DK Travel : Miami : Coral Gables and Coconut Grove

Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, taken together, constitute one of the most upscale neighborhoods in Greater Miami. The former is actually a separate city, while the latter is a district of Miami, its oldest, and the site of the Miami City Hall. Coral Gables was one of the nation’s first “planned” cities and is consistently posh from end to end. Coconut Grove is a more variegated mosaic, historically the focus of Miami’s intellectual, bohemian community but also incorporating the blighted “Black Grove”, where the descendants of Bahamian workers often live in real squalor.

For more about George Merrick’s fabulous buildings in Coral Gables See Merrick’s Coral Gables Fantasies

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Café Tu Tu Tango

“Food for the starving artist” is their by-line, and, indeed, artists and their works are all over the place. Wonderful light fare, such as seared sashimi tuna salad, and crispy shrimp brochettes.
Christy’s

Still packing them in after 20 years, this local favorite has been made a landmark by politicians, CEOs, and celebrities. Aged steak, fresh seafood, and award-winning caesar salad.
Coconut Grove Arts Festival

Perhaps Greater Miami’s best such festival, attracting throngs of visitors who come to eat, drink, listen to concerts in Peacock Park, and browse among 300 arts and crafts booths.
Coconut Grove Playhouse

In a reversal of the usual story, this period Mediterranean-Revival building, in the Spanish Rococo style, was built in 1926 as a movie house and later converted to a theater.
Coconut Grove Village

This is a place to walk (see CocoWalk), but it’s probably best not to venture more than a few blocks west of CocoWalk (“Black Grove,” sadly, is uninviting).
CocoWalk

A compact shopping and entertainment center right in the heart of Coco Village – always something or someone to catch the eye.
CocoWalk

This compact, two-story center is the heart of Coconut Grove Village, and features some good shopping, dining, and entertainment. The atmosphere is, in fact, that of a village. People are hanging out, zipping by on in-line skates and bikes, checking each other out. Often live music is happening right in the middle of it all. The main attraction in the evening is probably the multiplex cinema.
Columbus Day Regatta

Some 600 sailboats run this race.
Congregational Church

Merrick’s deliciously Baroque paean to his father, a Congregational minister, was Coral Gables’ first church and remains the city’s most beautiful.
Coral Gables Merrick House

The boyhood home of George Merrick (see Merrick’s Coral Gables Fantasies) has been restored to its 1920s look, and it’s remarkable to reflect on how modest the man’s background was compared to the grandeur of the dreams he realized. The city of Coral Gables took its name from this house. The stone was quarried from what is now the Venetian Pool.

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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
- under $20
- $20–$40
- $40–$55
- $55–$80
- over $80