Miami's Ten Best Spots for Free Food

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Free bacon!

7. Bacon at Prime One Twelve. A few things happen when you visit Prime One Twelve. You arrive promptly for your reservation but learn you'll be waiting an additional hour because Rick Ross and Lil Wayne are going toe-to-toe on double-cut rib eyes and truffled mac 'n' cheese to see whose entourage gets diabetes first. You head to the bar for an $18 cocktail to kill some time, and there's bacon. Thick, crisp, salty, savory bacon in glass goblets. It might be a cramped bar, but suddenly all is right with the world.

mealsandmiles.com

A better first bite.

6. Matzoh and black bean purée at the Café at Books and Books. Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan saves us from the faux intellectuals at Barnes & Noble and helps lead Miami Book Fair International. As if that weren't enough, the simple Lincoln Road location always has fresh, fairly priced food and great people-watching. We also like that they never use club-hostess rejects to entice diners in for a meal. Books & Books ditches bread and butter, instead offering a thick black bean purée with squares of broken-up matzoh (the cracker-like flatbread Jewish folks eat during Passover).

Rony Morales

Piggin' out.

5. Pig roast at Brother Jimmy's. Who cares if it's a celebrity-owned chain restaurant? Every Friday afternoon, Brother Jimmy's in Mary Brickell Village roasts up a whole hog and dishes out the porky goodness (plus crisp skin) to a horde of pan-Latin yuppies. In Miami, the smell of roasting pork draws people out like sharks in generously chummed Key West waters. Along with the happy-hour crowd, you might see neighborhood bums or even a passing abuelita filling their plates with pork and barbecue sauce.

Free fish dip with a view.

4. Smoked fish dip at Garcia's Seafood Grille & Fish Market. There are plenty of Garcias in Miami, though few are as famous as the owners of this restaurant and market overlooking the Miami River. The yellowtail and shrimp you enjoy at night likely gave their lives earlier that day, and here every meal starts with a basket of Saltines and a little bowl of savory smoked fish dip. If you ask nicely, they'll bring out a much larger bowl, with much more dip, for free!