Hosted in Optimist Park, the Miami Lakes Food & Wine Festival brought together a very nice variety…read moreof hometown culinary delights as well as a smattering of chain dining establishments as well as local eateries. My friend and I were able to find parking at a nearby church a quick stroll across the park's baseball field and to the yummy food. The booths were cozily packed along the park's walkway, with the band and both bleacher and plastic seats at the opposite end near the dessert stations. Some of my favorites included Yelp Elite "Alumni" Chela's Cocteleria with their spicy chicken tacos, candied bacon from a local charcuterie vendor, the cheese empanadas and croquetas from La Vitrola. Vicky Bakery, a local classic from East Hialeah, brought their dessert A-game with their croqueta and pastelito cups together with Frosty's guava nitrogen ice cream. Frosty's even brought their polar bear mascot for pictures. The music by a live Cover Band, La Linea, was also a smorgasbord of sounds. Everything from salsa, bachata, disco and yes a sprinkling of "El Conejo Malo" Mayor Manny Cid, his staff and volunteers put together a great event - the perfect size for a suburban welcome to food festival season full of generous & flavorful samples. He was also around for photos.

This festival will be this coming Saturday Feb 29th. It's a local community event now going on a…read morefew years. It is gaining momentum and there is much anticipation. I believe it's sold out. I tried to purchase VIP tickets and they were all gone. I have seen a few people trying to inquire about purchasing tickets on Facebook and other platforms. This will be my first year so I will let you know how it goes and will update this review. Corona virus please stay away; we don't need you here in South Florida! Let us drink our wine in peace. I don't want to drink my wine through a small hole in a face mask.

What a great event to celebrate everything fruit in the Redlands !!!…read more BBQ, Tropical Fruit Sales, Food Vendors, The Groove Brothers Band, Bee Keeping, i mean what a great day. Put on by the Rare Fruit Coucil International, a very historic club in the MIA. Great event !!

It was my first time coming to this event and you can tell it was very organized days before it…read morestarted. They sent an email with the vendors participating with their menus and information about the event and parking. The day of the event, everything went well. I loved the giveaways that Chase, La Croix and DoorDash did. Chase had this fun memory activity and they give you a free pin for playing and La Croix had this beautiful set up for pictures. They were also giving out complimentary tote bag, cellphone pop socket, cap of your choice and various flavors of LaCroix during the whole event. I also loved how they gave free Dasani waters at water stands or at any bar. As to the food, Edan Bistro by Cotoa was delicious. I tried the green plantain croqueta with coconut shrimp, grilled txuleton steak, basque cheesecake and dark Ecuadorian chocolate brownie. Everything was so tasty but my favorite were definitely the desserts. The Cowy Burger by The Salty was delicious. The savory taste of the burger with the donut buns paired very well together. I also tried the beignet hot and sweet chicken sandwich at Willie Mae's Scotch House and it was very good. The chicken was seasoned very well and it paired so well with the beignets. The bacon and fig pizza and margarita pizza at L'Industrie was also very tasting. I truly enjoyed eating all of it. They had this event where you can ask questions to the editors and win some more prizes, in addition to DJ and some entertainers who played instruments. I will definitely return to this event next year as I absolutely loved it.

