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T

he moment you land in Miami you are instantly transported to another world. There is no other place in the country like this city. Miami is at the end of the road. It’s a city caught in a vice grip of weird, where all the people who don’t really fit in the rest of the country escape to reinvent themselves.

Here everyone has a hustle. Your server owns a line of custom T-shirts, a stripper can sell you a condo, or your friendly neighborhood abuela runs a bootleg valet service during the Marlin’s game.  No one is ever exactly who they say they are, and everyone is out to have more fun than anybody else. With all the reinventing and hustling comes an unparalleled variety of food, drinks, and parties, and yeah, there’s a pretty nice beach too. So whether you find yourself at a cockfight in Hialeah or a shady mansion on Hibiscus Island with more security than the Whitehouse, whatever you get yourself into in, Miami will be the stuff of tall tales when you get back home. Except here, it’s all true.

Recently Miami had been rated the number one city for “foodies.” This might seem odd, since this city has a reputation for being all about sexy beach bodies and a steady diet of “white powder” and soda water. Maybe this came from the constant ads for liposuction on Power96 during your morning commute to work, or the fact that this city has more gyms than people at this point.

That rising culinary reputation isn’t inaccurate; trust me, if you want to experience the food scene like a local, keep in mind some neighborhoods have better options than others. Let’s take Wynwood for example, they have Alter, R House, Kyu, and Coyo Taco, all of which have opened in the past few years and are foodie favorites. We can’t forget about the MiMo District on Biscayne Blvd, where you can get all your friends giggling by posting pics from Phuc Yea! Or dine al fresco at Mina’s Mediterraneo.

Of course the top dog of the food kingdom is the hispanic food from all the latin cultures sharing the magic city. Guilty pleasure like ropa vieja, baleadas, arroz imperial, and carne asada, are the backbone of this foodie paradise. Take it from a local, a general rule with latin food: The divier the restaurant, the better it’ll be. Pastelitos and croquetas are best purchased from a Spanish speaking women in semi-soiled white shirt, working a cafeteria window on Calle Ocho that smells like coffee and frying food. Places like La Rosa Bakery, Yambo, Casa de Baleadas, Versailles, and El coladito are the places to go to truly experience what food Miami has to offer.

Beyond the food, we have a city full of people from different countries who are eager to showcase their home cuisines. So come on down to the dirty south and feast with the locals, that’s why food, much like every other experience you‘ll have in Miami, is unlike anything else in America.