Cafe @ Books & Books

Bookstore/cafe in the Lincoln Road Mall, Miami Beach.

What we had:

I had the smoked chicken/sauteed onion/goat cheese/chevre panini with mixed greens and guava bbq sauce. This was a really good sandwich. The chicken was delicately smoked--almost with a pork taste--and the ooey gooey cheese was a great counterpoint to the crusty, nice-quality ciabatta. The greens were nicely dressed.

My DH had a burger cooked medium. The beef quality was nice and the cheese was well done. Same great ciabatta with fries.

The meal also came with a starter--a really nice black bean hummous with nice, sharp garlic and light & airy crackers. The tropical tea was spot-on as well. Exactly what we needed on a day where the heat index crept up close to 100.

Décor:

As everywhere in the Lincoln Road mall, this is a great place for people-watching and hanging out on a Saturday afternoon.

Service:
Not bad.

Overall impressions:

Nice menu, good quality food, and books! What's not to love?

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Juice & Java

Natural food chain with a massive menu of sandwiches, pastas, entrees, juices, salads, soups, etc. and a small health convenience food market.

What we had:

I had the Billy Wrap: organic brown rice, grilled Tilapia, feta, avocado, spinach, sprouts, Miso dressing, Monterey Jack cheese. Nice, balanced flavors, great Tilapia, and it felt good to eat--no grease, and although I left feeling like I was having a food baby, it wasn't the wrap's fault. I blame that on the Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, Pineapple smoothie I chugged down. (fantabulous)

My DH had the Chicken Caesar Wrap: grilled chicken, organic greens, Monterey Jack cheese & natural Caesar dressing. The chicken had a great flavor, the dressing wasn't overpowering and organic greens are always welcome. He also had an Orange, grapefruit & banana smoothie.

Décor:

Small, lots of healty convenience foods for sale.

Service:
Friendly. the manager was behind the counter talking to customers, many of whom seemed to come on a regular basis.

Overall impressions:

A nice place to grab a bite. The menu is massive with something for everyone--from the need to be tricked into eating healthy set to the uber-hippie.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Bari Pizza

Take out or delivery pizza joint

What we had:

We ordered a 10" pepperoni and a 10" mushroom pizza for delivery. Both were pretty great. The crust was just what you want--crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Not overpowering sauce with a nice spice balance, good cheese, good quality toppings. This is now our favorite delivery pizza.

Décor:

My apartment

Service:
The quickest pizza I've gotten in a long, long time. We were quoted half an hour on a Saturday, and they delivered with time to spare.

Overall impressions:

pretty great for pizza. I'm leery of the steaks, seafood and pasta dishes, but maybe I'll work my way up to there.

No real company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Joe's Crab Shack

We've been curious about this chain for awhile--we'd heard good things about it but dismissed them out of hand since it's a chain and we live near the beach.

What we had:

I had an 18-piece shrimp bucket seasoned with Old Bay. I was craving slightly-overcooked shrimp, and this hit the spot. Peel & eat yummy goodness.

My DH had the Snow Crab bucket. As much as I hate to admit it, the crab beat my Publix brand frozen crab hands-down. The crab was succulent, not too sopping wet, and tasted great. The corn side was rubbery and had been sitting out way too long--the new potatoes were okay.


Décor:

Junk shop explosion. Boats, sharks, crab, you name it--hanging from the ceiling, on the walls, on the tables, etc.

Service:
So-so.

Overall impressions:

This place is pretty good. The prices aren't bad, the quality is pretty decent.. not bad. I've heard it's a really raucous place at night--I think the waitstaff sings or dances--and the drink menu looks good.


Company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Bambina's Pizza

Eat at the bar or walkin down the street place to shop for a slice in South Beach.

What we had:

I had a tomato/basil white pizza slice.

My DH had a pepperoni slice.

The pizza here is fresh, the sauce is not overpowering--nice, crisp crust. What's not to love?


Décor:

Take-out pizza joint

Service:

Not much service, though the cashiers/pizza guys are decently friendly.

Overall impressions:

Maybe it's partially since this is the first place we ate at in Miami when we came down to scope the place out before moving here, but we totally love this place. It's about $5 a slice, but it's worth it. Bambina's is still our #2 pizza spot in Miami-if we were within the delivery area, i'm sure it would be #1.

Keep in mind if you go, you have to get a token from the cashier to get into the bathroom, and the bathroom has no mirror.



Company website; what Google says

Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders

Granny Feelgood's

Healthy (but not insane vegan) nuveau fast/casual but with a menu style eatery in Aventura.

What we had:

I had a grilled chicken sandwich with some sort of sweet but not heavy glaze, avocados, red pepper with a side of tortilla chips. It wasn't bad. I think it was called the Bahama Chicken Panini.


My DH had a chicken quesadilla. Although it had a lot of cheese like any quesadilla, this one at least wasn't greasy.


Décor:

Modern-ish, nice, mild, safe.

Service:

Not bad. More attentive than usual at this type of place.

Overall impressions:

It was pretty good. My sandwich, while nothing special, was tasty and I didn't leave feeling bogged down with grease or 16 tons of meat, so that was nice. The menu here is rather large--they have the obligatory smooties, salads, wraps, paninis, burgers, etc. but also some pretty good looking entrees as well. Most items are health in disguise style--non-threatening dishes with small substitutions on the side of low fat/low sodium. They even have a raw foods salad, and a few vegan dishes. No bacon in sight (at least no pig bacon, they do have the turkey variety). I appreciate where they're going with the menu, but I do think it's a tad overpriced. I don't want to pay as much for a sandwich as an entree.

The main sandwich side is store-bught tortilla chips (non-greasy, of course) and for an extra $2.50 you can get sweet potato fries. On top of your $10 sandwich. I would like to see the sandwiches go down a buck or so, and the side-switching price be dropped to $1.00 on the outside, then this place won't feel like quite so much of a gyp.

The company website is a creepy franchise information only page that says something about another location being closed; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders