Matt Meltzer

Trying to keep a list of the best stuff to see and do in Cuba down to just 11 options is a pretty darn impossible task – but here at Time Out we’re nothing if not ambitious. This island remains something of a mystery to plenty of even the most seasoned travelers: despite being just 90 miles from the US, Cuba’s classic cars, pastoral living and natural beauty is still somewhat unexplored by foreign nationals. A trip to Cuba is very much like stepping into an alternative present; this island’s defiant independence has fashioned it into one of the world’s most distinctive destinations. Stubbornly characterful in the face of global commercialism, in Cuba you’ll find lip-smackingly marvelous restaurants, drop-dead gorgeous architecture, unspoiled beaches and much more. Here are our essential highlights. RECOMMENDED:😋 The best restaurants in Cuba🛏 The best Airbnbs in Havana  

When your city regularly has nights with temperatures in the upper 80s, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when ramen shops take a while to catch on. So while for years it seemed other American cities had block after block of places to get hot, steaming bowls of Japanese noodle soup, finding a place to go for ramen in Miami was tough. But warm weather be darned, we’ve finally gotten in on the action. And in the past few years, our city has seen dozens of first-rate noodle spots pop up serving well into the wee hours of the morning. You’ll find them in busy Brickell bars, spartan strip malls in Miami and bustling Miami food halls. Each one offers its own take on the comforting Japanese classic so even if you’ve already had one, it’s worth giving one of these Miami ramen shops a whirl.

November 2019: Early this decade it seemed that restaurants would no longer exist in non-mobile form. Food trucks were sweeping the nation, bringing everything from burritos to Bahn mi to street corners everywhere. That craze seems to have died down to some degree, with the most successful trucks branching out to brick-and-mortars, including Ms. Cheezious, which recently opened at Time Out Market Miami, and El Bagel, which soon opens its first shop in the Upper Eastside. La Pollita followed a similar trajectory, with its owners closing the truck to focus on their first restaurant, Boia De. Though you can still find some fantastic options on wheels in Miami, like newcomer Chifa Streets located at Veza Sur’s courtyard for optimal hangover prevention. Food trucks? Miami has plenty of them. It’s one dining trend this city can’t get enough of (along with, of course, the brunches in Miami). Roving restaurants are the barometer of a city’s food scene. Big name chefs might open concepts in trendy neighborhoods, but skyrocketing rents have forced the real culinary creatives to turn to food trucks, where they create everything from the best desserts in Miami to tacos that rival those from the best Mexican restaurants in Miami. These days, hitting a Miami food truck rally on a Saturday night gives you more inventive options than an entire season of restaurant dining—for half the price.

To paraphrase an old saying: Give a person dinner at a restaurant in Miami, they might save $100. But teach a person to make dinner in Miami, and they’ll save a third of their paycheck worth of Uber Eats. And, yes, you could learn how to cook pretty much anything on YouTube, but wouldn’t it be so much more fun with a group of your friends and some booze? Of course, it would. So, skip the food delivery in Miami, shut off the instructional videos and check out one of the best cooking classes in Miami for some seriously useful education that’ll save you money in the long run—or, at the very least, serve as a way to meet singles in Miami.

On the surface, Miami is all about health and fitness, a city where every corner has a yoga studio and a Miami juice bar, and you could probably find a vegan butcher shop if you looked hard enough. Of course, like so many things in Miami, the surface reputation is misleading, and for every keto-dieting crossfitter, you meet there’s someone inside who just wants to sink their teeth into a deep-fried Cuban sandwich in Miami. Sometimes you’ve just had enough of drinking kale for lunch and need to have a meal where calories don’t count. And for those special occasions, here are 13 foods that are worth cheating on your diet.

In Miami, even going to the bathroom is a scene. Anyone who’s waited in line between three people in a stall at LIV or marveled at the in-toilet graffiti at Wood Tavern in Wynwood can attest to that. But those scenes happen mostly by accident, results mostly from the people who go to these Miami bars and clubs. Other spots around the city put a little more effort into their bathroom experience, offering designs, technological innovations, art and decorations that make using the bathroom as much an adventure as the food, drinks, or, in some cases, train rides north of the city. Here are 11 spots around Miami worth visiting for their bathrooms alone.

