The 10 Restaurants That Defined Miami Dining This Year

As Val Chang’s first solo act, Maty’s arguably became Miami’s most talked-about restaurant of the year — for good reason. While you can certainly expect some of the expertly executed Nikkei-style ceviches and tiraditos the Chang Gang was known for at Itamae, Maty’s expands on the family’s culinary traditions with deeply comforting, yet finessed Peruvian plates that are rooted in the recipes Val’s grandmother taught her.

Now, then, is Chang’s moment to honor the paternal grandmother who raised her and her brother (and fellow chef) Nando in Peru, and you can taste the love and tradition that’s layered into every dish. Take, for instance, the oxtail saltado or the roasted dorade in an aji amarillo beurre blanc sauce. Yet it’s the simple choclo (Peruvian sweet corn) in huancaína sauce – which tastes like a smokey mac & cheese – that we still can’t stop thinking about months later. Plus, the warm, friendly service at Maty’s is exactly what you’d hope for from such a family-focused restaurant.

And if you don’t want to take our word for it, a quick reminder that the restaurant was lauded this year by both The New York Times and Bon Appetit, and the siblings were named to Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs list. Word, it seems, has gotten out.

The husband-and-husband duo behind Tâm Tâm brought Miami one of its most fun new concepts this year – a loud and lively “quán nhậu,” or Vietnamese drinking food spot. Tâm Tâm has evolved over time from a supper club to a roving pop-up, but this summer, it opened in its fully fledged brick-and-mortar form (with a hidden karaoke machine in the bathroom).

Bonded by their love of Vietnamese food and culture, chef Tam Pham and GM and sommelier Harrison Ramhofer set out to showcase the vibrancy of Vietnamese cuisine beyond the standard pho and bánh mì – and despite the naysayers who warned them that trying something so new to Miami would be a challenge, the city has fallen in love with Tâm Tâm’s betel leaf-wrapped lamb, crispy fish sauce chicken wings and tamarind-glazed pork ribs.

Named for the term of endearment meaning “sweetheart” in Hebrew, Motek Cafe has become exactly that – the kind of familiar spot that everyone you know loves to frequent and a personal go-to we can always rely on. The Kosher-style Mediterranean restaurant was on a (challah) roll this year – opening a new restaurant in Coral Gables that’s constantly packed despite its enormous size, expanding its space in Aventura, and announcing plans for future locations in Brickell and Miami Beach. To top it off, Motek’s famed Arayes Burger (a grilled beef and lamb burger stuffed between pita bread) got the People’s Choice Award at South Beach Wine and Food Festival’s Burger Bash for the second year in a row – proving a Mediterranean cafe can be home to one of Miami’s best burgers.

Way out in West Kendall is a smokehouse carving out its own genre of “Miami-style” barbecue. Everything is smoked in-house, from the 15-hour smoked cafecito-rubbed brisket and baby-back ribs with guava-ancho BBQ sauce down to the dessert. (Smoked flan! Need we say more?) While Smoke & Dough opened last year to praise from local media, it catapulted onto the national radar in 2023 with recognition from the New York Times because this truly isn’t your typical barbecue restaurant. At Smoke & Dough, you also get chef-driven tapas like brisket arancini balls, pastrami tequeños, and smoked gouda and ham croquettes. The owners also run Empanada Harry’s next door, so don’t miss out on the burnt-end empanadas or dessert flavors like dulce de leche and banana.

For more information, call 786.362.5698.

Chef Tristan Brandt, who has worked at and led multiple Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe, opened his first stateside restaurant here in Miami with his sights clearly set on the Michelin Guide, and accomplished just that in 2023 – making Tambourine Room Miami’s only restaurant to earn a new star this year. Opening such an exclusive tasting menu concept – especially in a quieter neighborhood like North Beach – at first seemed ambitious. But many have praised the culinary prowess and stellar service experience at this intimate 18-seat fine dining den hidden inside the luxe Carillon Miami Wellness Resort.

