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Welcome to Groupon Miami! For our inaugural deal, $40 gets you $85 worth of grub and guzzle at A Fish Called Avalon, located at 700 Ocean Dr.

You're probably thinking, "That sounds great, but I've never bought a car or a computer without first reading the Wikipedia definitions for car and computer—I'm not about to buy a Groupon either without a briefing." Well neither would we, and since this is everyone's first Groupon, allow us to briefly explain how it works.

How Groupon Works

Groupon is a combination of the words group and coupon. Each day, we offer an unbeatable deal on the best of Miami: restaurants, spas, sporting events, theater, and more. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power"!

If you want to get the deal, just click BUY before the offer ends at midnight. If the minimum number of people (30 for today's deal) sign up by the end of the day, you'll get a printable gift certificate in your inbox the next morning that you can use whenever you want (well, at least until the deal expires—today's expires on December 24, 2009). If not enough people join, no one gets the deal (and you won't be charged), so invite your friends to make sure you get the discount!

It's nice to wake up to something new every day. Some people get their daily fix from desk calendars with a cute puppy and a funny caption every morning. Groupon is like a desk calendar, except the puppy is an unbeatable discount and the funny caption is a profound reflection on the flowers and needles growing from life's cactus. We selflessly share our deep insights, hoping that you will join our mob of consumers, thus strengthening our collective buying power and commanding even better deals.

Details

With today’s Groupon, $40 gets you $85 toward food and drink at A Fish Called Avalon, a sexy hot spot located in the landmark Avalon Hotel in the heart of the Art Deco district. The prime location and garden terrace on Ocean Drive mean the people watching is almost as good as the award-winning cuisine and twice as good as being yelled at by your hockey coach.

Executive chef Brian Cantrell's cuisine is highly applauded. His menu, combining super-fresh, local ingredients with creative, eclectic presentation, received the AAA Four Diamond Award, the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, Citysearch’s Best Seafood award in 2006, and Tablecloth Spectator's Second Best Tablecloth of April 2007. For starters, try the bang bang shrimp, served with an avocado crema and topped with grapefruit, orange salad, and a pistachio dust. Fish fans will love the grilled local mahi mahi drizzled with a spicy carrot sauce and served with a jumbo lump crab and pea sprout salad, or Cantrell’s tropical take on Florida grouper, grilled and served with a passion-fruit vinaigrette and toasted pistachios. A three-course prix-fixe dinner menu is available from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for $29.

The ambiance at A Fish Called Avalon is A-list: in the course of its 20-plus years, the famed restaurant has hosted the likes of Harrison Ford, Gloria Estefan, Guy Ritchie, and John Travolta. You’ll feel like a celebrity yourself, observing the Ocean Drive action and sipping on libations under the moonlit palms on the tiered terrace. Catch episodes of Miami Vice at the bar on Sundays (the show was filmed here in the '80s before shifting to Boston in the '90s), or get serenaded by sultry, live music outside each night to enhance the South Beach experience.

Reviews

Thirteen Yelpers give A Fish Called Avalon four stars:

• The food was great, the service was great, the ambiance was well, great. I have to say that best mussels ever are made here. – Tania D.
• Excellent restaurant, amazing cuisine, desserts and service was just as good. Even though it’s expensive, it’s worth every dime. – Milayne C.
• The staff is very helpful and the décor was beautiful. Located directly on Ocean Drive, this place is great. – Michelle d.