The Resy Hit List: Where In Miami You’ll Want to Eat in May 2024
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
We’ve designed it to be your essential resource for dining in and around Miami: a monthly-updated (and newly expanded!) guide to the restaurants in that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In Miami Not to Miss This Month
- Hot Tickets: Returning May 2-5 for Miami Race Week, Carbone Beach will offer world-class food, drinks and entertainment by the one and only Mario Carbone. This hot ticket starts at $3,000 a head. For an equally unforgettable experience and a mere $2,500, Once Upon a Kitchen will take place on May 4, featuring two of the world’s best chefs — Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Italy and Virgilio Martinez of Central in Peru — who together will host a cocktail reception and six-course dinner that’s meant to be an immersive culinary storytelling adventure.
- Get Ready to Splurge: If those events are sold out by the time you’re reading this, here’s where else you can splurge during F1 Week…There’s clubstaurants like Komodo and Sexy Fish in buzzing Brickell, or elevated tasting menus at The Tambourine Room and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. For more ideas, check out our list of Miami’s most splurge-worthy restaurants.
- The Mother of All Brunches: Don’t forget to make your Resy for Mother’s Day brunch. Treat Mom to Mayfair Grill’s brunch buffet with live jazz entertainment, or waterfront views at the lavish brunch buffet at The Deck at Island Gardens. (Upgrade to bottomless bevvies at either!) Or book a sweet activity like this guided dessert-making class with the pastry chef at Americana Kitchen.
- Popping Up: Traveling omakase concept Gold Standard Sushi is now popping up in Wynwood every Thursday through Saturday night at hamburger joint Whitman’s. Like a secret club for sushi lovers, the roaming restaurant has called Miami spots like Versace Mansion and Soho Beach House home in past years. Make your way past the speakeasy entrance to your spot at the 10-seat bar to embark on a 16-course dining experience. The pop-up is expected to run through at least July.
New to the Hit List (May 2024)
Eating House, Flanigan’s, Jholano’s Deli, Los Félix.
1. Boia De Buena Vista
Photo courtesy of Boia De
Look for the neon pink exclamation mark hovering as a marquee over an unassuming strip mall in Little Haiti, and you’ve found one of Miami’s hardest-to-book restaurants. Chef duo Alex Meyer and Luciana Giangrandi offer a modern take on Italian plates so good that reservations sell out the day they go live. Which should come as no surprise when you consider their culinary training in kitchens ranging from Scarpetta and Carbone to Eleven Madison Park. It’s an intimate and adorable space, where you’re as likely to be seated at the counter as you are at a table. Your servers will keep it fun and friendly while you partake in some of the best pasta and Italian-ish plates in town.
Photo courtesy of Boia De
2. Macchialina Taverna Rustica Miami Beach
No matter how many new Italian restaurants come to town, for a satisfying bowl of housemade pasta, we’d choose Macchialina every time. This family-owned and -operated modern trattoria eschews the glitz and glam of South Beach dining with a focus on rustic Italian fare inspired by chef Mike Pirolo’s time cooking in Italy and New York. Equally impressive is the wine program, with its emphasis on natural-leaning Italian wines, curated by beverage director (and Mike’s sister) Jacqueline Pirolo. If it’s your first time, reserve a table in the outdoor garden with string lighting, and choose the chef’s tasting menu as a tour of the greatest hits.
3. Tinta y Café Coral Gables and Miami Shores
Tinta y Café is the type of neighborhood coffee shop where they don’t have WiFi because working instead of conversing is banned. Instead, you come to this cozy little oasis for croquetas, cafecito and friendly conversation. Open for breakfast and lunch, they offer a sizable menu of Latin baguette sandwiches with creative spins, like the Patria, which is basically a Cuban sandwich plus mortadella, or the Madurito with sweet plantains, pork, caramelized onions, and Swiss cheese. Although, you can leave equally pleased with the simple pairing of cafe con leche and tostada (toasted bread and butter).
Find more information and the menu here.
4. La Fresa Francesa Hialeah
A surprising standout in the heart of Hialeah, La Fresa Francesa serves well-regarded French cuisine in, ironically, an almost-exclusively Spanish-speaking part of town where Cuban restaurants are a dime a dozen. The Parisian-style bistro blends French classics with the influence of Miami’s regional flavors – so you’ll find not only excellent traditional escargots and onion soup but also seared foie gras with a sweet pastelito de guava. This is where you head when when you’re seeking to fulfill all your French cravings in the most unexpected setting. Eclectic French decor fills in the charm factor even more.