Though they hail from across the Atlantic, we also appreciate how Brandt and his chef de cuisine Timo Steubing have aimed to honor the local legacy of the original Tambourine Lounge — a popular cocktail hangout in the 1950s — by interweaving references to the historic haunt into certain plates on the menu.

It was heartbreaking (to say the least) when Brad Kilgore, one of Miami’s most well-regarded chefs, shuttered all of his restaurants during the pandemic, but the culinary king of Wynwood returned on a high note with the opening of MaryGold’s at the new Arlo Hotel in Wynwood, where it all started. With a menu of items like jerk oxtail beignets and sweet corn ricotta pillows, the Florida brasserie has made Kilgore’s talent and creativity more accessible (his first restaurant, Alter, was one of Miami’s more exclusive fine dining restaurants).

That landed him a Best Chef of 2023 nod from local outlet Miami New Times. But more importantly, Kilgore has continued to evolve MaryGold’s this year and hone the menu into what it is today: cleverly refined versions of timeless dishes that showcase the chef’s craft.

When it reopened a year ago, the “grown-up” version of Giorgio Rapicavoli’s Eating House redefined itself by stepping away from its (undeniably delicious) stoner food reputation into more elevated culinary territory. But where Eating House stands out most is with its mid-week tasting menu series introduced this year.

Their rotating Tasting Miami menu is made up solely of dishes that are an homage to other Miami restaurant classics (like a gourmet version of Flanigan’s rockin’ rib rolls and A.C.’s Icees’ frozen lemonade slushie taking the form of a sorbet with whipped lemon curd). Not only are these consistently some of the best menu items offered at the new Eating House, in our opinion, but it’s also Rapicavoli’s ingenious way of honoring the OGs of Miami’s dining scene and building up the culinary community – something we’re 100% here for.

For more information, call 786.580.3745.

This spirited Spanish-Japanese fusion spot cleverly merges the similarly shareable culinary traditions of Spanish tapas and Japanese izakayas with dishes like okonomiyaki topped with chorizo, stuffed piquillo peppers with tuna belly and wasabi aioli, yuccas bravas with smoked tomato sauce, and uni risotto.

Despite being on hiatus for most of the summer, QP Tapas rose back to the top of the culinary conversation in Miami when the pop-up reopened in its new home in Coconut Grove this fall. It’s now a restaurant in residence serving dinner five nights a week at The Allocation Room (a wine and sake shop), and so you can also enjoy Spanish wines, Japanese and Spanish beers, and creative cocktails by the Bar Kaiju team, along with non-alcoholic options.

Housed in a historic 1930s building on Flagler Street, this multi-story culinary and entertainment destination (the term “food hall” doesn’t do it justice) gets credit for bringing flocks of food fanatics back to Downtown – a huge part of their mission to revitalize Miami’s city center. (It is named for the founders of Miami, Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler, after all.) The 25 culinary venues at Julia & Henry’s include concepts from both local and international chefs – like Miami’s own Michelle Bernstein and José Mendín, alongside chefs behind some of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants – and there’s also a natural wine bar, craft beer market, and cocktail bar. Plus, we can’t wait until three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura opens Torno Subito on the rooftop, which we’re sure will also be a game-changer for Miami.

For more information and menus, click here.

The New Schnitzel House proved that sometimes there’s nothing like a classic, namely with its spin on the shuttered Schnitzel Haus on the 79th Street Causeway. Honoring the original with a blend of German comfort food and Miami-inspired plates (you can find chicken schnitzel and churrasco on the same menu), the restaurant has quickly become a neighborhood favorite (much as we predicted earlier this year). Granted, with an outdoor beer garden, funky German Bauhaus-meets-’90s dive bar interior, and the Gramps team behind it all, how could it not? Perhaps equally important for any true neighborhood spot, finally this isn’t somewhere you have to tussle with crowds of tourists to fight for parking or a table.