There\u2019s something you need to know right off the bat if you\u2019re going to a Miami Hurricanes football game: Hard Rock Stadium is at least a 40-minute drive (20-plus miles) away from campus. The Hurricanes have pretty much always played off-campus. But their old home \u2014 the Orange Bowl, located in the neighborhood of Little Havana \u2014 had a beautiful view overlooking downtown Miami and was a shorter drive for students staying near campus in Coral Gables.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes set an NCAA record with 58 consecutive home wins at the old Orange Bowl before it was demolished in 2008 to make way for the new home of the Miami Marlins, the city\u2019s Major League Baseball franchise.<\/p>\n
Hard Rock Stadium opened in 1987 as the new home to the NFL\u2019s Miami Dolphins and has hosted six Super Bowls and five college national championship games \u2014 not including this year\u2019s on Jan. 19 \u2014 and it seats 65,000 fans. But the stadium\u2019s location in Miami Gardens doesn\u2019t have any views of its world-famous beaches or city landmarks.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll need to hop in a car and drive to get to those places.<\/p>\n
Miami, often called the gateway to Latin America, is very much bilingual. Roughly 70 percent of South Florida speaks Spanish. There are dozens of neighborhoods with different cultures and histories. It might be the biggest melting pot of all the melting pots in the United States.<\/p>\n
The one thing all South Floridians know about the weather is that it\u2019s usually humid, and the forecast can change from sunny to rainy back to sunny from one moment to another. The good news: There are a lot of great places to eat, drink, dance and have fun. And the party never stops at midnight, whether it\u2019s on South Beach, in the Wynwood warehouse district or in lush Coconut Grove.<\/p>\n
Where Miami players go to find good food<\/p>\n
Breakfast: Bistro Caf\u00e9 and Greenstreet Caf\u00e9<\/p>\n
“I love breakfast, in case you couldn’t tell. At Bistro Caf\u00e9, they have a French toast \u2014 it’s huge. They have a scoop of ice cream on top with some blueberry jelly\/jam type thing. It’s amazing. I’ll either do that or go for a croissant sandwich. It’s a steak, egg and cheese croissant sandwich, and then they’ve drizzled some honey on top of the croissant and put some powdered sugar. It’s amazing. It’s amazing. If you go to Greenstreet, the Nutella French toast \u2014 it’s a thick French toast. It’s not too big, but it is thick. It’s filled with Nutella. Amazing.” \u2014 defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor<\/p>\n
What makes Bistro Caf\u00e9 unique \u2014 besides its more than 100 tasty dishes \u2014 is the fact that it serves breakfast until it closes at 5 p.m. In South Florida, where nightclubs stay open until the sun rises, that comes in handy for those who decide to go to sleep for a few hours.<\/p>\n
Stuffed avocado with steak is the top-selling plate at Bistro Cafe. It runs for $25. But if you’re more in the mood for breakfast, you can find other unique dishes on the menu, like churro pancakes or the Cristobal omelette (no, it is not named after Miami’s head coach). \u2014\u00a0Navarro<\/p>\n
For fine dining <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many good places, but if I had to pick one, I would pick Gekko. Gekko is fire. It’s like a little Japanese Steakhouse (off Brickell Avenue in Miami). The sushi there is absolutely dope. Probably the one restaurant that I’ve been to the most since I’ve been down here. Their tuna roll is really good. And then I normally just get a filet. Their steak is also really good. I think everything on the menu is really, really good.\u201d \u2014 Quarterback Carson Beck<\/p>\n
“The best steak I’ve ever had in my life is at COTE Korean Steakhouse.” \u2014 Mesidor<\/p>\n
Located in Miami’s Design District, you’ll need to bring some cash to enjoy some of the best cuts of meat in South Florida, including Wagyu ribeye, NY strip, flatiron, dry-aged ribeye, filet mignon, skirt steak and Grand Cru galbi, among others. The Butcher’s Feast will set you back $78 to dine on four selected cuts with Korean accompaniments like doenjang stew, kimchi Wagyu paella and more. Those with bigger budgets can splurge on the steak omakase meal for $225 per person. \u2014\u00a0Navarro<\/p>\n
For Caribbean<\/p>\n
\u201cIsland Tings (with several South Florida locations). Get the oxtails and rice. I just like it.\u201d \u2014 Wide receiver Malachi Toney<\/p>\n
For a South Florida staple<\/p>\n
\u201cFlanigan\u2019s (with several South Florida locations). Me and the offensive line, most of us like to go out every Thursday. We pick Flanigan\u2019s or the seafood spot Captain Crab. My favorite dish is the honey barbecue chicken tenders or the Rockin’ Rib Rolls. We get like four plates of those Rockin\u2019 Rib Rolls.\u201d \u2014 Offensive lineman Anez Cooper<\/p>\n
For Cuban<\/p>\n
\u201cHavana Harry\u2019s (in Coral Gables). I\u2019m a big fan of their Tostones. It reminds me of home, especially with the plantains and the rice and beans. We’re big on rice and plantains too back at home. Good breakfast spot? I go to Deli Lane (in South Miami). I always get the corned beef hash. Us Polynesians are big on corned beef, canned corned beef, and it’s the best.\u201d \u2014 Offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa<\/p>\n
For an activity besides game day<\/p>\n
“Fishing. Anywhere besides a canal. I love fishing. Fishing is cool, but I don’t really go out often.” \u2014 Mesidor<\/p>\n
There are a lot of places to go fishing in South Florida. Jumping on a chartered boat and heading off to the Atlantic to find mahi, tuna, sailfish, marlin and bonefish is what most Hurricanes players do during the offseason.<\/p>\n
But they don’t have to go far to drop a line in the water. In Coral Gables, where Miami practices, there’s a nearly 5-mile stretch of canals connected to Lake Mahar where anglers will find spotted tilapia, bass, bluegill and snook. Doug Barnes Park, a 65-acre green space, is another spot up the road from Miami’s campus where you’ll find fishermen dropping lines.<\/p>\n
Manny Perez, a Hurricanes fan, prefers to get in his car and drive to Everglades National Park \u2014 specifically the southernmost tip of the park, called Flamingo \u2014 for fishing. He said you’ll find lots of snook and tarpon in the saltwaters there. It’s also a prime location for manatees, crocodiles, alligators and birds.<\/p>\n
Every third week in June, the University of Miami’s Sports Hall of Fame & Museum hosts the Fan Fest & Celebrity Fishing Tournament in Islamorada. Ex-players participate in the tournament, which does its weigh-in at Three Waters Marina. \u2014 Navarro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s something you need to know right off the bat if you\u2019re going to a Miami Hurricanes football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[143,1209,123,125,5079,124],"class_list":{"0":"post-46445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-culture","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-hurricanes","13":"tag-miami-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}