Morning commutes up US-1 are right up there with property taxes and club promoters as the worst things about living in Miami. However, those commutes can be considerably more bearable with a piping hot bag of bagels in your passenger seat, conveniently available at this deli near the perpetually-jammed intersection of SW 27th Ave. If you’ve got a little more time, relax in this classic deli setting and enjoy a Dr. Brown’s soda with your nova sandwich or corned beef hash—though, we wouldn’t recommend trying either while driving. 

Not only is this place Brickell’s best bagel spot, but it's also home to the best bagel sandwiches in all of Miami. The Little Havana Bagel (they're all named after different Miami neighborhoods) is the go-to for meat eaters. It's topped with eggs, steak, onions and American cheese. For vegetarians, the Collins breakfast wrap is a must, stuffed with scrambled eggs, feta, and spinach. Just make sure you get there early on the weekends. Lines for this place are intense. 

At this point, Acai bowls at 7-Eleven are probably imminent. Still, this spot at the base of Portofino does the food trend tastier than anyone in town. The Maui transplants who opened Lilikoi include a chef with Fat Duck pedigree, who’s serving up stuff like sous vide eggs on quinoa flour waffles with coconut milk whipped cream and organic eggs on homemade whole wheat toast. They’ve also got juices pressed to order, and an innovative smoothie menu highlighted by a kale piña colada.

People who still call it “Dade County” and remember a time when the zoo was on Key Biscayne will tell you the best breakfast in Miami is at Wagon's West. Fancy, it is not. But it's got charm all over the place, from its wooden dining room to the waitresses that have seen their customers grow up and bring their children to the table. The breakfast Cheers ambiance aside, South Dade locals still flock here for the food, where omelets and waffles are the stars of the show. It’s a true throwback spot that hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1981.

There may not be a breakfast spot in Miami that offers more for everyone than this Aventura staple. Not only does the menu boast savory stuff like short rib and sliced lox benedicts, but those with a sweet tooth swear by the cookie dough-stuffed French toast. Add in a quinoa porridge and Greek yogurt granola parfait for the healthy and you’ve got an easy choice for big group breakfasts. Pro tip: Go early on the weekends to avoid a wait. People into this kind of decadence don’t wake up early.

If staring at the cases of chocolate-covered heaven while you wait for your brunch table is just too painful, head there during the week for plain-old breakfast. This gourmet bakery does eggs, omelets, and Brioche French toast as well as anyone, but the real draw is the indulgent sweets in the display case. Try not to think too hard about the calories and be sure to take plenty of pictures.

The take-out market next to iconic Joe’s Stone Crab might be the best-kept secret (in terms of value) on the Beach. Thoughwidely known for its fried chicken, the breakfast here is also one of the best deals around. You’ll get the same high-quality food as next door, but breakfast for two here with coffee and OJ is rarely over $30 with tip. The omelets are the best pick, especially if you pack them with seafood, and the hash browns are just as delicious in the morning as they are next to hearty stone crab claws at night.

Given our large collection of New York transplants, Miami has an upsettingly-small number of great bagel places. But many say the best in the city can be found here, at this deli-diner hybrid near Sans Souci. At Bagel Bar, Miami Shores lifers enjoy hand-rolled bagels and bialys next to MiMo transplants at the counter. It's a delightfully odd cross-section of Miami you won’t find in most places. And if you’re not bagel-obsessed, the chocolate chip pancakes they serve on the weekend can still become addictive.

Stuffing fries into a sandwich has been a time-honored tradition since Primanti Brothers introduced the idea to steelworkers in Pittsburgh in the 1930s. The next logical step is to fuse that very-American idea with cuisines from around the world, which is exactly what Moty’s does so skillfully. This Mediterranean truck still serves some of the best falafel, shawarma and kebabs in Miami. But the Bomb—which consists of falafel, chicken shawarma and French fries in a pita—is a full lunch you can devour in under five minutes.  

