Grab your plutonium, rev that engine to 88 mph, and hang on tight: It’s time for a journey to South Florida’s red-hot present. After all, Marty McFly traveled to 2015 in Back to the Future Part II. So consider our more than 250 picks for the best places to snag late-night eats, chug cheap beer, or peruse vintage clothes right now in Broward and Palm Beach counties? Not even a mad genius like Doc Brown could invent a better choice for the best new bar, the coolest day trip, and the finest tattoo shop. To top it off, you’ll also find the results of our Readers’ Poll, tallied from months of voting. Keep this issue in your DeLorean’s glove box for handy reference, or find all of our picks at browardpalmbeach.com/bestof. Great Scott!

#BestOfBroward

The photographers of Florida's postcard industry could go on holiday after taking a few snaps at this piece of scenic Boca Raton coastline, its white sands constantly beaten by waves of crystal-clear saltwater. Sure, the shutterbugs would have to go elsewhere for the novelty postcard shots of obese sunbathers and hot babes, as South Beach Park is rarely crammed with people. It may not have the easy access to bars and restaurants of the same-named beach in Miami-Dade, but neither is it littered with empty bottles and cigarette butts. If you're longing for a vista that might inspire you to write something on the blank side of that postcard and make a faraway friend jealous, this is the spot for you.

Readers' Choice: Delray Beach

Homelessness was at the forefront in Fort Lauderdale this past year, what with the city enacting an ordinance that restricted people from sharing food with the homeless outdoors. Officials said the ordinance was put in place to make sure that public feeding of the homeless was sanitary, but the new rule blew up in their faces as an avalanche of national scorn buried the city, which was seen as discriminating against the needy. Enter Food Not Bombs, like Batman with a plate of food and love. As things got hairy, Food Not Bombs was there, calling the ordinance what it was: a "homeless hate law." Members rallied angry citizens at City Hall, went on hunger strikes, and even sued the city. The group has held feedings every Friday at Stranahan Park for years — and probably will for years to come, stupid laws be damned.

foodnotbombs.net

A ballsy show in more ways than one, Island City Stage's Octopus explored the potential perils of unprotected sex through a surrealist conceit that would make Eugene Ionesco proud. It starts with a shockingly frank orgy involving two male couples, their sexual maneuvering choreographed like a ballet. But the weirdness comes later, in the aftermath of the encounter, when one character apparently takes up residence at the bottom of the ocean and sends cryptic missives to his friends and lovers through a creepy telegraph boy. Andy Rogow's fearless direction plunged into depths few theater companies would dare explore, resulting in a groundbreaking drama that was strange, visceral, and altogether physical, from its many-tentacled tangle of nude flesh to the realistic brawls of its climactic finish, staged in and around a pool of water. Those in the front row could have been warned they'd be sitting in a Sea World-like splash zone, but that would have dampened the show's immersive excitement: We were all in it together.

Just one block south of Oakland Park Boulevard and over a canal that hems the northern edge of the Island City, chef-owner Armando Vega and his wife, Yudaris, will deliver your dish as if you were family. Inside their 15-table restaurant, the Cuban-born couple dish out carefully sourced and lovingly cooked Latin and Mediterranean cuisine. Charcuterie, like the $16 ham made from Iberico pigs that feed on acorns, is presented on a wooden cutting board, with specialty cheeses if you please. (Try the manchego, a nutty sheep's cheese, cured for more than a year.) Other delights imported from Spain include medium-grain rice from Murcia; mahón, a soft cow's-milk cheese from the island of Minorca; and olive oil from Jaén, a city in the south. Entrées like grilled octopus ($16) and oxtail medallions ($21) are specialties, and the wait staff will attentively refill your water or wine while you feast. The rustic, red-walled hideaway is accented with handmade wooden wine racks and Vega's family china, and the corks of emptied wine bottles are evidence of the gastronomic merriment that's taken place over the years.

