RESTAURANTS RESTAURANTS
seatings a night, a 13course dinner at 6 p.m. and a more expanded experience at 9 p.m.
Bottled Blonde Pizzeria + Beer Garden
2838 NW Second Ave., Bldg 2, Miami; bottledblondepizzeria.com
There are things you need to live a happy life. Among them are pizza, beer and a mimosa tower. You will find all of the above, and more, at Bottled Blonde Pizzeria +
Beer Garden. Like many Wynwood hot spots, the 9,000-square-foot establishment, a hybrid of an Italian restaurant and German beer garden, has two personas. During the day, the 49 TVs and two 24-foot projector walls indicate that this will be a sports lover’s dream for college and professional sports as well as UFC fights. At night, though, the vibe switches into overdrive with high-tech sound and lighting systems, turning Bottled Blonde into a nightclub with VIP tables and bottle service.
Burdo
2509 North Miami Ave., Miami
Now open on North Miami Avenue just north of Cerveceria La Tropical, Burdo includes a 2,700square-foot dining room and a 4,000-square-foot outdoor patio that transforms, like so many other new Miami hot spots, from restaurant to late-night party spot after dark. The main menu at Burdo serves up American fare including bowls, pizzas and burgers and includes sushi rolls.
But that’s not the only menu on the premises. Located on Burdo’s patio is Criminal Taqueria at Burdo. The taqueria, which has a few seats but is primarily designed for grab-and-go purchases, has its own independent kitchen and serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, esquites and elote bowls.
Cèrto
1200 SW 57th Ave., West Miami; certo miami.com, 305-4563200
“Cèrto” means truth, and here is the truth about Cèrto Risto & Pizza: Its goal is to provide classic and modern Italian cuisine in an elegant and yet casual atmosphere. There’s indoor and outdoor seating, and Ecuadorian-born owner Giovanni Astudillo, who worked in a variety of
New York restaurants, was instrumental in opening such Miami favorites as Anacapri in Coral Gables and Farinelli in Coconut
Grove. He says favorite dishes at his restaurant, which opened in January and is led by Chef Julio Tucci, include wood ovenroasted octopus, fiocchi alla gorgonzola (purseshaped pasta stuffed with pear and ricotta in a cheese cream sauce) and ossobuco di Vitello.
Crudos Art House Coral Gables
2415 Ponce De Leon, Coral Gables; crudosarthouse.com, 305-3920054
MoonMat Hospitality’s Crudos Art House is the sister property of Crudos Fusion Art Wynwood and Crudos Fusion Art Hallandale in Broward. The new two-story, 5,000-squarefoot space, in the former AdLib space on Miracle Mile, seats 85 guests and entertains them with art installations, live music, cocktails and Asian-American-Latin cuisine.
Dirty French
1200 Brickell Ave., Miami; Dirtyfrench.com
Dirty French Steakhouse is another restaurant from Major Food Group, the New Yorkbased group that brought Miami several over-thetop venues: Carbone, HaSalon, Sadelle’s and the members-only sushi restaurant ZZ’s Club. As with Carbone and HaSalon, Dirty French embraces Major Food Group’s “big night out” mentality with big prices to match. Dirty French, which takes over the spot of the former Morton’s in Brickell, promises the highest quality cuts of steak and seafood dishes in Gordon Gekko-retro ’80s opulence. Picture zebrastriped dining chairs, leopard print bar stools, gold-leaf ceilings and fuchsia crushed-velvet banquettes.
Dogfish Head Miami
325 NW 24th St., Wynwood; Dogfish.com/ restaurants/dogfish-miami, 305-796-2727
Squint and you’ll have a hard time distinguishing Dogfish Head Brewing’s newest craft beer brewery in Wynwood from its predecessor, Concrete Beach. Dogfish Head brewing shook the foundations of classically brewed beers when founder Sam Calagione won a James Beard Foundation award for melding culinary flavors in his “off-centered ales.” But it’s a worthy upgrade and a better fit in busy Wynwood.
