I don’t know why it took me so long to visit Miami, but once we scheduled an early 40th birthday trip over Labor Day weekend, my friend and I immediately started talking about where we wanted to eat.She is huge a Miami fan so we had some of her faves that anchored our list of spots to try, and then we found some great recommendations on social.
And generally speaking, we had great experiences across the board. So here are some of the best places to eat and drink in the South Beach or (mid) Miami Beach area!
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The food and cocktail scene in Miami is quite diverse, but for convenience (a.k.a. not messing with traffic) we stayed fairly tight in on the South Beach/Miami Beach stretch.
So we were working more with slightly upscale options and definitely didn’t get to explore more of the “hole in the wall”/hidden gem type spots that I’m sure the city has. And while pretty much everywhere we went was great, it was also OBSCENELY expensive. Just be prepared. Wowza. Like, a cocktail with tax and the pre-added gratuity would be like $30-35.
One thing that I really wanted to try out (but didn’t end up working with our itinerary) was a food tour, like this one that goes through Little Havana. If you wanted something more focused on South Beach, this one gets great reviews.
Where to stay in Miami Beach/South Beach: We stayed at the Roney Palace, the residences next to 1 Hotel, and were able to use the 1 Hotel pool and amenities. I LOVED the pool at 1 Hotel (chill, not party vibe), and would definitely go back! There are a lot different apartment options in Roney.
Besides that, our short list was The Betsy (cute boutique!), The Setai (splurge), and the Fontainebleu (my friend’s go-to).
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Where to eat (and drink) in Miami
By no means is this a comprehensive list of the best places to eat in Miami…heck, we didn’t even get to all the places we wanted to try just in the Miami Beach/South Beach area! But we had pretty good experiences across the board and I’d recommend most of the places we ate and drank. One important note—I do recommend reservations pretty much anywhere for dinner! Brunch if possible as well.
The Salty (donuts)
The Salty was about a 10-minute walk in the rain from where we were at the time in Wynnwood Arts District, but BOY was it worth it! This little donut shop (which has a few locations around the city and in other cities) has an amazing array of donut flavors, and they actually taste as awesome as they sound.
I had trouble choosing, but ended up getting strawberry shortcake, guava and cheese (like a Cuban pastelito), and passionfruit and coconut. The dough is SO soft and pillowy, and all three were delicious. Hard to choose a favorite, but I might give the guava and cheese the slightest edge. The shop has coffee drinks as well.
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I’ll also shout out Zak the Baker, which is close by as well. It’s a kosher bakery and cafe that looked delicious, but we were in the area on Saturday and so they were closed—I was bummed not to be able to try their challah and delicious-sounding breakfast dishes.
We also walked past a Smorgasburg food market in this area…I visited the Downtown L.A. one a few years back and loved the concept where tons of local eateries and food trucks set up shop on the weekend. It’s a foodie’s dream, and an amazing way to sample some of the best a city has to offer.
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Josh’s Deli
The unassuming tiny storefront of Josh’s Deli sits along a busy road in Surfside. We were fresh off a slightly-delayed flight and long Uber from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and both of us needed food STAT.
I couldn’t decide on a drink so I got *both* the cold brew AND sangria. Yeah, I was a vibe. I couldn’t resist trying their latkes with apple and sour cream, which was absolutely delish. Very different from the “latkes” we made growing up, but we’re not Jewish and basically just made mashed potato pancakes 🙂
I had the Rubenized sandwich and fries—one of the best reubens I’ve had! Seriously, the taste and freshness and texture was just perfect. My friend got the Ginsberg (pastrami and cheddar I think?) and loved it as well.
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Pura Vida
I won’t lie and say we had Pura Vida on our list of “must eat” places in Miami, nor was it mind-blowing. But it WAS what we needed at the time…good, healthy food options in a convenient location. We decided to come down to the Design District to explore a bit, and were feeling the need for veggies.
The cafe is super cute, and we managed to snag an open table as someone was leaving. I had a summer chicken bowl and banana cold brew, and indulged in a raspberry pistachio tart. Like everywhere else in Miami, it is eye-wateringly expensive, but if you’re looking for a quick and fairly healthy option, you could do worse.
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The Sandbox at the 1 Hotel pool
The weather for our weekend in Miami didn’t really cooperate, and we got absolutely poured on quite a bit. But we managed to snag a few hours of sun in the morning on both Sunday and Monday.
The pool area at 1 Hotel is beautiful (we were staying in the attached Roney Palace residences and had pool privileges) and the service great, so ordering something there made the most sense to maximize our sun time.
