'Hoods With the Goods in Miami

Biscayne Corridor

The stretch of Route 1 from 50th to 77th streets, called the Biscayne Corridor, passes through the neighborhoods of Edgewater, Morningside, Bayside and Belle Meade. Once the main artery between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where overnight travelers stayed at period motels, this strip, three miles north and east of Wynwood, more recently has been known for its streetwalkers, drug dealers and rent-by-the-hour rooms.

But an influx of new homeowners and a push toward preservation are slowly revitalizing the area, with restaurants, wine bars and shops blooming in once-abandoned properties. On the northern edge, at the corner of Biscayne Boulevard and 75th Street, Ver-Daddy's Taco Shop (7501 Biscayne Blvd., 305-303-9755) is easy to spot: Look for the six-foot-high graffiti lettering that reads "Taco Shop."

Ver-Daddy's (a play on the Spanish word for "truth") brings a new level of authenticity to Mexican food in Miami. Since it opened in January, word has spread about the oh-my-God quality of the crispy enchiladas with chipotle cream, tostadas with grilled steak, soft tacos with pork chili verde, grilled quesadillas and homemade guacamole and salsas. Located in a former KFC restaurant, Ver-Daddy's has fluorescent lighting, tables bolted to the floor and splashes of orange and brown paint to simulate a hacienda. But what it lacks in ambience it makes up for in flavor.

"I love this location," said chef and owner David Bass. "I watched this empty building for a while. I could see the potential. This is the bloodline of Miami."

Bass makes his beans the way his Mexican mother taught him, the same way her grandmother taught her. "I make everything from scratch. This is Mexican soul food," he said. Tacos run $2.95 to $8.50.

As you drive south, other places along this corridor worth seeking out are Dogma Grill (7030 Biscayne Blvd., 305-759-3433), serving 22 variations of hot dogs; the Karma Car Wash and Cafe (7010 Biscayne Blvd., 305-759-1392), where you can sip wine while having your car hand-washed; and Michy's (6927 Biscayne Blvd., 305-759-2001), Michelle Bernstein's newest addition to Miami's fine cuisine scene.

Little-Design-Haiti

From Biscayne Boulevard, a quick zigzag east and south onto NE Second Avenue will bring you to an area that's referred to as both the northern edge of the Design District and the southern end of Little Haiti. This is where you'll find A (4582 NE Second Ave., 305-572-9902), an organic French-Caribbean cafe that's been embraced by the neighborhood for its great food and low-key vibe.

Chef Marc Solomon and his wife, Blue, opened A in Miami a year ago. (They have another location on New York's Upper West Side.) "It's all about the food. We want to be organic," Marc said. He frequently leaves his post at the tiny kitchen's stove to chat with guests in the 30-seat dining room.

The menu is short and sweet, but the flavors linger in the mouth and in the imagination: grilled avocado with three-vegetable mousse and shiitake-sesame vinaigrette, roast duck in tamarind peppercorn and mango sauce. Entrees are $13 to $16.

Nearby, along NE Second Avenue between 45th and 47th streets, several shops add their own flavor to the landscape, offering handcrafted jewelry, African sculptures, crystals, soaps, cards and incense. (If you depleted your cache of patchouli oil in the 1970s, you can find more here.) Around the corner, a Prohibition-era-inspired bar, Amendment XXI (190 NE 45th St., 305-571-7200), stays open till 3 a.m.

Brickell/East Little Havana

Another area where district names blend is south of downtown Miami. Take Biscayne Boulevard past the new performing arts center and AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Miami Heat plays basketball. Cross Flagler Street, winding your way across the Miami River to the tall business and residential towers of Brickell. A turn west leads to a triangle of land crouching near the river in the shadow of the Metrorail and exit ramps from Interstate 95.

Here, near where cranes and high-rise condos rise like weeds across Miami's increasingly crowded skyline, are the live-music venue Tobacco Road (626 S. Miami Ave., 305-374-1198) and the white-tablecloth restaurant River Oyster Bar (650 S. Miami Ave., 305-530-1915), as well as an assortment of businesses including a Pilates studio and a photography lab.

In this mix you'll also find Transit Lounge (729 SW First Ave., 305-377-4628, http://www.transitlounge.us), an inauspicious barn of a place on SW First Avenue. This smoky, casual bar, with a concrete floor, red chandeliers, a pool table and mismatched cushiony armchairs, draws crowds of all types and ages to hear an eclectic mix of live blues, jazz, rock and Latin fusion bands, including Miami's own Suenalo Sound System and Locos Por Juana.

Yet the bourgeois as well as the glitzy are encroaching on Miami's liveliest funky enclaves. Within a few blocks of Transit Lounge, palm trees and lush, flowering ground cover surround the courts at the Brickell Tennis Club. Closer to the river, a new fortress of a nightclub called Bricks (66 SW Sixth St., 305-371-6950) has opened, where a just-past-teenage and hoping-to-be-cool crowd lines up behind velvet ropes along SW Sixth Street at midnight.

Which isn't to say all will soon be sanitized and upscale. In this part of town, the sidewalks -- where there are any -- dissolve into patches of bottle-strewn gravel, and on a recent Friday night it was possible to buy grilled pork skewers with fresh guacamole and potatoes from a street vendor at 1 in the morning.

It's at moments like that, standing near a chain-link fence within the swampy odor of the river on a sweaty night under a full moon, that it's easy to revel in the inventive, evolving, unpredictable and most definitely non-glamorous spirit of Miami.

To print out a map and get information about the art institutions, galleries and alternative spaces in Wynwood: http://www.wynwoodartdistrict.com. For more information on travel to Miami: Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, http://www.gmcvb.com/visitors.

Necee Regis is a freelance writer who divides her time between Boston and Miami Beach. Her novel "Glitterbox" is set in Miami.