Bijans Burger Joint

Going against the grain in a formal setting has its perks: sneakers at a wedding can help you stand out, and escape more quickly when the bride notices you're wearing sneakers. For an eatery keeping things chill in a hood that's not, check out Bijans Burger Joint.

Dead in the heart of high-rent Coral Gables, Bijans is a disarmingly casual lunch and dinner spot that rocks a burger-centric menu, in a playful high-ceilinged loft space with an oddly medieval stone bar, cushy banquettes, flatscreens with NFL packages, and superhero posters on the wall, including a flexing Wonder Woman complete with truth rope, and a word-bubble claiming she needs to "watch her girlish figure", which you'll agree means she's immune to her own rope. The menu's pleasingly straight-forward, with two salad choices (Caesar and mixed green to which you can can add chicken or mahi), snacks like fried mozz, cheddar-/bacon-stuffed potato skins, and mini corndogs, plus sides like mac & cheese, fried yuca, corn on the cob, and fries made from sweet potatoes, who hope their niceness makes up for being no good in the sack. Burger-works are equally simple: choose an 8 or 16oz, then pile add-ons like sauteed onions and 'shrooms, bacon, and fried egg, and cheeses like American, Swiss, cheddar, mozz, and blue; they've also got a tartar-sauced mahi sandwich (blackened, deep fried, or grilled) and a foot-long hot dog w/ pineapple and crushed potato chips, who've clearly come to grips with the depressing fact that they're about to be eaten.

They'll be leveraging their very full bar to pour $4.75 wells from 11am to 8pm (they skyrocket to $5.75 after that) and $5 shots all day and night, cheap enough that you can afford to placate the bride with the awesome wedding gift of...sneakers.