Although we have moved out of Florida, i thought i would just list some of the worthwhile restaurants you could eat at when visiting Florida. Most of the restaurants listed here serve both vegetarian and non-veg meals.

Let me start with my ex-hometown- Ft. Lauderdale- located half an hour north of Miami, its famously known as the Venice of USA. Yes, if you happen to visit South Beach, its pretty much within driving distance and cheaper too.

Things to do in Ft. laud-
1.) Hang out at the Ft. Lauderdale Beach
2.) Take the 2 hour cruise down the river- its one of the best (better than the Miami riverfront cruise)- checkout the palatial homes on the riverfront
3.) Hang out on Las Olas Blvd- The only happening place downtown- its pretty charming
4.)Go shopping at one of the largest Outlet malls in Florida- The Sawgrass Mills Mall
5.) And of course eat

Ft. Lauderdale:

Listed by cuisine

Indian: Woodlands Restaurant- Nothing over the top (food is average- however, do try their gobhi manchurian and paneer makhani- its lipsmackingly delicious) - the only decent indian restaurant (vegetarian) in Ft. Lauderdale
http://www.woodlandsusa.com/

Thai: Chada Thai- A pretty good Thai restaurant- the menu is not very elaborate- you will find the same Thai dishes as other restaurants. Their Thai green curry is one of the best.
http://chada-thai.com/ChadaThai/

Others are Thai-Thai (http://www.south-florida-thai-restaurant.com/) and Thai Spice (http://www.thaispicefla.com/)

Asian: P F Chang- One of my all time favorites- they can serve any meat version by substituting for vegetarians. Wild East Asian Bistro (located downtown on Las Olas Blvd- http://www.lasolasboulevard.com/new/dining2.htm) is another good place you could try out.

Italian: Mancini's (located downtown on Las Olas Blvd- http://www.lasolasboulevard.com/new/dining2.htm) is pretty famous.
Maggiano's - the chain is located pretty far off in Boca Raton. As is California Pizza Kitchen (CPK)

Mexican: La Bamba- one of the best restaurants for Mexican food- their margaritas are to die for.
http://labamba123.com/index.htm
Chipotle, South of the Border and Moe's are a couple of chains that you can eat at- pretty standard fare.

Pizzas: The only ones i like are CPK and Pizza Fusion (its an organic chain of pizza eat-outs- one of the BEST pizzas you will ever eat- although its pretty expensive)

Cafes: Panera- pretty standard and another of my favorites, and Noodles and Panini located on Las Olas Blvd

Desserts: And of course you have Cheesecake factory and Coldstone creamery to indulge your sweet tooth right on Las Olas:)

The best thing to do would be to take a walk on Las Olas and check out the restaurants there- you have a mix of bars, lounges (Mango is pretty famous), cafes and restaurants- french, american, italian, mediterranean (Cafe Blu is good) and bakeries. Eat your heart out people.


If you are in Miami, you can
1. Hang out at South Beach all day long- we loved it
2. Walk down Lincoln mall road- adjacent to the beach for your shopping and dining needs (http://lincolnroadmall.com/). Guru is a pretty famous Indian restaurant in the South Beach area- pretty close to the beach. Another place to try out would be Sheba for Ethiopian cuisine- check out my earlier review
3. Take the Miami Riverfront Cruise
4. Hit the pubs and bars- one of the best nightlife hangouts
5. If you have kids, you could go to the Miami Zoo or Aquariam. There are a couple of musuems and gardens you could check out too.
6. Visit the Everglades and Key West (the southern most point of the US)


Will blog about Tampa and Orlando in the next post