk on the wild side, try the bone marrow.  The kobe beef sliders are my favorite. The juicy meat melts like butter when it touches your tongue, and the light sense of horseradish awakens the palate in a way few foods can. It’s harmony in your mouth. The ox tail is also very tasty the meat is braised to perfection, removed from the bone, and topped with a fried quail egg.   The bar scene is always happening, the vodka pomegranate lemonade a must try. If dinning with a group, order the pitcher $45 it’s totally worth it.

Cha Cha Rooster

The Lords Hotel
11th & Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL

My husband found a good deal on the restaurant section of: Travel Zoo and decided to buy a gift certificate to this restaurant. Upon calling the restaurant to make dinner reservations, our choices where either 8:30PM or 10:00PM, the host mentioned something about a show, but honestly we didn't pay too much attention to it. That is of course, until the night arrived when we were driving to the restaurant and remembered something about…a mention of a show? At which time, a slight feeling of panic over came us. What kind of show did they say it was? After all, this is Miami, anything can happen...by then it was too late. We had already arrived. When you enter the Hotel there is an enormous Polar Bear sculpture in the middle of the lobby...ok, that was weird. Proceed to the end of the lobby, go down some steps and there it is: Cha Cha Rooster. There is nothing Cha Cha about the place and there are definitely no Roosters. The ambiance felt nice, not too crowded for a Friday night at 10:00PM. Our waiter Eddie (Ediberto) was very sweet. We started with Pomegranate Martini’s and the Tiradito of Tuna (very good but very same). As a main course, I ordered the Braised Boneless Short Rib with truffled celery root puree, caramelized pearl onions, and confit of artichokes (Awesome!). My husband ordered the Pan-Seared Blackened Grouper with clams, baby zucchini, squash and ginger lemongrass broth (Deliciousness!!!). The grouper melted like butter when it touched your tongue (an explosion of flavors to the pallet). Then 10:00PM came around, some random lady started to sign in a red sequenced dress, with red shoes that reminded me of Dorothy of “The Wizard of Oz” (definitely NOT a contestant for American Idol). She was accompanied by a gentleman that played both the keyboard and the trumpet, simultaneously, as she sang. This was all very surprising to me! I started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh....I felt as if I was in the movie "Dinner for Schmucks". What happened here (I wondered)? They weren't kidding about the show!! Over all, this was one of the funniest nights of my life. Both the food and the show were, unexpected. I will definitely go back for more.

Trattoria Dolce Vita

13630 SW 120 Street
Town Square Center
Miami, FL 33186

This is a very nice, new Italian restaurant. From the moment you  walk-in you are greeted by very kind waiters. The food is tasty and prepared quickly. Chef Omar Morillo's will exit the kitchen several times  during your course, to say hello, which adds a very nice touch to the overall dinning experience. To the tuna lovers: the tuna tartar and avocado was very good, so was the veal (special of the night). The vegetables on the other hand seemed frozen. Like those you buy in the supermarket.

Gigi Noodles - BBQ - Beer

braised short rib meat loaf - smokey plantain, soy molasses

The hip twentysomethings seemed to fill the room. The energy as you can expect was fast paced and exciting. The wait; eventhough the place was overfilled, was suprisingly short. Because of the layout, big parties are hard to accomodate. Since we were only two they had us sitting in about twenty minutes. The walls were filled with the usual art you expect to find at any other restaurant in the area. The service was truly flowing eventhough the place was jamming. We opted to start with the Chef Jorge's Famous Soft Taco made of beef brisket on a fluffly corn pancake with a homemade sauce that when it all came together in the mouth it was an explosion of flavors with some crisp from the greens. The braised short rib meatloaf was also a force to be reckonerd with. The smokey plantain puree brought all the flavor together very nicely. The meatloaf was caramalized on the out side giving it a crunchy initial kick that would lead to a mouth-watering mix of the softest meat imaginable. Gigi's is open til 5 AM on Friday & Saturday.