One of the cool things about living in Miami is we have access to cuisines that aren’t too common in the rest of the country. Take, for example, Mr. Good Stuff's signature item, the luna, Venezuelan corn arepas filled with everything from BBQ pulled pork to short rib to gouda cheese. It’s the kind of thing you’d have to search long and hard for in other cities, but all we have to do is pull up Mr. Good Stuff's Twitter and find the truck's location.   

This timeless dessert truck has won pretty much every award a food truck can receive. The concept is genius: take a flavor of hand-made gelato (like Oreo, Belgian chocolate or salted caramel brûlée) dip it in one of three chocolates and then cover it with toppings such as pretzels, sprinkles or caramelized pecans. It’s the ultimate in customizable desserts and—even if you know nothing about flavors—it’s impossible to go wrong.  

Sometimes it feels like South Florida is a barbecue desert. And then you happen upon the oasis that is King of Racks, a rolling smoked meat emporium that quenches your barbecue thirst with mouthfuls of homemade sweet and tangy sauce. As the name might imply, the go-to order here is the baby back ribs, which are slow cooked and served with creamed corn. However, if you want something that won’t leave sauce all over your face, the brisket sandwich and pulled pork tacos will have you thinking you’re square in Texas—until you feel the humidity.  

You never have to go far to find a bit of Cuba in Miami, but when it comes to surrounding yourself with guayaberas, cafecitos and fritas, two areas lead the pack: Little Havana and Hialeah. But who does it better? We revisit these two Cuban cornerstones to see what’s old and what’s new. Little Havana, once the landing point for Cuban refugees in the ’60s, morphed into a home for Central American immigrants in the aughts and into a popular destination for out-of-towners today. “It’s evolved into a tourist mecca now,” says Frank Rodriguez Melo, a Cedano Realty Advisors principal who has owned and managed residential property in Little Havana for nearly 20 years. “The young people come almost out of nostalgia, and a lot of businesses have come in playing off that nostalgia. Azucar Ice Cream Company and Velvet Creme Doughnuts are the kinds of places your grandpa took you to, and now they’re back.” Little Havana, once the landing point for Cuban refugees in the ’60s, morphed into a home for Central American immigrants in the aughts and is now a haven for young professionals escaping Brickell’s high rents as well as a destination for out-of-towners. So where do Cubans, immigrants, first generations and second generations live these days? It’s Hialeah, which boasts the most Cubans outside Cuba. While filled with residents who’ve been there since the 1950s as well as new-to-the-U.S. arrivals, the suburb increasingly attracts younger people. “The problema Hialeah’s had for a long time

Chances are, you’re not friends with your neighbors. Maybe you nod and occasionally trade comments about each other’s dogs, but past that, it’s a nonexistent relationship. But a new boom in micro-units—classified in SoFlo as apartments smaller than 550 square feet—is changing the way you socialize with the people next door. Several high-profile micro-unit developments are already on the way in Miami—most notably Wynwood 25 (227 NW 24th St), one of three Related Group projects, which broke ground in July. Wynwood 26 (51 NW 26th St), a joint venture with Block Capital Group, and Wynwood 29 (2828 NW First Ave), a partnership with developer Tony Cho, are scheduled to break ground as soon as this year. But they’re a lot more than just cramped versions of stoic urban high-rises: These stand-alone communities are meant to get you out of your home rather than encourage you to stay in it. “This generation’s social life is mostly outside. We understand they can manage on a smaller size,” says Ron Gottesmann of NR Investments, the company behind Canvas and Filling Station Lofts in the Arts and Entertainment District. It’s also planning a micro-condo project in the area with a series of amenities that foster community. “We want to create a connectivity of people who live in the building with coworking spaces, gyms and places to listen to music.” For Brian Koles of Property Markets Group (PMG), whose Vice project in Downtown Miami (230 NE Fourth St) is slated to open August 2018, micro-u