South Florida Advice

This guide is broken up into several areas of South Florida, each offering options that are different, yet interesting, in their own way.

DAVIE/ Near NSU CAMPUS

Whole Foods (1903 S. University Dr, Davie, FL) is an excellent supermarket that also has a wide variety of quality prepared foods.

Blaze Pizza (2135 S. University Dr, Davie, FL) is a new concept for fast casual pizza. There is an assembly line of workers who make each personal pizza ready to with a choice of as many ingredients as you want.

Burger Fi (1902 S. University Dr., Davie FL) is located in a large area of shops called the Tower Shops and offers upscale yet casual hamburgers.

Misson BBQ (2411 South University Dr, Davie, FL) is a fast/casual restaurant with terrific bbq food.

La Spada’s Original Hoagies (2645 South University Dr, Davie, FL) offers excellent “American style” sandwiches in a very casual environment.

La Carreta(301 N. University Dr Pembroke Pines, FL) is your best bet for authentic Cuban food without driving to Miami. They also have a pickup window where you can get a coffee (try the cortadito) that is twice as good yet half the price of Starbucks.

Tree Tops Park is a very nice park located a few miles southwest of campus.

Long Key Nature Area is located in the same general area as Tree Tops Park and offers nature trails and a small museum.

Secret Woods Nature Center is located between campus and downtown Fort Lauderdale and offers two very nice accessible nature trails.

FORT LAUDERDALE

Las Olas Blvd is a street full of nice shops and restaurants that runs from Fort Lauderdale beach west to downtown Fort Lauderdale. The majority of shops and restaurants are between US-1 and Andrews Ave.

Gran Forno(1245 E. Las Olas Blvd) is an Italian bakery open during the day with excellent sandwiches.

There is a park located on the water a couple blocks off of Las Olas Blvd right next to the First Presbyterian Church that is a great place with free parking to bring your sandwich from Gran Forno and watch boats pass by.

The Jungle Queen (801 Seabreeze Blvd) is a three-hour sightseeing cruise of Fort Lauderdale that takes off at 9:30AM and 1:30PM from a part of Fort Lauderdale beach close to the Bahia Mar hotel.

Fort Lauderdale Beach has recently gone through an upgrade and there are now several luxury hotels on the beach that offer nice restaurants, bars, pool areas, including the W, Ritz Carlton, and Hilton.

Zona Fresca (1635 N. Federal Highway(US-1) is a local Mexican burrito shop that is good for a casual lunch or dinner with good food and an excellent salsa bar. It’s 5-10 minutes from Fort Lauderdale beach. There is another location on 1095 S. University Dr. five minutes from the Nova campus.

Pizza D’Angelo (4215 N. Federal Highway) offers excellent pizza and small Italian plates at reasonable prices.

Coconuts (429 Seabreeze Blvd) is located on the water (intercoastal) across from Fort Lauderdale Beach. It’s a nice place to sit on the water and have a drink and meal.

Islamorada Fish Company (200 Gulfstream Way) is located in an enormous Bass Pro Shop/Outdoor World shop off of highway 95 which is probably worth visiting alone. The restaurant has outside seating on the water and a good selection of seafood.

MIAMI

Downtown Miami and areas close by have gone through a recent resurgence with new buildings, restaurants, and shops.

Many good restaurants in Miami are located in an area of Miami close to downtown known as Midtown Miami. Michael’s Genuine (130 NE 40th St.) focuses on local ingredients and the chef is among the best young chefs in the country. Sugarcane (3250 NE 1st Ave) has an excellent menu with influences from South Florida and the Caribbean and a really nice atmosphere.

The Brickell area of downtown is in the middle of a very large boom. What used to be a financial district where people worked but didn’t live has now turned into a true area of movement at all times with good restaurants and bars. From Brickell, you can also access Brickell Key, home to an excellent restaurant owned by the most well known Peruvian chef in the world called La Mar

Every second Saturday of the month, there is an art walk held in the Wynwood area, close to Midtown Miami, which is a really nice scene to see art and have a drink or two at the many galleries nearby. There are also food trucks selling gourmet food and often live music.

Versailles (3555 SW 8th St) is the most famous Cuban restaurant in Miami, located on “CalleOcho” in Little Havana. If you want to see Little Havana, then this is your best and most accessible option. It’s still not an overly touristy place and the food is good.

Xixon(2101 SW 22nd St (Coral Way) is a Spanish market/tapas/sandwich/wine restaurant/bar, located between downtown Miami and Coral Gables. There are no tourists here and it’s a little hard to get by without speaking Spanish but anyone can manage it. It’s a great option off the tourist path.

Harriet & Bob’s Bagel Cove (19003 Biscayne Blvd) is located in Aventura, close to Aventura Mall. If you’re looking for bagels and Jewish food that is as good as New York or anywhere else, then this is your place for breakfast or lunch.

Oleta River State Park (3400 NE 163rd St. North Miami Beach, FL) is a large state park located on Biscayne Bay. You can rent kayak and canoes to ride through the rivers and out to the bay and there is a nice calm beach area great for swimming.

Miami Cruise (401 Biscayne Blvd) there are several different short cruises that leave from Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami. They normally take around 1.5 hour hours to see Miami and its “island” neighborhoods full of celebrity mansions. Most of the cruises are very similar but here is an example.