Doya
347 NW 24th St., Miami; DoyaRestaurant.com, 305-501-2848
Doya is intended to be a
pan-Mediterranean meze bar, with hot and cold small plates that aim to reflect the cuisines of Greece and Turkey, primarily. That means warm dishes from kofte Turkish meatballs and Turkish pastrami hummus to saganaki melted cheese, adana spiced lamb kebabs and charcoal-grilled octopus. Cold small plates include haydari Turkish yogurt dip, muhammara roasted red pepper spread, red lentil kofte and roasted beetroot. There are larger plates such as whole grilled branzino (naturally), lamb chops and a hearty Fisherman’s Stew for two.
El Secreto Omakase
3201 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; faena.com,786-655-5600
Hidden away between The Cava, Faena hotel’s 25-seat private dining room in the wine cellar, and the red velvet curtains in Faena Theater is El Secreto Omakase, an intimate new bar. With only six seats and two seating times each night, El Secreto serves omakase, a chef’s choice menu that includes Tokyo-style sushi and Kyoto-style kaiseki (which also refers to a multi-course meal of small, intricate bites).
Forte by Chef Adrianne
45 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables; https://fortemiami.com
Forte by Chef Adrianne serves Italian classics in the atmosphere of a Tuscan-style villa. Adrianne Calvo, the driving force behind Redfish by Chef Adrianne in Matheson Hammock Park and Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar, says
she has long wanted to explore Italian cuisine. Forte serves a crossover of traditional and modern Italian “done Maximum Flavor style,” Calvo says. Expect reimagined dishes that pay tribute to timeless recipes, some of them 150 years old.
HaSalon
404 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; https://www. hasalonmiami.com
Israeli celebrity chef Eyal Shani brings a brash attitude to the second U.S. outpost of his restaurant, at the former China Grill space. The menu includes a $24 heirloom tomato cut into wedges. Expect the party to go on into the wee hours.
Hoja Taqueria
3120 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, in the Generator Miami hotel
19 SE Second Ave., Suite #4, downtown; https://www.hoja taqueria.com
Hoja Taqueria comes from the Bar Lab team, which is also responsible for Broken Shaker. Like its sister restaurant in downtown Miami, the taqueria serves tacos, burritos and quesadillas, only this time they are served in a bistrostyle setting. There are also new menu items, such as fish tacos, special tostadas and a whole grilled fish. The new restaurant shows off what the owners see as the most important element of Mexican culture: corn. Tortillas are made inhouse from corn sourced from family-owned farms in Oaxaca in southern Mexico. A portion of the restaurant’s profits, owners said, will go back to the farmers.
Issabella’s
1022 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach; issabellas.com
Taking over the old
Balan’s space on Lincoln Road is this Mediterranean restaurant from the same owners. Expect a new look and a menu highlighting Spanish octopus carpaccio, crispy squid, uni toast and bravas topped with caviar and uni aioli as well as charcuterie and pizzas.
Izzy’s Brooklyn Smokehouse
3585 NE 207th St.,
●
Aventura; https://www.izzys smokehouse.com, 305690-7103
Izzy’s Brooklyn Smokehouse, which calls itself the first kosher barbecue restaurant to open in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, has opened an Aventura location. It’s Izzy’s third location and the first outside of New York. Highlights of Izzy’s strictly kosher menu include 18-hour smoked brisket, house-cured pastrami, mammoth beef ribs, smoked lamb and pulled beef or chopped brisket sandwiches. Pit boss Izzy Eidelman opened Izzy’s in Brooklyn and quickly found success with barbecue that, as Eidelman puts it, happens to be kosher but intends to be simply great barbecue. Eidelman saw the rush of New York restaurants opening in South Florida and moved to join them.
Jatto
223 NW 23rd St., Miami; ● JattoMiami.com, 305982-8960
Is it Peruvian? Cuban? Thai? Italian? Or all of the above? This restaurant, in the former space of Brad Kilgore’s Alter in Wynwood, serves cuisine that’s hard to pin down. Expect dishes like fufu croquetas, choclo with a five-spice butter, sweet potatoes topped with zaatar and patatas bravas topped with a roasted garlic espuma.
