MIAGuide
18 Specialty Markets To Check Out When You’re Sick Of Publix
Shopping is not always a pleasure at Publix, which is why it’s good to mix up your grocery routine every once in a while. And this list has some really great alternatives to add to your shopping roster, from gourmet stores selling caviar to Asian markets with more frozen dumplings than your freezer will know what to do with.
THE SPOTS
Asian-Mart is a great little market on Calle Ocho serving all the things you’d expect at a great little Asian market: snacks, candy, dumplings, noodles, soju, homemade kimchi, and lots more. But there's a bonus in the back of the shop: an excellent little boba spot called Hotline Boba. The Korean-style boba counter serves drinks like Korean banana milk, peaches and cream boba, Vietnamese coffee boba, and more. Asian-Mart also has an instant ramen bar—you just grab one of their options, fill it up with hot water inside the shop, and you can eat it on the go, or grab a seat in their backyard.
This Coral Way spot is the cheese shop Miami has desperately needed. It's the best place in town to grab some harder-to-find European cheeses, like a sharp, nutty Paski Sir from Croatia or a Fourme aux Moeulleux washed in Vouvray. You can also grab some locally made mozzarella, some of the most delicious yogurt cups we’ve ever had, luxury meats, charcuterie, and some very fancy pantry staples. It’s a great place to stock up on supplies for that picnic you’re organizing for your partner to make up for yesterday’s unapproved shopping spree.
Marky’s is a little market on the west side of 79th Street Causeway where you can stock up on some very fancy things, like caviar that costs a month’s rent and a whole king crab for almost $300. But there are also plenty of items for more reasonable budgets, like imported Eastern European snacks, wild boar prosciutto, and ready-to-cook escargot. It’s a fun place to browse and they also have a fish tank with live sturgeon.
Beijing Mart is a newer addition to the roster of Asian groceries on 163rd Street and is located right next to one of Miami’s best Chinese restaurants, King Palace. This grocery store is mostly centered around Chinese ingredients but also stocks a solid selection of Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian items. They have a small but well-curated assortment of fresh produce, including fresh bamboo shoots, lotus root, and meaty king mushrooms. What really sets Beijing Mart apart, though, is their great selection of Asian candies and snacks, including Thai durian-flavored sandwich cookies, Taiwanese pineapple cakes, and more kawaii Japanese candies (grab a cart because you’ll need it).
ChungChung Hing is small, but the Asian market packs a serious punch with its selection of Asian food—especially Chinese options. It also happens to be right next to Sang’s, one of our favorite Chinese dim sum restaurants in town, so you can plan a lunch/shopping one-two-punch. This is a good spot to get more chili oil for your pantry, lots of delicious sauces, and they even have a small produce section too. Just don’t leave here without buying some Every Burger cookies, an adorable and delicious Japanese snack that might be our favorite little cookie on the planet.
Mima is a small Miami Shores shop that curates various locally-made sustainable foods and pantry items. Maybe don’t come here if you have a very long grocery list, but the store is great for browsing and coming home with something unexpected and delicious. They have Frice ice cream (some of Miami’s best), truffle oil, pasta, kombucha, coffee, and a lot more.
Homestead is full of great farms and markets. We really encourage you to spend a day driving around the city and stopping at any roadside stand you see. However, Robert Is Here is an absolute classic. The market sells fresh produce from Homestead, homemade hot sauces and jams, and also makes some of the best milkshakes in the universe. There’s also a makeshift zoo behind the store too, where you can watch tortoises and goats hang out.
