Where to Eat During Miami Art Week: The Locals-Only Edition

Few experiences combine brilliant cocktails with creative food like Beaker and Gray. This Wynwood bar and restaurant is helmed by Ben Potts, who cut his cocktailing teeth at local landmarks Purdy Lounge, Broken Shaker, and Blackbird Ordinary before opening his own spot. Stopping in for drinks is a must while in Miami, as Potts and his team offer one of the best menus in the city — though they’re always happy to improvise. Guests would be remiss to leave without trying the food menu too, though, as the brown sugar and sesame chicken wings and cheeseburger croquettes lay claim as the best bar bites in the city. Hungrier patrons can do well to delve into the lamb belly Bolognese and pumpkin gnocchi.

You’ll find no shortage of fantastic, high-quality sushi places in South Beach. But many times the food can be ruined by an air of you-can’t-sit-with-us exclusivity. For sushi that is, literally, as good as anywhere with a hotel named after it hit, Toni’s is a true neighborhood sushi joint that gives you all the great flavor and none of the attitude. Tables here are a mix of in-the-know scenesters and casually dressed locals, and though it’s not exactly a secret, Miami Beach residents swear by its quality.

Call 305-673-9368 for reservations.

The originators of Neapolitan-style pizza in Miami are still the local masters, operating out of an intimate space tucked under Brickell’s imposing high-rises. Stanzione 87 makes the best Neapolitan pies in the city, maintaining a simple menu that does not allow for alterations, and pairs it with hard-to-find Italian beers and wines. The casual, metal-chair-and-wood-table setting makes it the perfect spot for an unpretentious but impressive date. And with prices considerably lower than other gourmet pizza spots in town, it’s the odd top-quality restaurant that can also be a budget play.

Before the Miami River was filled with see-and-be-seen, rosé-all-day restaurants, Garcia’s held the industrial strip down with a simple combination of stunning views and Miami’s freshest seafood. The Cuban immigrant family who’s also behind La Camaronera opened this fish market and seafood restaurant right next to the docks where their boats come in. The result is a place where you’re getting the absolute freshest catches in the city, paired with elevated views over the Miami River and skyline beyond. For an even better view, look down the river to the people at the hot spots below paying twice as much for stuff that’s half as fresh.

Find more info here.

A surefire way to know a restaurant’s legit is when it’s a regular hangout for chefs and industry types. Such is the case at this perpetually-packed downtown restaurant and wine bar, where people who know food and drink flock to enjoy themselves when they’re off the clock. It’s not just the magnetic personality of co-founder and wine director Karina Iglesias, who’s there to oversee the party most nights. People — including a fair number of out-of-towners — also come here for her carefully curated selection of natural wines. And they’re equally drawn by the unusual, shareable menu items like roasted chicken cannelloni with wontons and bechamel, and arroz sec paella with butifarra sausage and aioli.

Austin pitmaster Mel Rodriguez teamed up with Buffalo Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie to open what has fast become a destination barbecue counter for people across South Florida. The brisket sundae is the marquee attraction — mac ‘n’ cheese layered with baked beans, creamed corn, prime beef brisket, and housemade sauce. If that’s a little too adventurous, the brisket is truly the Josh Allen of Miami smoked meats, nearly unbeatable by anyone not from Kansas City. The scraps from that brisket also make up La Traila’s signature hamburger, a smoky, savory creation that’s in a league above any other burger in Miami.

Find more info here.

Rough-and-tumble Hialeah — a blue-collar Cuban American suburb that’s the antithesis of South Beach glitz — is about the last place one would expect to find the best French food in Miami that doesn’t come with a Michelin star. But venture out west to the City of Progress and you’ll find this gourmet bistro adorned in white doilies and fine china. The food is pure French traditional, with masterfully crafted veal-stuffed quail and gnocchi Parisienne topping the menu. Getting here can be an adventure, but for those seeking that “find an amazing place in an unexpected area” experience, this is Miami’s best.

For nearly a century, the beloved dive bar and late-night eatery colloquially called “The Fox” was a dark-lit landmark where you could tuck away from the sun with a cold beer almost any time of the day. The grilled steaks, burgers, and open-faced turkey sandwiches were almost as much of a draw as the place’s sinister anonymity, which is why Miami shed a collective tear when the original closed a few years ago.

But last summer, an enterprising local team painstakingly recreated the old landmark in a new Fox’s Lounge. How authentic is this place to the deliciously divey original? When the widow of Fox’s longtime chef learned of the new venture, she cleaned out the attic and brought the new owners all her late husband’s old recipe cards. And while the new Fox’s doesn’t have decades worth of smoke baked into the walls, it has replicated a local institution to near perfection.

Ask chefs where they eat when they’ve got the rare night to dine out, and Ricky Thai is that name where when one says it, five others immediately agree. Every dish is made to order, completely from scratch, meaning you can control the spiciness — and fishiness — of everything that comes to your table. The setting is simple — wood tables and wooden chairs — and the prices are even simpler. Getting out of here for under $80 with a bottle of wine isn’t at all unusual, and though there’s nothing glamorous about the place, it’s been cranking out Miami’s top Thai food for years.

Find more info here.

Long before Miami was a destination for chef-driven restaurants with open kitchens and seasonal menus, there was Two Chefs. Flung far down US-1 in a Pinecrest strip mall, this spot from chef Jan Jorgensen was literally decades ahead of its time when it opened in 1994, and though it still hasn’t gotten the critical acclaim bestowed on many newer restaurants, that’s fine by residents of Southwest Dade. That just means tourists and newcomers aren’t filling up the tables at this restaurant that’s been a standout for nearly 30 years, where the menu changes almost every week, and an on-site cooking school lets guests get in on the action if they plan ahead.

Eating at Sherwood’s feels a little like having dinner in the living room of your thrift-obsessed friend with impeccably great taste. The design is at the same time haphazard and curated, where weathered wood, subway tiles, and taxidermied ducks somehow combine to create one of the city’s best settings for dining. The food isn’t quite as hipster-chic as the décor, where the shareable menu leans on hearty staples like roasted duck, rosemary rack of lamb, dan dan noodles, and pappardelle with duck ragu. Low key, it might have Miami’s best bowl of ramen too, best enjoyed on the odd cool night in Sherwood’s backyard.

Crust is a modern take on the lively, welcoming Italian restaurants of your childhood, where epic plates of chicken Parm and table-sized salads accompany some of the happiest group dinners you’ll ever have. A huge part of this is the atmosphere created by the husband-and-wife team who own the place, where she greets every guest with a smile, and he works tirelessly in the kitchen crafting Miami’s most generous portions of Italian-American favorites. Lest you think Crust is all about quantity over quality, its pizza, pasta, and meatballs regularly top the ratings on every review site, especially impressive when you’re leaving with three days’ worth of leftovers. The dark space lends itself to intimate dinners too, so whether you’re dining with your whole family or just someone special, Crust never steers you wrong.

Call 305-371-7065 for reservations.

The island paradise of Key Biscayne is a destination for local cyclists, mostly because it’s home to Miami’s longest uninterrupted bike lane. The reward at the end of the ride is often this bakery near the end of Crandon Park, which puts out croissants and other buttery pastries so decadent you’d think you’d just pedaled the Tour de France. The lunch sandwiches on fresh-baked bread are superb, highlighted by the lechon — a sort of French bread take on the Cuban sandwich. If you don’t dig on swine, the chicken melt — made with sous-vide chicken, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, and provolone — is equally spectacular. For breakfast or lunch, it’s the ultimate place to treat yourself with something rich, whether you’re decked out in spandex or not.

Find more info here.