5. Chateau ZZ’s Brickell
Major Food Group’s first exclusive-to-Miami concept is an upscale Mexican restaurant inside a historic French chateau – the kind of surprising mashup that we fully appreciate from the team behind Carbone and Dirty French. In fact, Chateau ZZ’s is a first in many ways – it’s also MFG’s first Mexican restaurant and the first time this historic building (formerly a private residence known as Petit Douy) is open to the public. Inspired by a monastery in Douy, France, the venue is as dreamy as it sounds, with a solarium that serves as a sunlit dining area, lush gardens, and an exclusive second-floor space reserved for a private club. White tuxedoed servers will bring your housemade tostadas topped with caviar or wagyu, and of course, your choice of Mexican spirits — from a 1,000-bottle collection.
6. Maty’s Midtown
The team behind the beloved but bygone Itamae — sister Val Chang, brother Nando and father Fernando (aka the Chang Gang) — have become one the most loved and lauded culinary families in Miami. Maty’s is Val’s first solo act, an expansion of her family’s culinary traditions with deeply comforting, yet finessed Peruvian plates that are rooted in her grandmother’s recipes. You can certainly expect some of the expertly executed Nikkei-style ceviches and tiraditos that brought Itamae acclaim, but the hot plates here are where Maty’s truly shines. No matter which entree you choose, order the tortitas (corn fritters) and the choclo (Peruvian sweet corn) in huancaína sauce, which tastes like an appealingly smoky mac ‘n’ cheese.
7. Jholano’s Deli Coral Gables
Don’t let Google Maps lead you astray when you seek out this hidden sandwich shop (we’ve all been there before, driving in circles). You’ll know you’ve found Jholano’s when you spot their bright red door in the middle of a nondescript mixed-used office and apartment complex. Turning out some of the city’s best sandwiches, this counter service spot serves artisan Italian options on fresh focaccia or chewy strecci doppio bread. Toasted sandwiches include the signature Jholano with prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, salami, brie, and fig jam, and cold sammies like the 7AM in Milano, with salami, capicola, truffle burrata, and arugula.
Find more info here.
8. The New Schnitzel House Upper East Side
Whether it’s the funky vibes of the dining room or the hearty German comfort food, here’s the kind of place that evokes nostalgia, even if you’ve never been to the original. This restaurant on the 79th Street Causeway proves that sometimes there’s nothing like a classic. Honoring the original now-shuttered Schnitzel Haus with a blend of German comfort food and Miami-inspired plates (you can find chicken schnitzel and churrasco on the same menu), New Schnitzel House has quickly become a neighborhood favorite. Granted, with an outdoor beer garden, Bauhaus-meets-’90s dive bar interior, and the Gramps team behind it all, how could it not? Don’t miss appetizers like the (footlong) currywurst, the pickle plate, and the giant pretzel with beer cheese.
9. NIU Kitchen Downtown Miami
“Niu” means “nest” in Catalan – which explains why NIU Kitchen is the kind of intimate spot where you can come as you are for a low-key night of wine and shared plates with friends. (It’s also a popular hangout for chefs and staff in the hospitality biz.) The Spanish tapas menu is inspired by the memories of chef Deme Lomas, a Barcelona native, who remixes traditional Catalonian flavors into something, well, new. Down the block at sister wine bar NIU Wine, peruse the shelves of their natural wine shop to find your favorite bottle and open it up on the spot to share right then and there, or take it home with you.
10. Tâm Tâm Downtown Miami
Photo courtesy of Tâm Tâm
Bonded by their love of Vietnamese food and culture, the husband-and-husband team of 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. The result is a loud and lively Viet drinking food spot inspired by the quán nhậu of Saigon — nothing like other restaurants you’ll find in Miami. At these taverns, food is mainly meant to facilitate the drinking — think a Vietnamese take on an izakaya — and here that amounts to shareable plates like crispy fish sauce chicken wings, tamarind-glazed pork ribs, and betel leaf-wrapped lamb. You’ll wash them back with warm-weather wines or frozen mai tais and spiked Viet iced coffee for a guaranteed good time … especially if you find the karaoke machine in the bathroom.