Foodtown is not in Miami. It’s in Davie. But with light traffic, it’s only like a 40-minute drive and what else do you have to do? Plus, this is a very fun store to browse through and the variety here is very impressive. You’ll find tons of imported Asian foods, halal meats, and Indian specialties. Also, the shopping complex that houses Foodtown is home to some of the best Asian restaurants in all of South Florida.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
As you can probably tell, this Miami Shores butcher shop specializes in sausages—and they’re outstanding. They have different varieties stuffed with things like lamb and harissa, fig and blue cheese, and beer from Wynwood Brewing. But you shouldn’t just think of this as a sausage shop. Proper has a ton of other excellent meats, from outstanding ribeye to wagyu brisket. There’s also wine, beer, and various pantry items like house-made chili oil, chimichurri, and pickled jalapenos. Oh, and then there are the deli sandwiches—which are some of our favorite sandwiches in Miami. For a shop the size of a walk-in closet, you can spend a lot of time here picking out things that’ll make your kitchen 1,000% more delicious.
Matryoshka is an Eastern European market and deli in Sunny Isles, a neighborhood that has quite a few Eastern European restaurants. Matryoshka is small, but still has some interesting finds, including Ukrainian beer, an impressive selection of cured meats, and bags of frozen perogies. This can be another lunch/shopping one-two-punch. Find something good from the cafeteria-style deli (which has duck legs, beef stroganoff, and Farmer’s Cheese Pancakes) and eat it outside after you’ve done your shopping.
Lucky is a little market in a shopping complex on Bird Road. It’s got mostly Chinese and Japanese pantry goods—lots of dumplings, oils, sauces, and more. It also happens to be right next door to one of our favorite dim sum spots in Miami: Kon Chau. So this is another good place to do a lunch/grocery shopping combo.
Coconut Grove’s Daily Bread Marketplace is a fine place to come for a lunch of falafel or shawarma, but they also have a little market in the store too. It's got Middle Eastern teas, spices, and a bakery that makes one heck of a baklava. Keep it in mind next time you want to cross lunch and some grocery shopping off your to-do list at once.
This South Miami farm store is small, but worth the drive (especially if you’re looking for vegan things). They sell their own produce as well as homemade goods like vegan ice cream, salad dressing, fruit pies, and the absolute best mango salad we’ve ever tasted. It’s only about the size of a yoga studio, but there should be enough to keep you browsing for a solid half-hour. You can also usually find them at the Coconut Grove farmers market if you’re not trying to drive quite so far south.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
Blue Runner is a seafood truck that sets up at 11338 Biscayne Blvd in North Miami, Tues-Sun from noon-6pm. Inside that truck, you'll find a helpful employee or two and a whole lot of fresh seafood. Their selection changes based on availability, but you can generally find shrimp, fillets of local fish, squid, fish dip, stone crabs (when in season), and a few other options they have written down on a whiteboard. They also make their own ceviche and fish dips here. There can be a line on the weekends, but we've really never had to wait more than 15 minutes.
iFresh is a huge Asian grocery store in North Miami where you’ll find tons of frozen dumplings, snacks, and jars of various chili oils. A trip here can fill up your freezer with enough pork buns, shrimp shumai, and udon noodles for a long time (if you happen to not own a steamer, they sell those too). They also have meat, fish, and an impressive selection of produce like jujube, dragonfruit, and jackfruit.
This bakery and market has been operating on Coral Way since the 1950s, selling Syrian, Greek, Armenian, and more Middle Eastern foods and baked goods. They’ve also got snacks, hookahs, and a small restaurant smack in the middle of the place where you can eat some good shawarma, falafel, and kibbeh.
Most of the Asian grocery stores on 163rd lean towards Chinese ingredients, but Vinh An specializes in Southeast Asian items. Shelves are lined with Filipino seasoning packets and cans of Maesri Thai curry paste, and the freezers contain things like Pinoy longaniza sausages, fermented Vietnamese sausages, and ube sausages. This is also a great place to grab a Thai mortar and pestle—either the all-purpose granite variety or the ceramic ones intended for som tum—as well as sticky rice steamers, ice shavers, and coconut graters. But what makes Vinh An a real destination (yes, even if you live in Kendall) is that it has one of the largest selections of Indonesian products we’ve seen in Miami: everything from bottles of sticky kecap manis and fuchsia coco pandan syrup to tempeh starter cultures and six-packs of Te Kotak, a very refreshing jasmine tea.