The Key Club
3015 Grand Ave.,
●
Coconut Grove; 305-5214969
The Key Club, an upscale steak and seafood restaurant by nightclub owner and nascent restaurateur David Grutman, opened March 11 on the busy corner of Grand Avenue and Main Highway in the renovated Cocowalk. The massive 6,700-square-foot, 300-seat restaurant serves a varied menu of safe, go-to dishes such as catchof-the-day fish and steaks. There are also items like Chips & Caviar, coconut lobster roll and a long list of cocktails with top-shelf alcohol and a 200-bottle wine list as well as bottle service.
Klaw
1737 N. Bayshore Dr.,
●
Edgewater
The restaurant aims to bring the best of surf and turf to the Edgewater neighborhood. Restaurateur Mikhail “Misha” Zelman, owner of the popular Burger & Lobster, Goodman Steakhouse and Zelman Meats, has a lasersharp focus here: King Crab flown to Miami directly from Norway, on display in custom-made tanks, and the highestquality beef from Nebraska. There are other items on the menu, such as prawns, scallops, East and West Coast oysters and seasonal dishes. But claw and hoof rule.
Korner 67
6769 Main St., Miami
●
Lakes; korner67.com, 305-280-0910
Korner 67 — from the husband-and-wife team Cesar Olivo and Adriana Perez Benatar, plus brother-in-law Samuel Perez Benatar — is a 2,500square-foot restaurant that offers indoor and outdoor seating and features a tapas-heavy menu and a variety of craft cocktails on Miami Lakes’ Main Street.
Manjay
2618 NW Fifth Ave.,
●
Miami; Manjay restaurant.com
Manjay is perfectly Miami. By that we mean it’s not just one thing: not Haitian, not Jamaican, not Cuban, not Puerto Rican. Rather, it’s the mix of the Caribbean flavors that made it a hit, originally at The Citadel food hall in Little River and, now, in a second, stand-alone spot in Wynwood. At Wynwood’s Manjay you’ll find coconut and curry, jerk and cumin seasonings. And you’ll find them used in fried pork and chicken but also in vegan preparations of curried vegetables.
Mehzcla
350 Ocean Dr., Miami ●
Beach; mehzclasouthbeach.com
“Mehzcla” means mixture, which makes it an appropriate name for the new restaurant at The Balfour Hotel. Executive Chef Steven Acosta aims to reflect his mixed Cuban and Costa Rican heritage at Mehzcla. Growing up in Miami, he reveled in the best of two worlds, helping his mother make arroz con pollo and making Costa Rican vinagreta with his grandmother. The menu at Mehzcla, which overlooks Ocean Drive and has indoor and outdoor seating, reflects an interest in local flavors, with starters like a classic avocado and tomato ensalada and entrees like a
whole fried snapper, fried without the bones for an easier dining experience. Mimi’s
2501 Biscayne Blvd.,
●
Edgewater; https://mimismiami.com
Mimi’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in an indoor-outdoor space. Chicken and Eggs is just one of the specialties of the new bistro-style restaurant, and the eggs, by the way, refer to Ossetra Caviar, the best possible kind of eggs. Breakfast means perfectly gooey Drippy Egg Sandwich with eggs, bacon, cheddar and chipotle mayo on Zak the Baker brioche. The lunch menu includes burgers, crispy skin branzino and lighter fare like a salad of salt-roasted beets with goat milk feta. Happy hour and dinner choices include oysters and a Binchotan-grilled steak and egg.
Motek
19565 Biscayne Blvd., ●
#938, Aventura; motek cafe.com, 305-974-2626
Located on the lower level of the Aventura Mall, next to the (extremely busy) Apple store, Motek seats 155, with indoor seating plus an outdoor patio for those who prefer a breeze with their meals. The menu offers small and large plates, hummus, sandwiches, burgers, labneh and bowls. The restaurant also serves desserts, smoothies and coffee and tea.
