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I think I heard it said that man cannot live on bread alone, but along with a beer, it might be different. I remember the time when every place had bakeries that turned out loaves of warm fragrant delight, and nearby taprooms served beers where everyone knew your name. Luckily, a renaissance arrived.
I grew up at the end of the bygone bakery era. I remember rye bread from Harrison‘s, which closed its doors when I was very young. In its place, big supermarkets presented soft, plastic wrapped, preservative loaded imitations from big conglomerates that they overwhelmingly sold in place of the authentic original thing. One of the greatest marketing coups of all time might be Wonder Bread – certainly not a wonder and barely bread. The beer industry history was similar. I grew up with adults drinking Piels, Rheingold, Schmidt’s, Schlitz, Hamm’s, National Bohemian, and a few that survived in gigantic corporate form – Miller, Budweiser, Pabst, and the smaller Yuengling.
The good news is, though they almost got away with eliminating the craft, both bakeries and breweries are now thriving. Where there were almost wastelands, now there are yeast lands. We are blessed here with a few great bakeries, numerous fine bakeries, dozens of neighborhood bakeries, and more high-quality breweries than bars.
The reason high quality breads have made a comeback should be attributed to three special factors in Miami. Number one is Zak the Baker. Number two consists of young people with a taste for high quality breads even if they have little money. Number three is me for being the first person to write about Zak the Baker, because I deserve credit for Zak’s success like Columbus deserves credit for discovering America. The two of us made Miami’s bread great again.
Nobody influenced the baking world more than Zak and in 2026, he has some company: Patrick Baboun’s French Bakery which preceded Zak, Patrick Feyten’s Atelier Monnier, Benoît Pagliardini’s Casa Bake, Emil Hristov’s Domaselo, Manuel and Jesus Brazon’s Caracas Bakery, Naomi Harris’ Madruga, Avy Cohen’s Boulangerie Boul’Mich, and Cutler Bay’s Macita’s – an unpretentious, inexpensive prize with an expired website and little info – are the excellent ones.
In the middle range, Pinecrest Bakery, Ricky Bakery, Vicky Bakery, CAO, Party Cake, Breadman and of course Versailles are among treasures for the common ventanita, cortadito, y pastelito set. These ubiquitous inexpensive places will immediately satisfy your deepest longings and cravings.
But you gotta wash it down, so Rocketeer Beer, Maxwell Bros, Spanish Marie, Unseen Creatures, Titanic and Lincoln‘s Beard all produce fine quality brews in festive, friendly atmospheres not too far from any of the bakeries though I might wait a few hours.
There are far more breweries than just those I mentioned and this provides me with one more Wynwood complaint: how do the OG classic’s like Boxelder, Wynwood Brewery, J Wakefield, and Gramps still not occupy the heart of what was once a great scene. This greedy development destroyed all four of those but just so we don’t forget, La Rubia still exists as a supermarket option and Gramps Getaway rests comfortably on the Rickenbacker Causeway, but the force got to Wakefield and Boxeleder because the rent was too damn high.
Desire for independent quality, proprietor determination, and entrepreneurial independence resuscitated two industries. Or maybe it was memory. Nevertheless, our gratitude is only limited by the cost of weight loss medication as these luscious staples that have contributed to sustaining billions for generations means no one needs to settle for the awful imitations found in bags and cans.
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