Myra S.

Dolce Mare

Dolce Mare offers a huge selection of bikinis at reasonable prices. They have some one piece swim suits, but not the same variety or selection. You can also pick up other beach accessories like beach bags, sunglasses, flip flops and sandals. Swimsuits are organized by color...and they have a bikini in every color imaginable. This shop is highly recommended...and at just a few blocks from the beach it is a great place to make a pit stop on your way to the sand.

Sobe Thrifty

You can find super cheap clothes for men, women and children as well as books, household items and furniture. All proceeds go to benefit Care Resource, an AIDS charity organization in South Beach. You can also drop off donations at any time and the staff will offer you a receipt you can use for tax purposes. A great place for cheap stuff, but be prepared to dig around. They have a fitting room to try on clothing.

Kafka's Cybercafe and Bookstore

Kafka's offers a pretty well organized variety of second hand books. Good place to browse the stacks, but not to find a specific title. The second draw to Kafka's is the cybercafe, they have daily "happy hour" specials from 8am-noon and 8pm-midnight where an hour of internet access is on $3 (half price). In the back you can check out their cafe with snacks and coffees. Seating is also available for enjoying your latte while you wait for a computer.

Miami Dade Community College

While Miami Dade College (they dropped the community and now offer a small range of Bachelor's degrees) has a huge selection of courses on several campuses (including North Campus, Kendall, Wolfson [downtown] and Medical [near Jackson-Memorial Hospital), the pace of learning is SLOW. An assessment of the level of education among community college students is beyond the scope of a brief review, but do not expect even seemingly difficult academic courses to move above a snail's pace. Case in point, they only give grades of A, B, C, D and F, no pluses or minuses. In most classes, any grade above an 88 is good enough to merit an "A".

PROS: Convenient class meeting times, inexpensive, many locations
CONS: Quality of education may be hindered by slow learning pace.

Buenos Aires Bakery Corporation

Buenos Aires Bakery is a traditional Argetinian confiteria where you can find the best media lunas and alfajores this side of Iguazu Falls. A friendly ambience, have a seat in one of the tables in the bakery or out front on Collins and enjoy your fresh baked snack. There is a second branch of this confiteria in Jackson Heights, Queens where you can find a similar menu.

South Florida Boxing & Fitness

South Florida Boxing has three locations: South Beach, Aventura and Pembroke Pines (Broward county). It is a cool specialty gym that has a substantial offering of classes in everything from boxing to Muy Thai to Jiu Jitsu. They also have weight training equipment and cardio machines. A good place to go if you are looking for a new twist on your work out routine.

David Barton Gym

The David Barton Gym is a very small space located in the basement of the Delano hotel. If you are looking for a small gym without a huge flow of traffic, then this is probably the spot for you. If you are looking for a selection of equipment and classes, then you probably want to try one of the other gyms in the area. On street parking is limited, but there are a couple of parking lots within a short walk to the gym.

Recycled Blues

Recycled Blues has a huge selection of vintage clothes for men and women. It is a great place to search for a printed ringer tee shirt or a flowered dress from decades past. They have shoes for men and women and some accessories. In late September or early October, they also start putting out Halloween costumes. Great shop with low prices.

Passage to India

Passage to India offers a wide selection of women's clothing with an Indian (as in the subcontinent) theme. You can find cool skirts and blouses as well as a small selection of shoes. They also carry women's fashion jewelry. With reasonable prices, this store is worth checking out during your next stroll down Washington Ave.

Intermix

Intermix has a great selection of cool clothes for women. If you want to max out your credit cards on the latest in "barely there" miniskirts and screen printed tank tops, then Intermix is the place for you. Great shop to rack up frequent flier miles if you pay plastic, bad shop to check out the day before rent is due.