Garcia’s Seafood Grille & Fish Market

Garcia’s is a (mostly) outdoor restaurant that’s been operating long enough to see the Miami River’s tire-infested waters go from drug smuggling powerboats to tourist-filled yachts. But don’t worry, the fish you're eating isn’t coming from this river. Garcia’s started in 1966 as a seafood market before it became a restaurant too. So all the fish is caught through local fishermen—that’s about as fresh as it gets. The best time to visit is during Florida lobster or stone crab season. But you can always get our favorite dish year-round: the whole fried yellowtail snapper that’s cooked until it's crunchy outside but still flaky inside. It’s served with your choice of two sides, and this being a Cuban restaurant, one of those should be the crispy tostones. So sit on the water, watch the boats go by, and ignore the jealous birds on the veranda.

photo credit: Merritt Smail