Ocean Social
4525 Collins Ave.,
●
Miami Beach; 786-9616043
It’s hard to beat a great view of the beach, and that’s what Eden Roc Miami Beach hotel delivers with its new restaurant Ocean Social. A sprawling oceanfront patio is the
perfect place to watch the waves while dining on shared plates and signature dishes, many of which come from a woodfired oven. Poached lobster pizza, anyone?
Off Site
8250 NE Second Ave., Miami; Offsite.miami,786360-4237
The founders of Taquiza and Wynwood’s late, lamented Boxelder craft beer bar joined forces to open this brewery and pub in Little River that serves crispy fried chicken sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs and beer. They make everything from scratch, including the mustard for the fresh-baked, golf ballsized pretzel balls, the perfect bar snack.
Old Greg’s Pizza
3620 NE Second Ave., ●
Miami; Oldgregspizza.com
Old Greg’s was a pandemic baby, a pop-up that became an unexpected hit on Instagram and finally a full restaurant. Greg Tetzner, a baker for Niven Patel’s Ghee and El Bagel, started baking pizza out of a home oven to make ends
meet when restaurants closed and perfected his pizza. People have fallen in love with his square pizza — not too puffy, not too thin. But we prefer his over-stretched 18-butactually-20-inch pies of delicate, chewy dough, topped with either puckered pepperoni and hot honey or a mix of marinated vegetables.
Paradis Books & Bread
12831 W. Dixie Hwy.,
●
North Miami; pbb.cafe
Paradis Books & Bread is the creation of five friends who left New York — three are locals, graduates of St. Thomas Aquinas — to create a space in which to indulge and share their passions. Food. Wine. Books. Baking. Gardening. Politics. Hanging out is encouraged in a number of ways. The café/wine bar/bookstore, which opened in July, has a small menu that features pizza by the slice, spreads, tins of sardines, mussels and squid and bar snacks.
Did we mention the bread, baked fresh daily?
Playa
915 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach; playasobe.com, 305-763-8138
A taste of the Southern Mediterranean has arrived in the heart of Lincoln Road. The latest restaurant from Show Hospitality, the group behind Midtown’s restaurant and club Mau Miami, Playa has opened in the Sterling Building on Lincoln Road. The restaurant has a huge outdoor terrace as well as indoor seating with a touch of Tulum in its design. The food is southern Mediterranean, but you’ll find catfish grits on the menu, too.
Sadelle’s
3321 Mary St., Coconut Grove; sadelles.com /coconutgrove
This New York import from Major Food Group in the former Tigertail + Mary space in Coconut Grove is all about that brunch, serving bagel towers, egg sandwiches, Benedicts, salads, grilled sandwiches and burgers. A robust cocktail menu adds to the special-occasion vibe.
Salt & Straw
246 NW 25th St., Wynwood
3015 Grand Ave., Unit 145, Coconut Grove; saltandstraw.com/ pages/miami
The popular Oregonbased small-batch ice cream brand arrives in Miami with some of its popular flavors (Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons, Chocolate Gooey Brownie) and some new Miami collaborations (the Salty Donut Guava + Cheese and the Gables Delight Pineapple Coconut Cream Pie both are so delicious they can alter reality). Go ahead. Eat a pint for dinner. We won’t stop you. The shop opened two locations in the Miami area to ensure their brand of wild flavors can reach more of us.
7th Cafe
1951 NW Seventh
Ave., Miami; 7thcafe.com, 305-454-9065
This new spot by the inventors of Rosie's Cafe focuses on breakfast and lunch, with house-made croissants and muffins, sandwiches with pastrami, melty cheeseburgers and cornmeal-crusted crispy fish sandwiches cribbed from Rosie’s. Their beloved Rosie’s will open as a separate restaurant this summer, but until then as a weekend brunch spot with the same chicken and biscuits with apricot-lemon jam, grits with tomato coulis and vanilla-nutmeg waffles.
Sexy Fish
1001 S. Miami Ave., Brickell; sexyfish miami.com
Sexy Fish Miami is set to open this fall with many of the original spot’s signature dishes, including such Japanese-inspired seafood as sushi and sashimi as well as fish and meat cooked on a Robata grill. This means you can expect smoked tuna belly, black cod, King Crab and bone marrow as well as crispy mushrooms, duck salad and even vegetarian sushi. But Chef Director Bjoern Weissgerber will also be adding new menu items.