Vizcaya (3251 S. Miami Ave) is a beautiful mansion/garden area turned museum which is worth visiting.

SOUTH BEACH

South Beach is the section furthest south of Miami Beach, located 30 minutes from Fort Lauderdale. The three main roads that go North and South are Ocean Dr, Collins Ave, and Washington Ave. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, and clubs on each of these streets. Ocean Dr. ends around 16th St. where Collins turns into the closest street to the beach. The streets that run East and West are all numbered, so it makes getting around very easy. Lincoln Rd. is between 16th and 17th streets. The main part of Lincoln Rd. starts at Washington Ave and end at Alton Rd.

Lincoln Road is great for walking, shopping, eating, drinking, people watching etc. It’s normally pretty busy. Most of the restaurants are quite touristy but they’re not all bad. At the west end of Lincoln Rd. I recommend visiting Shake Shack, a popular burger/hot dog/milkshake transplant from New York (1111 Lincoln Rd.)

and if you want a drink or a coffee, Segafredo (1040 Lincoln Rd.) has a nice atmosphere. Doraku (1104 Lincoln Rd.) has good happy hour specials if you enjoy sushi.

At the east end of the pedestrian area of Lincoln Rd is Maoz(1657 Washington Ave), a vegetarian kosher falafel stand from the Netherlands if you’re looking for something fast and healthy

The “hippest”/nicest hotels in South Beach are all more or less next to each other on Collins Ave between 17th and 23rd St. Delano, Sagamore, Raleigh, Ritz Carlton, Setai, W Hotel, and Shore Club. They all have good bars and pool areas where you can normally have a drink (pricey!) if you want to take in the atmosphere. These hotels are also home to some very fine restaurants.

La Sandwicherie(229 14th St) is a very good French sandwich shop. It’s almost always open, always fresh and good. Very informal.

Big Pink (157 Collins Ave) is a diner that is pretty good/fun. It’s open almost 24 hours/day and the best time to go there is late night although any time is good. They have a huge menu, huge portions and prices are reasonable. Some of the food is really good and some is average.

Tap Tap(819 5th St) is a Haitian restaurant that is not touristy at all and has good food, great decoration, and live music Thursday and Saturday nights.

Further north (44th and Collins) is the recently renovated Fountainebleau Resort, which has many restaurants and bars.

Of course, the beach in South Beach is very nice for walking around as is most of South Beach on Ocean Drive, Collins Ave, and Lincoln Rd.

PALM BEACH

Palm Beach is a very wealthy area of South Florida located approximately 45 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale. You can take a scenic drive from Ocean Dr/A1A in Fort Lauderdale all the way north to Palm Beach or you can take highway 95. I have only been to the area a couple times but here are a few tips.

Green’s Pharmacy (151 N. County Rd) is a small historic pharmacy that has a diner open for lunch and breakfast. This is the type of place that almost no longer exists in the United States.

The Breakers (1 South County Rd) is a beautiful large historic resort in Palm Beach that has many restaurants and bars that you can visit even if you are not a hotel guest.

Worth Avenue is a street full of exclusive shops and restaurants.

The beach itself is Palm Beach is very nice and I recommend driving up and town part of it even if you take highway 95 for most of the ride, as you will see some of the largest beachfront mansions in the world.

Lion Country Safari offers the unique experience of being able to drive your own car through a zoo to see different wildlife, as if you were on a safari. It’s actually a fun experience and there is also a part of the park for walking.

FLORIDA KEYS DAY TRIP – ISLAMORADA

This day trip can easily be done in one day and will give you a nice feel of the Florida Keys. If you are willing to spend one night or more in a hotel, it is worth it to continue to Key West but stop in Islamorada on the way there.

The directions are VERY easy to get there. From the Fort Lauderdale area, all you have to do is take the Florida Turnpike SOUTH and follow it until it ends in Homestead, FL, which takes approximately one hour. When the Florida Turnpike ends, you will see signs for the Florida Keys/Key West via the road US-1 SOUTH. This is the only road that goes through the Keys, so it is really hard to get lost!

You will be on US-1 SOUTH for approximately 30-45 minutes until you arrive to the first main Key, which is Key Largo.

Islamorada is approximately 30-45 minutes past Key Largo.

My suggestion is to bring some food and drinks, like sandwiches, soda, chips, beer, etc. and to relax on the beach/water. The water is like the Caribbean and you can sit in it because it’s very shallow and does not have waves. The beach that I like to go to is called Anne’s Beach and it is about 15 minutes past when you first see the sign for Islamorada. On the side of the road as you drive, there are signs that say “MM” or “Mile Marker” which are very easy because it basically tells you exactly how many miles are left to arrive to Key West. There is a little green sign for Anne’s Beach and it will be on your left at Mile Marker 73.5. If the parking area at Anne’s Beach is full, there is also parking very nearby to the right if you pass Anne’s Beach.

Here is a link for information about Anne’s Beach

Finally, on the way home, I suggest you stop to eat at Islamorada Fish Company. It is a nice but casual restaurant right on the water and there is a really nice big store near the restaurant that you might like. You will take a RIGHT out of Anne’s Beach, so you will be going NORTH on US-1, back towards home. Islamorada Fish Company will be on your LEFT at Mile Marker 81.5