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Best Place To See A Movie And Drink Alcohol (Without Having To Sneak It In)

Cinema Cafe

At the Cinema Cafe, they don't mind if you drink a little during the show. In fact, they encourage patrons to sip and nosh while, say, Jackie Chan kicks and chops his way across the screen. After all, they've let you in the door for a measly $3.50, so they'd love to make a little cash on the eats and drinks. And they don't even make you stand in line at the concession stand. Instead of that ritual bucket o' popcorn, ask your server for a bowl of beef chili, fries, pizza, or a sandwich. And to wash it down, choose from a mighty fine selection of draft or bottled beers, wine, and cocktails. While you're gorging a movie is playing, of course; two levels of dinner-style seating offer good views for all, albeit with the occasional chomping noise from nearby tables added to the soundtrack during quiet on-screen moments. The movies may be second run (though just recently out of first-run houses), but the service is first-rate.

Best Name For A Strip Joint

The Booby Trap

Enough said, no?

Best Name For A Strip Joint

The Booby Trap

Enough said, no?

Best Local Radio Program

Zeta Goes Local

Midday jock and station music-director Kimba -- no last name, just Kimba -- lends her husky, sultry voice to this Sunday-night show of music by area bands. From the stacks of demotapes and CDs mailed to the station, Kimba chooses the two hours' worth of tunes that make it on the weekly program, which airs from 10 p.m. to midnight. Since the show kicked off in February 1995, bands from Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties have been the focus ("They are the ones that can hear us and know to send their material in," Kimba explains), but any fledgling band from Florida is fair game. Sunshine State alternative rockers Seven Mary Three of Orlando and Mighty Joe Plum of Tampa got airtime on Local before they broke big. And so did Jacksonville rap-metal outfit Limp Bizkit. And while play on the program is no guarantee of greatness to come, the show provides a public service as well as entertainment: Otherwise unknown bands get exposure, and listeners get a preview of next week's live local gigs. "When I know a band has a show coming up," says Kimba, "I try to play them on the Sunday before they are playing out."

Best Local Radio Program

Zeta Goes Local

Midday jock and station music-director Kimba -- no last name, just Kimba -- lends her husky, sultry voice to this Sunday-night show of music by area bands. From the stacks of demotapes and CDs mailed to the station, Kimba chooses the two hours' worth of tunes that make it on the weekly program, which airs from 10 p.m. to midnight. Since the show kicked off in February 1995, bands from Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties have been the focus ("They are the ones that can hear us and know to send their material in," Kimba explains), but any fledgling band from Florida is fair game. Sunshine State alternative rockers Seven Mary Three of Orlando and Mighty Joe Plum of Tampa got airtime on Local before they broke big. And so did Jacksonville rap-metal outfit Limp Bizkit. And while play on the program is no guarantee of greatness to come, the show provides a public service as well as entertainment: Otherwise unknown bands get exposure, and listeners get a preview of next week's live local gigs. "When I know a band has a show coming up," says Kimba, "I try to play them on the Sunday before they are playing out."

Best Rock Club

The Culture Room

Photo by Monica McGivern
The Culture Room takes this one almost by default because of the scarcity of rock clubs in the region. Major props go to the Culture Room for putting on its twice-weekly local band nights (Wednesday and Saturday) when few other clubs seem interested in artists with actual instruments. The space itself wins points also; the dance floor makes for an extremely spacious and accommodating stage, with the balcony-bar area upstairs providing a bird's-eye view of the bands. Decorated with the artistic remnants of the late Squeeze nightclub (including the masterpiece entitled "Simian Sodomy on the Simpsons' Sofa" -- extra points for alliteration), it provides the ambiance as well.

Best Rock Club

The Culture Room

The Culture Room takes this one almost by default because of the scarcity of rock clubs in the region. Major props go to the Culture Room for putting on its twice-weekly local band nights (Wednesday and Saturday) when few other clubs seem interested in artists with actual instruments. The space itself wins points also; the dance floor makes for an extremely spacious and accommodating stage, with the balcony-bar area upstairs providing a bird's-eye view of the bands. Decorated with the artistic remnants of the late Squeeze nightclub (including the masterpiece entitled "Simian Sodomy on the Simpsons' Sofa" -- extra points for alliteration), it provides the ambiance as well.

Best Dance Club

Club Boca

Club Boca's brilliance lies in its simple aesthetics and its variety. Situated on the ground floor of an office building and decorated in a hip but elegant style (regal statues of lions next to hanging graffiti pieces), the club covers the waterfront with its selection of dance music. Mondays DJs Stevie D and Felix Sama host the fattest hip-hop night in SoFla, often with live acts popping in like Jeru the Damaja or Method Man; Thursdays are college nights, pandering to the frat crews with music spanning from reggae to hip-hop to techno; Friday nights Club Boca gets spicy wit' it at Fiesta Latina; Saturdays the club goes SoBe with its ladies' night, bumping Top 40, high-energy dance music; and Sundays DJ K-Ahzz gets progressive, spinning techno and alternative music at Purgatory. When on the hunt for some booty-shakin', Club Boca is the place to prowl.

Best Dance Club

Club Boca

Club Boca's brilliance lies in its simple aesthetics and its variety. Situated on the ground floor of an office building and decorated in a hip but elegant style (regal statues of lions next to hanging graffiti pieces), the club covers the waterfront with its selection of dance music. Mondays DJs Stevie D and Felix Sama host the fattest hip-hop night in SoFla, often with live acts popping in like Jeru the Damaja or Method Man; Thursdays are college nights, pandering to the frat crews with music spanning from reggae to hip-hop to techno; Friday nights Club Boca gets spicy wit' it at Fiesta Latina; Saturdays the club goes SoBe with its ladies' night, bumping Top 40, high-energy dance music; and Sundays DJ K-Ahzz gets progressive, spinning techno and alternative music at Purgatory. When on the hunt for some booty-shakin', Club Boca is the place to prowl.

Best Sports Bar

Hot Shots Bar & Billiards

Sports bars, in order to fulfill their promise as a man's paradise, need four things: plenty of televisions; a small army of hot, scantily clad waitresses; lots of less-than-expensive beer; and buckets of chicken wings. Hot Shots has all of these, but you'll have to forget about the girl-next-door, all-American style of, say, Hooters (not to say there's anything wrong with Hooters). The Hot Shots waitresses are hot in more of a working-class, smoke-stained, screw-you-stupid kind of way. The patrons range from Vinnie from New York to a countrified 57-year-old handyman named Bill who likes to hit on the older chicks in the place while coughing down filterless Camels. Oh, that's another thing: You can actually find single women in there, if the game gets boring. At Hot Shots there's plenty to fall back on, like a black-walled nightclub with a dance floor and so many pool tables there's always one open. Let's put it this way: Where else can you get a $3 Bass ale served up by a not-so-chic cutie while you call the eight ball in the corner pocket with your favorite game on the tube and righteous tunes thumping from a kick-ass sound system? Hot Shots, we salute you.

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