Smith & Webster
486 NE 167th St., Miami; 305-333-8272
Miami-born NFL player Kayvon Webster and food blogger Starex Smith partnered to open Smith & Webster, a new North Miami Beach-area restaurant that highlights food rooted in the AfricanAmerican diaspora, from Southern Black to Caribbean. It’s the kind of cuisine Smith, who says he has dined at and reviewed more than 1,500 restaurants around the world, elevates on his well-read blog. Webster and Smith hired Malcolm Prude, sous chef at the creative French restaurants L’Atelier and Le Jardinier by the late French giant Joël Robuchon, to design the menu. They brought on chef Gerald Harvey, formerly of Fort Lauderdale’s Royal Pig, to fill it out and execute it as head chef. The result is a menu that ranges from the Louisiana low country to the Caribbean, with French techniques and even some Asian influences.
Smoke & Dough
4013 SW 152nd Ave., Miami; smokeand dough.com, 786-362-5698
Just like his empanada shop next door creates 23 kinds of Latin American empanadas, at Smoke & Dough, Harry Coleman aims to bring the many Latin flavors in Miami into his barbecue. This includes beef cheek barbacoa, succulent confit pulled pork and a “timba” guava-flecked sausage, and even a stunning smoked flan. The primegrade brisket, rubbed partly with finely ground espresso, shows a mastery of the most difficult piece of meat to barbecue. Coleman has turned this suburban
spot into destination barbecue.
Sushi Garage
3015 Grand Ave., Coconut Grove; sushi garage.com, 786-9424222
The popular Japanese restaurant on West Avenue in Miami Beach, which also has a location on Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, has opened its third spot at Cocowalk in Coconut Grove. There’s indoor and outdoor seating and old favorites — cilantro salt tiradito, miso maple sea bass, special nigiris — on the menu.
Thank You Miami Cocina and Beerhouse
1701 W. Flagler St., Miami
Known for their quirky Mr. PB&J food truck, husband-and-wife team Alex Valle and Johanna Caserta opened this spot in Little Havana, serving the sandwiches that made them Miami famous amid Miami memorabilia, like a version of a croqueta preparada with peanut butter. You can also order a monster burger and choose from more than 40 kinds of craft beer to wash it down.
The One on Sunset
1586 S. Dixie Hwy., Coral Gables; Theoneonsunset.light speedordering.com
Dimitris Harvalis had been looking to buy out the Swensen’s lease since 2019 to open his second restaurant. The landlords weighed two options: Harvalis, a Greek-born local for the last 32 years, whose experience came with Taverna Opa and Miami Beach nightclubs. Or a Starbucks. Harvalis won the lease and spent six months renovating the restaurant, from an outdated kitchen to refurbishing the booths and setting up an iPad ordering system at each table. He aimed to preserve Swensen’s comfort-food soul: burgers and shakes with decadent ice cream sundaes.
Tropezón
512 Española Way, Miami Beach; 305-7638523
The cocktail kings from Lost Boy opened this Andalusian tapas restaurant and bar on Española Way. Expect signature tapas like
jamón ibérico, tortilla Española, fried anchovies, and grilled prawns and traditional patatas bravas. There’s also a stellar gin program with more than 20 infused gins and cocktails such as the Blue Matcha Yuzu G&T.
Whitmans
959 West Ave., Miami Beach; whitmansnyc.com
Named after the poet Walt Whitman, the 1,500square-foot New York import offers what it calls “elevated comfort food” in an upscale but casual atmosphere, with a menu that zeroes in on American favorites. That means burgers, of course, including a take on the Juicy Lucy, a burger made famous in Minneapolis. The Juicy Lucy involves two short rib-beef patties pinched together around a scoop of pimento cheese. Yes. The cheese just oozes out all over your hand.
Connie Ogle: 305-376-3649, @OgleConnie Carlos Frías: 305-376-4624, @Carlos_Frías