MenuPirate:Miami

This past Sunday I attended Barcamp Miami in the Grove. Barcamp is a collaborative event for Web Developers, Creative Folks and Entrepreneurs. This is a somewhat casual gathering where the goal isn’t so much on selling but on sharing ideas and meeting like minded individuals.

It was a very down to earth and laid back style of sharing ideas where speakers would announce their topics via a schedule matrix and post it notes. No rigid scheduling or pageantry to worry about just people wanting to talk about something they are passionate about.

The first speaker I sat down for was the CEO of a web based book keeping firm called FreshBooks. His presentation centered on the decision making process behind his company’s name and shed some light on the process. As a grassroots entrepreneur this opportunity for free knowledge was appreciated. The information was reaffirming in some areas where it was cool to see someone else had gone through the same thought process for this type of thing.

The Grove was a great setting for this event. The weather was excellent and Lunch at Mr. Moe’s is always good. Each time I’ve gone I’d had something new there and I have yet to have a bad experience.

Kudos to the Barcamp: Miami people for putting on a good show!

Coconut Grove Grapevine has a cool photo set from the event and some more thoughts, check it out.

For a long time Buffalo Wild Wings was just another one of those places that would advertise incessantly down here despite the fact the nearest location was either on the Space Coast , Orlando or Naples. (Sonic and Red Robin , I’m looking at you.)

This was the case until a few days ago when I decided to stop by their new location in Cutler Bay and I must say it was a nice experience. Wings, Burgers and your regular fried staples like chicken tenders, cheese sticks and the like are accented by a selection of sauces that spans the top of the menu. Ranging from Regular BBQ to Spicy and Tangy varieties. The food doesn’t really set itself apart from most of your other major chains but if I had to compare it to anything I would say it is a step above Denny’s in some areas and on par with Hooters with some of the other offerings on the menu. But is food really the reason to come to this place?

If you have ever seen a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial you will know that they pride themselves on being a great place to watch sports and hang out with your friends and I’ll go ahead and state here that this place lives up to the advertising and then some. Food be damned the beer menu is where its at. Where else can you grab Labatt Blue and chase it with some Pabst Blue Ribbon and then get all classy with some Stella Artois ?

As a said earlier the food is so-so and it pretty much lives and dies on which sauce you decide to drench it in but where this place succeeds is in catering to a large group. The food comes in some pretty big servings so sharing and dragging a meal out over the length of a ball game is fine.

The layout also helps to this end. All the cheesy sports memorabilia is on the walls, no canoes or vintage bicycles hanging off the ceiling and into your meal. Aside from some load bearing columns the place is wide open this allows for really good viewing angles on all the TVs in the place.



Pretty much every table gets a TV and some areas get the interactive gaming TVs in case there aren’t any good games on or the people in your group have some social anxiety issues.

Final Verdict:

For what it is the food is just fine. The portions are great for a large group to munch on while kicking back with cold ones from the large beer menu and catching your favorite game. The only kink I would say this place has is that the service is still a bit new and my not be up to date on whats being offered but all in all I would recommend it to any team looking to grab a few beers and chicken wings after a softball game or just people looking for a place to catch a game on the tube.

I will be making drive down south come football season that’s for sure.

Buffalo Wild Wings
CUTLER BAY (#3438)
Southland Mall
20505 S Dixie Highway, Suite 555A
Cutler Bay, FL 33189
Phone: 305-238-8850

If there is anything I’ve learned from TV it is that not all plots have to make sense so lets pay no mind to the last year of inactivity and pick up where we left off shall we ?

Lots of places to review so lets carry on… check back soon!

Went for jog today through the South Miami downtown area along sunset and stumbled upon a few new restaurants popping up under the new parking structure and my first glimpse of the new Chipotle Mexican Grill. I heard they gave out free food for two days when they opened last week which I’m kicking myself for missing!





I’m really digging what they did to the old Krispy Kreme/Schlozky’s Deli location. The place was absolutely packed at around 5:00 PM when I snapped this picture. As I drove around I noticed how they had transformed the out door eating area, and the old drive thru area. Got to give the designers a nod on this one they really went all out to take the best of the existing building (the brick facade) and mix it into Chipotle’s Trendy strip down store front style.


I’m Making it a note to stop by, If it’s half as good as the North Miami location then I’m going to have to make this my new stop for Mexican. This place blows Qdoba out of the water in every category.


Chipotle - University of Miami
6290 South Dixie Highway
South Miami, FL 33143
305-668-3831 (phone)





And this is the new parking structure on SW 73 ST and SW 58 AVE in the Sunset Place area, home of two new chain restaurants.


First we have Carrabba’s Italian Grill …





Which looks like it’s pretty close to opening and is already showing off their menu in the windows.





Meh not my cup of tea…


But right next door, work is also getting close to being wrapped up on a new Outback Steakhouse, which is my cup of tea.





Not as boasty about what’s opening there as Carraba’s but the place had some paper’s with Outback’s contact information and what looks like a hiring tent with Outback branding inside so its safe to say both locations are hiring so check them out if your in that business.


Hmm, looks like things are going to get a bit dicy in that area with all the recent chain options popping up there. I’m not sure if the area can support so many big chain spots but downtown South Miami has been resurgent lately so it will be interesting to see what pans out there.

According to CBS 4 , Miami’s City Attorney has been dining all over town on the City’s Dime…

The Miami City Attorney routinely submitted batches of meal tabs for reimbursement, with only a cover letter saying they are expenses, in his words, “that ” have determined are necessary in the performance of my duties.”

Fernandez has performed unspecified duties at La Casita in Coral Gables; a $184 lunch tab on one occasion, a $155 lunch on another.

At the Mambo Cafe, Fernandez expensed a $400 meal; a note on the check says “Christmas party.”