Readers' Choice: Chow Sushi BBQ

Someone once said that the soul of a city is its bookstores. Well, odds are, someone at some point said something like that — and they weren't wrong. Unfortunately, the independently owned bookstore has largely gone the way of the dodo bird, run into the ground by soulless big-box bookstores, and, of course, Amazon. But indie stores are not all gone, and the ones that have managed to hold on this long must be doing something very, very right. Big Apple Bookstore is one such establishment. Established in Oakland Park in 2005 and relocated to Fort Lauderdale in 2012, Big Apple is primarily a used-book store. While some local shops have survived by specializing (like Murder by the Beach in Delray), Big Apple has remained a generalist, offering fiction, romance, science fiction, children's, self-help, business, etc., as well as CDs, DVDs, and even vinyl records. To top it off, everything in the store is $4 or less. A self-described "quaint" shop, Big Apple invites you to browse the aisles at your leisure. And it's got to get those used items from somewhere, so it buys and accepts trade-ins, but always call ahead when you've got something to unload.

Readers' Choice: Murder on the Beach Bookstore

Nestled right off Mile Marker 37, about an hour from Key West, you'll find a little piece of paradise called Bahia Honda State Park. The three beaches that make up the park stand under the shade of the old Flagler Railroad and look out over crystalline, snorkel-friendly waters. Bahia Honda is the perfect place to just chill on the sand with your toes in the water. And if you're feeling adventurous, you can hike along the Silver Palm Trail or ride along the winding bike path. The Bahia Honda Bridge is a great place for pictures or for spotting the nurse sharks that swim underneath the railroad. The park also offers kayak rentals and boating excursions. Overnight lodging is available for campers if you don't want to go back home right away. Park entry costs $8 per vehicle.

With Daniel's Husband, Michael McKeever proved that even after years of writing award-winning South Florida premieres, he's still getting better. As Island City Stage's riveting capstone to its best season yet, Daniel's Husband started off as the kind of breezy, erudite comedy McKeever can write in his sleep. At a dinner gathering of two gay couples, we learned the hosts, Mitchell and his partner Daniel, have opposing views of marriage: Mitchell was philosophically opposed to it, and Daniel was waiting — sometimes more patiently than others — for his boyfriend to come around. What made the play uniquely powerful is that it enjoyed its world premiere the year same-sex marriage became legal in Florida. For the first time in history, its characters had the same choice to wed as straight couples have for centuries — and with that choice came responsibility. When tragedy struck Daniel in a bold, twist-ending Act I, the play became a tear-jerking cautionary tale about the perils of voluntarily staying separate but equal, and there was never a question of the playwright's stance on the issue. Hopefully, this brave and personal work's Florida debut will be its first stop of many.

At the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's new Japanese-style restaurant, paying $24 for a tower of toro the size of a Ping-Pong ball is worth it. That pile of toro is rich and creamy, paired with a trio of sauces — salty, spicy, and sweet — and served with a basket of crispy wontons fried into pillow-shaped balloons. Kuro translates to "black" in Japanese, but that's less about having black-colored decor and more about a certain noir sexiness that permeates the place. The 9,500-square-foot restaurant has become a showpiece for the resort with a theater-style dining room where patrons can indulge in traditional multicourse Japanese dining, a series of dishes that progress from light, simple fare to heavier, more complex dishes. A private chef's bar presents a front-row seat to the restaurant's expansive open kitchen. Or take your dinner party into the private dining area, a glass-walled room. Outside, just steps from Kuro's bar, two private tables allow for a quiet alfresco dinner beside the pool. Plus, you'll find that element that's so elusive in Florida: exceptional service. A meal at Kuro plays out like a well-orchestrated performance, progressing in stanzas. It starts with chilled plates, salads, and tempura straight through to selections from a robata grill. The roller coaster of flavor peaks with the chef's most inspired dishes, filed under fish (sea) and meat (land). Finish that off with sushi — bright slices of nigiri and perhaps a wacky, Willy Wonka-inspired dessert: shaved ice or green panna cotta.

Readers' Choice: Fork & Balls