13 Must-Try Latinx-Owned Businesses in Miami

Near or far, here's how to support the community while discovering your new favorite brand.

If there’s one thing we do better in Miami than anywhere in America, it’s celebrating Hispanic and Latinx heritage. While September kicks off Heritage Month nationwide, there's never a better time to support some of our favorite Latinx-owned businesses around South Florida. Some are innovative, sustainable concepts, others give back to the community in dozens of ways, and others are just fantastic success stories. But all of them embody our city’s entrepreneurial spirit and bring a special flavor to Miami that makes the city so darn unique.

Eat Me Guilt Free
Eat Me Guilt Free

Online and at Vitamin Shoppe and GNC
Registered nurse and certified sports nutritionist Christie Besu saw a huge gap in the baked goods market, where options were either stuff yourself with carbs or nibble on “brownies” that taste like sawdust. So she began producing this line of high-quality, low-carb, protein-packed baked goods out of her small home kitchen. The brownies, wraps, and breads have proven so popular, they’ve even landed in Vitamin Shoppe and GNC in 2020. Besu is now paying it forward by supporting other female entrepreneurs, founding the You Glow Girl grant in 2021 in an effort to provide women-run small businesses $10,000 cash injections.
How to support: Order products for home delivery online or find them at your local Vitamin Shoppe and GNC.

Lucio/ Wine Shop
Lucio/ Wine Shop

Little River
Sometimes a great product is the key to a small business’ success. But, more often, it’s the personalities that make it fly. In the case of Lucio Wine Shop, it’s both. Lucio Bueno founded the shop with his parents in 2016, and has amassed a loyal following by jovially assisting guests with their purchases, offering free tastings on weekends and promoting local artists on the shop’s walls.
How to support: Stop by for in-store shopping.

Verde
Verde

Midtown/South Miami
Single-use plastic may be the greatest scourge of the modern grocery industry, but Verde Market founders Martha Balaguer and Pam Barrerra set out to change all of that. Inspired by sustainably-run bulk-food markets in Europe, they opened Verde in 2018 to help encourage Miamians to waste less when they shop. The market has since become the city’s go-to for bulk everything—spices, soaps, detergent, juices, you name it. You’re welcome to bring your own container or pick up a reusable one at the store, weighing everything and paying as you leave. In a lot of cases, Verde saves you money, too, like when you’re looking for small quantities of a hard-to-find spice.
How to support: Stop into either location for in-store shopping or order ahead online.

Happy Monkey Miami
Happy Monkey Miami

Little River
When Peruvian-born Nicole Candusso had her first child, she began to think more about sustainability in terms of everything from the food they ate to the toys her kid played with. Noticing a lack of plastic-free educational toys in the area, she and her husband opened Miami’s most unique toy store, stocked with artisan wood toys from all over Europe. In addition to specialty items, Happy Monkey also offers stuff like backpacks made from recycled plastic, sustainable beach toys, and even imported bicycles.
How to support: Stop by for in-store shopping or order home delivery online.

Cadena A.C.
Cadena A.C.

Hollywood
Established in 2005, this nonprofit NGO is dedicated to disaster relief and helping those most vulnerable to natural disasters around the world. Founded by Mexican-Israeli Benjamin Lanaido, the organization has acted with Jewish communities internationally to ease suffering. In its 16 years, Cadena has aided over 3 million people across more than 1,000 missions, facilitating everything from medical visits to food and school supplies distribution.
How to support: Donate and learn more online.

Feeding South Florida
Feeding South Florida

Pembroke Park
South Florida’s largest food bank is a lot more than a simple food distribution center. Yes, in 2020, it doled out over 80,000 meal boxes to local families and brought a staggering 154 million pounds of food to people in need. But, in 2021, President and CEO Paco Velez spearheaded FSF’s new Mobile FARMacy, bringing fresh food and 2-for-1 produce to food deserts in Palm Beach County. It also opened a new 5,000-square-foot Community Kitchen, offering a 12-week culinary training and job placement program for folks from high-risk areas.
How to support: Learn more, sign up to volunteer, and donate online.

Phuc Yea
Phuc Yea

MiMo
Miami’s favorite Vietnamese-Cajun restaurant isn’t just a great place for fried chicken or a relaxing drink in its lantern garden. It’s also a champion for feeding the hungry, as chef-owner Cesar Zapata has served as the South Florida co-chair for the national leadership council for No Kid Hungry. He’s also traveled to DC to lobby Marco Rubio for increases in SNAP benefits and EBT.
How to support: Stop by for first come, first served seating or order takeout online

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Vecinos Market Miami
Vecinos Market Miami

Online
During the height of the pandemic, Chef Rafael Barrera wanted to find a way for local artisans to support themselves while farmers' markets were closed. The result was Vecinos Market, an online marketplace where you can buy local goods by everyone from Panther Coffee and SUR empanadas to Retox soap bars and clothes from local boutiques. Vecinos not only opened a platform for the entire world to shop local in Miami, it also supports South Florida artists, teaming with noted graffiti master @AholSniffsGlue for a number of projects.
How to support: Learn more and order for home delivery online.

Online
Cuban-American Alina Villasante began her design career making T-shirts, jewelry, and pajamas for her friends at her annual Love Parties. Her designs were so beloved, she decided to sell her aviation business and created Peace Love World. In the years since, she has developed a sizable celebrity following with folks like Oprah, J-Lo, and all of the Kardashians sporting her looks.
How to support: Shop for home delivery online.

The Spot Barbershop
The Spot Barbershop

Multiple locations
Honduran-American brothers JC and Fredis Perdomo founded the original Spot Barber Shop in 2001 in a 450-square-foot space with five barbers. Since then, it’s expanded to 18 locations throughout South Florida. Its most recent advent has been teaming with another Latino-owned business, Blos Roses Blow Dry Bar, in some of its locations, creating a one-stop shop for folks of all genders to get their groom on together.
How to support: Schedule and appointment online.

CAO Bakery & Cafe
CAO Bakery & Cafe

Multiple locations
This family-owned bakery is now on its third-generation of Cuban-American ownership and has grown to 12 locations spread throughout South Florida. It’s also become a staple in the community, not only thanks to its delicious pastelitos, but also by doing things like giving away free Cuban bread on Mondays during the height of the pandemic, donating lunches to Miami-Dade Public Schools, delivering baked goods to low-income areas, and working with the Joshua’s Heart Foundation to repurpose its leftover products.
How to support: Stop by for counter service or order takeout via Toast.

Multiple locations
Gilbert’s has been serving croquetas, pastelitos, and other baked slices of heaven to the people of Miami since 1976. The family-run bakery also works with local high schools to give students vocational training in baking, donates its eggshells and coffee grounds to a local rock garden, and provides food for United Way events throughout the city. Every four years, it’s also the official caterer for Miami International Airport’s emergency fire drill (it has a location in Terminal J), and has become so popular that owner Maria Peris said people ask her days ahead of time if they’re going to be there again.
How to support: Order online through Postmates.

Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant and Bar
Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant and Bar

Kendall
Despite her endorsement deals and TV appearances, Adrianne Calvo is still a small business owner at her core. And though she’s been occupied with opening her new location of Chef Adrianne’s—as well as Redfish—she still finds time to give back through her Make it Count Foundation, working in conjunction with St. Jude’s to help cancer-stricken children and their families.
How to support: Visit one of her restaurants or order online through Toast.

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Matt Meltzer is a freelance writer based in Miami. Follow him on Instagram @meltrez1.