Lunch at Larios cost taxpayers $254, and at New York’s Sparks Steakhouse, Fernandez ran up a $530 tab and asked taxpayers to pay.

Man , would I love to be on the Attorney’s staff for some of these lunches. The guy hits up some quality places; La Casita on SW 8th Street and 38 Ave stands out in a the sea of Cuban Food on Calle Ocho and his $1,500 excursion to Key Biscayne’s Landmark Rusty Pelican must have been one awesome meeting.

But I think Mr. Fernandez is missing the point of public office, your supposed to book meetings where the OTHER party whips out the Corporate AMEX.

Beers, Buddies, Burgers, and Big Screens (and Babes in the case of Hooters.); apart they are good but together they can make even an 0 - 7 Dolphins team watchable.

Over the past few weeks I’ve watched a good share of football around town. Usually my favorite football spots are Duffy’s Tavern, and Sunset Tavern but I’ve been catching a games at the chain places a bit more often this season.

Hooters restaurant has always been a great place to grab some cheap pitchers and watch a game specifically the Doral location on SW 87th Ave and NW 13 Terrace. My brother and I decided to catch the end of a Dolphins game there a few weeks back and The server while not only extremely pleasing to the eye was incredibly on the ball. Even with a packed house of irate Dolphins fans they kept up with our orders. The food itself was also a pleasant surprise, I had always thought that Hooters was only good for chicken wings ( Which I despise…) but my brother introduced me to their Bronze Platters.

Now I can’t seem to find these things mentioned on Hooters’ online menu , they were posted on the actual menu during my visit in a slide in specials sheet so this may have been a limited time menu item or a specific item to the Doral location but I must say I hope it makes the permanent rotation because the Blackened Herb Chicken and Caesar salad Bronze Platter was excellent.

As I remember,you have the option of deliciously seasoned Grilled Mahi or Chicken and a Caesar or Side salad on a large platter for about $7.99 for the chicken platter and market price for the Mahi. I can’t speak for the Mahi but the grilled Chicken was great and provides a good bang for your buck. The Chicken breast was HUGE and the salad was adequately sized but a bit heavy on the dressing in the case of my Caeser.

The Not So Final Verdict: Not a lot of options if your trying to eat healthy, while catching the game but the beer is cheap, the TV’s are huge and the service is awesome. If you like chicken wings this place seems to be the chain restaurant Mecca but if your like me and you’d rather have an alternative, ask about the Bronze Platter.

If you’ve visited this blog in the last couple of days you may have noticed some changes…

I’ll be making some changes to this the theme and if you’ve attempted to comment you may have run across the anti spam confirmation word system. I apologize for the inconvenience to those of you who are not annoying spam bots and have something interesting to say but I was getting an approval queue full of spam on a daily basis. I’m open to suggestions from active word press users on less draconian methods of spam illumination but this seems to be working fine for the most part.

This theme is having a few compatibility issues between browsers so I decided to do some looking around and I’ve yet to settle on one that looks good and remains functional.

In honor of my new Cubicle…

I’ve been inspired to find alternate uses for office machinery that frequently annoys me.

Thank you Wiki-How!

Believe it or not, the first manufactured paper shredder design was inspired by a hand-crank pasta maker. Even though shredders have come a long way, they can still be used to perform the same function as their pasta-making cousin. If you’ve got an old, un-used shredder lying around or you’ve got top-secret, incriminating information printed on a pasta sheet, it might be useful (and fun) to explore the multi-functionality of your shredder and get some linguine out of it at the same time.

Below are a few quick reviews of some local independent sandwich shops.

Sub Serious

Located centrally in downtown Coral Gables, Sub Serious offers dine in and delivery service (Very Quick, by the way) to the downtown Coral Gables area. The place has a large menu including salads and other items to break away from the “Sandwich & Chips” model. This place kind of became my default lunch location for a while since they were they only shop that would deliver to my old office, plus their online ordering system is incredibly helpful in getting large lunch order or even regular orders out of the way quickly and brought to you accurately. I recommend the Hot Turkey Sub or Steak and Mushrooms.

Hungry Bear Sub Shop

Great Sub shop. Similar subs to Sub Serious and other indy sub shops but the bread really sets this place apart. Sub Serious’s bread can get soggy if your big into lettuce, tomatoes, etc. but the bread stays crisp here. Hungry Bear has 3 locations;

3399 NW 72nd Ave # 112, Miami, FL - (305) 592-2515
10521 SW 109th Ct, Miami, FL - (305) 595-8385 (Across from MDC Kendall Campus)
10408 Taft St, Pembroke Pines - (954) 704-8800

I’ve only been to the SW 109 ST location across from MDC, in a shopping plaza tucked away behind the Shell Gas Station. Great spot, big lunch time location for MDC students. The shop itself is very small and offers no indoor seating so be prepared for take out or you can take a seat outside on a few picnic tables.

I have a few others I’m gonna follow up on but let us know a bit about your favorite local sub shops… always looking for a new place to grab a sub.

According to the Coral Gables Gazette the new Whole Foods location on Red Road across the street from Sunset Place ill be opening its doors September 26 at 8 AM with a series of foodie activities. Classes, contests, demonstration and everyones favorite … free samples are on the agenda for the weekend festivities.

Reading over the list of amenities offered at the location it looks to be like the Publix down there is going to have to step up their game to compete for the big ticket shoppers …

The community will enjoy the store’s Whole Lifestyle Center where local and in-store chefs will host cooking classes in the center’s fully-equipped kitchen. The public is invited to enjoy health lectures, fitness classes, children’s events, store tours, food and wine tastings, and other activities focused on wellness.

Borderline Smug Cloud Warning there, but I imagine this will be received very well.

For more info check out the article of at the Gazette.