I finally made it to this festival and now it's time to review it!…read more I wanted to try this festival out for multiple reasons. One I am a chase card holder, so I knew it had some perks for chase members. Two this festival includes some of the best restaurants in Miami and some even out of Miami. It gives you the opportunity to try places you wouldn't normally go to. For these two things I thought I had to make an effort to go. Things I am not too fond of. First off, you have to pay to get in. I get it, they are making it exclusive and limiting guests so its not oversaturated with people but $25 to have to pay again when you're inside a la carte is a little much. You do get $10 back if you use your chase card but unfortunately for me, I had to buy 4 tickets. I also got turned away initially because I brought my camera in and the lens was detachable. Not a professional camera to say the least but rules are rules. I had to walk back to put it away. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. The area chosen is perfect for the festival. It was clean and very well organized. Each restaurant had the same signage and the lines where well placed. There were employees helping out with the line. I have to say this was a ten. They had a DJ in the back which you can hear throughout the festival. They had different entertainers as the day progressed. They did offer different stations for chase card holders. The biggest one was for reserved members which I understand because the fee for that card is high. They should be able to get that benefit. The restaurants were all great. They were all tasty bites. The lines were long when I went but as the day progressed the lines got better. Some restaurants did run out of their favorites unfortunately. Prepare to spend money especially if you want to try everything. Bartenders were good but not all of them were equal. My initial bartender was meh and then the second one I had was amazing. Great festival to try. If the tickets are discounted before the event I will try to get the discounted tickets. I will also search the fine print to ensure I don't bring a detachable camera again.

This festival was pretty decent and a cool setting; however some more big name breweries would've…read morebeen great. Marlins Park made for a great setting, as it's spacious, still fairly new and clean, great restroom facilities and the retractable roof (which came in handy during a rain storm). Some of the beer highlights included; Captain Lawrence's "Citra Dreams", Southern Tier's "Nitro Hot Cocoa" and Bell's Barrel Aged Cherry Stout. The price wasn't too bad and the lines were never an issue. Definitely was worth the extra $15 for VIP as the extra hour at the front end was great.

This was the first time I attended a beer event. It was honestly a lot of fun. I purchased the…read moreregular admission ticket. There was 40+ breweries there with 2-3 different kind of beers in each. It was outside and as we locals know the weather isn't always the most dependable thing lol. To say the least I blinked and it was raining cats and dogs. Everyone ran to cover but within 10 min it had stopped and the management for the stadium opened the retractable roof in order to give us some cover. They had several food trucks- a little bit of everything: tacos, burgers, Philly cheesesteak, grilled cheese, pizza. The music was great!! The crowd was fun everyone was very nice there and it wasn't insanely crowded so you had time to drink your sample ( 2.5-3oz) with enough time before trying the next brewery sample. Definitely a great way to start the year!

*SWINE AND WINE* I love this title. The event is in the caption, this was a pure succulent…read morededication to swine . Right when you walk in you're smell senses are pinched with fried, grilled, and grilled forms of pork. The venue is beautifully located in the builtmore hotel. The booths are wrapped around the upper deck and follows down to the lower level back terrace. The different restaurants are out here competing for the swine title! It was so nice to meet all the different restaurant owners and managers and here what they had to say and explain what they were serving. There was also booths of desserts and alcohol. Let's be real, it's isn't a party is we don't have drinks to wash down all this great food! We can't wait to do it again next year. Thank you to everyone that help set this up and we are excited to see what you have in store for us next year! Here are some photos of the food they had to offer!

So fortunate to win tickets for Goya Foods' Swine, Wine & Spirits courtesy of Yelp Miami and BPB…read more This SOBEWFF event was definitely off the charts! First of all, the venue was impressive. It was held at the historic Biltmore Hotel 2nd floor main terrace. Parking was also easy and free. Got here around 5 and there was already a line to get in but it moved pretty fast once the event opened. We were immediately enticed by several vendors as we made our way in. There were about 3 bars and each one was serving 2 or 3 specialty cocktails. FYI, there were making the drinks strong so no complaints here, lol :) Our favorites were the Old Fashioned and the Havana Club Café. As far as food, it's definitely hard to name them all because there were so many chefs and vendors. We started to our right and there were about 10 stations including Finka, Tacology, Sakaya, and Chef Adrianne just to name a few. Downstairs by the dancefloor and live stage, I think there were another 8 or more vendors including Bulla, Ortanique, Twisted Fork Kitchen, Society Modern American Kitchen, and Ariete. By the time we went back upstairs to check out the left side of the terrace, we were already very full. It was quite painful to walk but worth it :) I can honestly say that everything that we were able to try was awesome. However, there was one dish that really stood out. The ribs from Proof Miami. Fall off the bone and juicy, and whatever marinade they use, it was super tasty. Another station that made a statement was Chef Adrianne's whole roasted pig display. She was nice enough to break a large chunk of the crispy skin for us. Yum! As a bonus, I also managed to get a selfie with her. I can't thank you enough to our CM Diandra, Yelp Miami and BPB for continuing the yearly SOBEWFF contest. It's very generous and a wonderful opportunity especially for folks who haven't been. Until next year!