Again, it was absolutely STUPID expensive, but the food and drinks at The Sandbox were delicious—not something I can often say about poolside fare. I tried their Kung Fu Pandan frozen drink (delish!) and a Miami Vice (because DUH), and had their fish tacos twice because they were so delicious. And came insanely fast.
We also ended up going to the Neighbors coffee bar in the 1Hotel a number of times during our stay. It was fine but soooo expensive ($5 for a cortadito which is literally like an ounce of liquid!). Par for the course, and they had a good selection of coffees, smoothies, light food, and more.
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WATR at 1 Hotel
We also decided to try the rooftop restaurant one day for lunch, because we were lazy and also our Uber driver had recommended it. It’s a really cute space, but WOW was it loud?! There’s a pool up here on the rooftop as well (which we kept forgetting).
I got the partenza spritz for my drink (refreshing) and the Japanese chicken kaarage with an heirloom tomato salad. The chicken was good, the salad was fine. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here, but it was a nice meal and certainly convenient.
If you have enough time here, Miami is a great base for a Florida Keys roadtrip!
Living Room Lounge in W Hotel
Okay, let’s talk cocktails! On our first night we wanted to grab a delicious cocktail before our dinner reservation at Casa Tua, and the W Hotel was just down the road so we bellied up to the bar at Living Room Lounge. I tried the Santorinitini at first, made with passionfruit and gin.
It was SUPER tart, as though it had no simple syrup! I asked them to adjust it and while it was still a bit more tart than I’d prefer, it was refreshing and good. The bar has a nice vibe, and it looks like they also do cocktail making classes (which I’m sure you have to reserve ahead of time).
These thin cooling shorts under my sundresses were clutch for preventing thigh chafe in Miami!
The Bar at Setai Hotel
So, apparently the Setai Hotel restaurant and bar are one of the top places to spot billionaires in Miami?? According to Insta anyway. We didn’t know this when we visited for a quick drink before our dinner, and sadly did NOT meet the men of our dreams.
The whole courtyard restaurant has a nice vibe, though the bar itself is quite small. There wasn’t a ton on the menu that was jumping out to me, but I ended up getting the fig old fashioned. It was decent but super expensive.
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Cafe La Trova
As I mentioned above, I would have loved to do a full food tour in Little Havana and try different Cuban classics. But we did at least make it to Cafe La Trova on our last night. This Cuban restaurant is a Miami institution, and it’s HUGE. No question it’s more touristy, but still was good.
We were seated right next to the stage, so got to enjoy the music that started around 9:00pm (and was a fairly short set). I sipped a classic daiquiri and enjoyed my roast potato and leek empanadas, then a few bites of my ropa vieja before getting super full. I rallied for a bit of flan (fine but not amazing). I ordered the banana tree leches to go and devoured it for breakfast.
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Casa Tua
This was strangely also on the Instagram “where to spot billionnaires in Miami” list that we saw after our trip. And I never would have guessed. Casa Tua is a great upscale Italian restaurant, but I didn’t get a “glitzy people” vibe from it.
We chose to sit out on the beautiful patio (and melted, but it was worth it). The service was wonderful, and we ate ourselves silly. I started with a gin, grapefruit, and rosemary cocktail before switching over to wine.
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We shared the burrata appetizer, then ordered the pasta alla nerano, cacio e pepe, and some kind of mushroom and truffle pasta. I tried the bomboloni (donuts) for dessert, which were insanely soft and amazing but the Nutella inside was too rich for me. And they brought me tiramisu for my birthday which was pretty good (mine’s better).
Casa Tua is a total winner, one of the best places to eat in Miami! Please note, they do have a dress code.
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Novikov
After our sunset sail, we walked over to Novikov which I think might technically be in Brickell? I’m still very confused on the different Miami neighborhoods. This has a very cool, hoppin’ vibe, like a more modern steakhouse feel. This was a Saturday night on a holiday weekend, so it was fairly nuts. Despite that, service was very attentive.
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My Tannik cocktail was delicious, and I absolutely stuffed myself trying dishes. The truffle chicken and morel dim sum was great (it’s rare I find a dim sum I can eat, so had to try it). The salmon toro sushi was amazing, as was the wagyu and foie gras sushi. And my miso black cod absolutely melted in my mouth.
I wish I could remember what my dessert was, something like a yuzu cheesecake with some kind of delicious sorbet? Definitely a winner. I’d definitely come back here.
I know we only scratched the surface of Miami’s foodie scene with the few days we had, but these were some of the best restaurants and cocktail bars we found! And we’re already compiling a list for a return trip…
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