Miami New Times

A funky downtown Miami spot for delicious Vietnamese food has just been named one of the best new restaurants in the U.S. According to Bon Appetit, the popular Vietnamese restaurant Tâm Tâm is one of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2024. Founded by husband-and-husband team chef Tam Pham and sommelier Harrison Ramhofer, Tâm Tâm has quickly grown from a supper club pop-up for those in the know to a full-service restaurant serving devoted customers for dinner every Tuesday through Saturday. The restaurant was born from Pham and Ramhofer's disappointment with Miami's Vietnamese options. And while both come from a background in hospitality, Pham — with no formal chef training — makes food that transcends diners to his family's cooking. "I've always enjoyed cooking," Pham told New Times in 2023. "But a lot of it was, and still is, trial and error." 🍜 Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/ePpY2uee

On September 4, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) released its annual rankings of the 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. Florida International University (FIU) was the highest-ranked Florida university on the list. In collaboration with college-focused survey and research firm College Pulse and data researchers from Statista, the WSJ considered weighted components including salary outcomes (70 percent) such as salary impact and years to pay off net education cost, learning environment (20 percent), and diversity (10 percent). This year's rankings expanded to 500 schools from last year's roundup of 400. Private and public universities in the Sunshine State did not fare well in the 2025 rankings. The University of Florida (UF) which is already dealing with the fallout from Ben Sasse's one-year stint as university president, fell from 15 to 83. It was previously named the best public university in the nation in the 2024 rankings. Now, the publication found UF is 24th among public universities in the U.S. Although FIU was the highest ranked out of all the Florida schools, it dropped from its previous ranking of 29 to 77. The University of Miami tumbled 141 spots to 231 from 70 while Florida State University fell from 102 to 199. The University of North Florida, which was not listed in the 2024 rankings, comes in at 170. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/exq3WDyd

Inter Miami CF's controversial soccer stadium at the site of the former Melreese Country Club just east of Miami International Airport is slated to open in 2026, the club announced on Wednesday, September 4. "After years of dreaming, it is so exciting to be sharing that in 2026, Inter Miami will be moving to its long-term home at Miami Freedom Park," David Beckham said in a statement. "Miami Freedom Park is the culmination of years of hard work and a desire to realize a vision and create a lasting legacy for the fans and the community of Miami and South Florida." After Miami voters approved a no-bid deal to build Inter Miami's Miami Freedom Park at the publicly owned Melreese site, the City of Miami Commission approved a 99-year lease in 2022 as part of a deal l that some residents say benefits wealthy developers at taxpayers' expense. As the club awaits the opening of its new stadium, it has been playing home games at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. A 131-acre development, Miami Freedom Park will feature a 58-acre public park, athletic fields, retail shops, office space, restaurants, hotels, and an entertainment venue. Read the full story ⚽ : https://lnkd.in/df6dkagS

While many people visit Doral for its sprawling golf courses and upscale food halls, there's one longtime attraction that isn't labeled on Google Maps: the "cow lot." The sprawling, 175-acre green space — situated on the corner of NW 107th Avenue and NW 41st Street — has long been a familiar landmark for Miami locals. Once owned by siblings Claudia Lemon Cook and Charles Buck Lemon and previously passed down through generations of the Lemon family, the land has been home to dozens of grazing (and occasionally mischievous) cows over the years. But as one social media user recently pointed out, the beloved bovines have suddenly vanished. "I’m honestly sad that the Doral cow pasture is gone and they’re finally gonna develop the land after all these years," user @majordouzie wrote on X. State records show that in January 2022, Claudia Lemon Cook relinquished control of Doral Farms LLC to Bridge Point Doral 2700 LLC, an affiliate of the Chicago-based real estate development firm Bridge Industrial Acquisition. In March 2022, Charles Buck Lemon died at age 68, according to an online obituary. In June 2022, three months after his death, Doral Farms LLC officially sold the cow pasture to Bridge Industrial Acquisition, Miami-Dade County property records show. While it's unclear how much the development firm paid for the lot, the Lemon family previously asked for more than $300 million for the land. Read the full story below 🐄

Just a few weeks after our readers went wild over the news that Cava will open in Plantation this year, word on the street is the popular Mediterranean food chain will head down south to Miami next A New Times source has confirmed that Cava is slated to open at the Shoppes at Highland in Hialeah Gardens. However, the contract and official opening announcement depends on the company obtaining the proper licenses and permits to operate in Miami. The property is being developed in Hialeah Gardens with stores such as Publix, Ulta Beauty, Burlington, Panera Bread, and Panda Express. Near Cava's slated location, the retail plan shows a Tropical Smoothie Cafe and First Watch Cafe. Cava's official LinkedIn page also posted a job listing for a restaurant general manager role in Hialeah on August 31. Read the full story below ⬇

A beloved Fort Lauderdale destination for visitors and locals of over 30 years on the New River will sadly see its last day this October. Riverfront restaurant Historic Downtowner and its next-door venue, Maxwell Room, will close on Sunday, October 6 after over 30 years of serving delicious seafood, appetizers, and cocktails in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The landmark restaurant is one of a slew of restaurant and bar closures in Fort Lauderdale, many of which served generations of residents. Read the full story below ⬇

See you soon, Boca Raton! We're beyond excited to be a part of the community. Thank you Miami New Times for the feature!

Miami's storied skyline is set to change shape once again, thanks to another planned mega-tower. Local billionaire Ken Griffin has unveiled plans to erect a 54-story skyscraper in Brickell to serve as the new headquarters for his financial empire, Citadel. Griffin, a philanthropist and Republican megadonor who relocated his multinational hedge fund from Chicago to Miami in 2022, formally submitted plans this week to Miami-Dade County for the project at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive. The glitzy tower, poised to soar 1,026 feet into the sky and contain roughly 1.7 million square feet, will feature a 212-room hotel, a spa, a conference room, and an event space. Renderings of the waterfront skyscraper highlight its floor-to-ceiling windows and pedestrian spaces along the Baywalk path. 🗞 Read the story: https://lnkd.in/duHwvn_4

A new study has found that Miami is the rudest city among the 46 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Preply, an online tutoring platform, surveyed residents, inquiring about the prominence of "typically rude behaviors" to determine the rudeness level in their city. These so-called rude behaviors featured in the survey include "lack of self-awareness," "talking on speakerphone in a shared space," "not acknowledging strangers," "lack of care for others," "impoliteness with service staff members," and "not letting others merge in front of them while driving," among other impolite actions. And what rude behaviors do Miamians exhibit? (Aside from our horrific driving etiquette; that's a given.) Read the full story below 🗞

South Florida's barbecue scene has seen an incredible influx of raw new talent this past year, and two new additions have just confirmed this fact: Two South Florida spots have just been named two of the best new restaurants for barbecue in America. A new barbecue spot in Hialeah and a new restaurant up in West Palm Beach have just been ranked among the South's Best New Barbecue Joints of 2024 by Southern Living Magazine. The restaurants, which ranked no. 15 and no. 19 out of 22 spots, are so good for southern barbecue, that there is essentially no longer a need to head out of state for a delicious and authentic southern barbecue experience — just drive to Hialeah or West Palm Beach. According to the publication, both restaurants excel in the culinary tradition of slow-cooking meats with plenty of smoke and bold seasonings. ⬇ Below, check out the two South Florida gems that made the coveted list.