This was the best $65 I've spent all year! This event was excellent. Really good food and drinks,…read moreall included in the entry fee. I will be attending yearly as I have become a fan. My favorite restaurants that were there was Azul, and La Rosa Gastrobar. La Rosa had a Tomahaws Steak that was melt in your mouth good. Azul had the best Ceviche out of all.

I am so grateful to Yelp, giving me the opportunity to attend this event. It was an amazing…read moreopportunity to get to know more about the Gables' awesome and local community. Coral Gables is known for always having delicious, local hotspots! It never fails to draw in the crowd! This event definitely gained a lot of traction from city local politicians, businessmen, and foodies! I arrived at 6:30 and the Coral Gables Museum was P-A-C-K-E-D! People were definitely excited. I sincerely enjoyed the goat cheese empanadas, John Martin's Shepherd's Pie was savory (to the last bite!), the Ceviche was simply exquisite (I came back for seconds), House Kitchen & Bar's spicy samples has my mouth deliciously on fire, and Bulla's vegan gazpacho unforgettable. The staff from all restaurants were excited to discuss what made their dishes different big restaurant chains, what inspired certain dishes -- I loved every story behind the dish. Only recommendation is for the next event to have more trash cans available to avoid plates pilling up on tables and people leaving their drinks around, which will lead to spilling, etc. I saw this happen a couple of times during the evening. While my diet was ruined, no regrets ;)

Once again this was a wonderful Art Festival, sponsored by the Rotary Club, was an amazing idea to…read morespend our Saturday afternoon. They host this event every year here in South Miami, with the partnership of talented artists and food vendors to make this festival appealing to people of all ages. Both my daughter and I enjoyed it very much, we loved the background Jazz music, of a band playing live for all of us. Thank you for a great day! Una vez más, este fue un maravilloso Festival de Arte, auspiciado por el Rotary Club, fue una idea increíble para pasar nuestro Sábado por la tarde. Ellos organizan este evento todos los años aquí en South Miami, con la asociación de talentosos artistas y vendedores de comida para hacer este festival atractivo para personas de todas las edades. Tanto mi hija como yo lo disfrutamos mucho, nos encanto la música jazz de fondo, de una banda tocando en vivo para todos nosotros. Gracias por un gran día!

I have attended this pocket of an art festival twice and it's an "ok" way to while away a…read moremid-winter Saturday afternoon. They close off Sunset Dr. between Red Road and US 1, so it's about 2 blocks long. There aren't nearly as many artist booths as the Coconut Grove Art Festival, so in no time, you've seen them all. The food is standard festival fare, nothing especially stood out. I do enjoy the Rotary Club beer booth. The beer is served extremely cold at a decent price, and the money spent goes to a good cause. They also manage to always have a decent jazz quartet providing entertainment. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to stand while you listen, as seating is VERY limited. Parking is difficult (like always). I worked out a deal with a restaurant valet with the promise (which i kept) that I'd have lunch there! Basically just a "so-so" event, but, hey, it's free...

We contacted the Southern Cross Astronomical Society to coordinate a Space Science event for our…read moreGirl Scout Troop and were put in contact with Sergio. The event was great and the girls learned a lot about our solar system. We were able to observe some planets (Mercury and Mars), a few constellations and the Moon. Great place to visit and learn. Thank you Sergio for hosting us! You are the best!