Photo courtesy of Tâm Tâm
11. Taquiza North Beach
This beachside taco shop is the kind of reliable, affordable local spot you want to show off to everyone. But don’t let its casual vibe deceive you — Taquiza is the city’s best taqueria. In business since 2014 this was one of the first places in Miami to nixtamalize and stone-grind their own corn and griddle their tortillas in-house. Whenever we see those signature blue corn tortillas, we know we’re in for a good meal. Taquiza keeps their toppings simple — at most, a dash of onions or cilantro or radish — to highlight the flavor of the fillings, like traditional al pastor or lengua (tongue). Their guacamole and fried-to-order thick blue corn totopos are a must every time, and the squash blossom quesadillas are also excellent if you love an extra-cheesy bite.
More info here.
12. Ariete Coconut Grove
Ariete is what happens when Miami flavors meet classic French techniques in a tasting-menu format. Chef Michael Beltran has grown his ever-expanding restaurant empire here in Miami, but his firstborn, Ariete, remains his best. Inspired by the chef’s Cuban American heritage and Miami roots, you’ll find signature dishes like foie gras with plantain pavé and flan with candy cap mushrooms. Choose from the Versos Clasicos tasting menu for a selection of Ariete’s greatest hits, or Versos Modernos for the latest twists, or order a few items a la carte if you’re looking to keep it simple.
For more information or reservations, call 786-615-3747.
13. Los Félix Miami Coconut Grove
With a menu of housemade tortillas, totopos, and tamales, Los Félix honors Mesoamerican tradition by spotlighting one of the most essential ingredients in indigenous cooking: heirloom corn. In their open kitchen, maize is ground daily using their in-house molino — or corn mill grinder — and then undergoes a process called nixtamalization to turn it into fresh masa. Be sure your order here includes plenty of maiz, whether that’s chilaquiles at brunch or a lobster arepa at dinner. Los Félix also brings all the vibes, with a DJ spinning vinyl records and a natural wine selection to pair with your plates.
14. Café La Trova Downtown
Consistently ranked one of the best bars in the world, Café La Trova is the perfect place to take out-of-towners for a local experience full of Cuban flair. Helmed by the award-winning team of chef Michelle Bernstein and mixologist Julio Cabrera, this Little Havana gem exudes a lively, tropical ambiance — from the rumba band playing for guests to the smartly dressed cantineros (professionally trained Cuban bartenders) who shake, stir, and dance their way through prepping your drinks. Aside from classic cocktails, the menu includes both traditional Cuban dishes and innovative creations, a reflection of Miami’s culinary scene today. We love Café La Trova because every visit feels like a festive celebration of the city’s dynamic cuisine, and rich culture.
15. Lion & The Rambler Coral Gables
Bringing his Californian sensibility to Miami, Chef Michael Bolen utilizes seasonal ingredients from farmers, fishermen, and purveyors proudly listed on the menu. Everything is made in-house, whether it’s milling heirloom wheat for breads to making flavored butters and finishing salts extracted from Miami’s waters. (Whatever you do, don’t leave without a taste of the rosemary focaccia and accompanying spreads.) The service can be as exceptional as the food, so you’re in for a special experience from the moment the host opens the door. Know that the restaurant has gone back and forth since its opening between being tasting menus and à la carte menu, but right now, it’s 4- and 7-course options at dinner, with à la carte at lunch.
16. Eating House Coral Gables
For over a decade, chef Giorgio Rapicavoli’s restaurant has been a local favorite for creative Miami-inspired dishes (with a former reputation for serving stoner food). Today, the “grown-up” version in its new Restaurant Row location occupies more elevated culinary territory. The new Eating House still honors its history of satisfying the munchies through its annual 4/20 dinner, and especially shines with a rotating tasting menu made up of dishes that are an homage to other Miami restaurant classics (like wagyu beef tartare topped with frita sauce and crispy potato sticks inspired by El Mago de las Fritas). But weekend brunch is truly where it’s at, with staples like the cult-favorite Cap’n Crunch pancakes and indulgent dishes like the carbonara Benedict.
17. Mandolin Aegean Bistro Miami Design District
Mandolin’s signature blue doors, whitewashed decor, and shaded outdoor tables transport diners to the Aegean coast. But it’s the combination of fresh ingredients and relaxed atmosphere that makes Mandolin a must-visit (if you can get a table). Known as the ultimate Miami outdoor dining spot thanks to its charming garden patio, Mandolin opened 15 years ago, serving some of the best Greek and Turkish plates in town. That not-so-well-kept-secret has turned it into one of the hardest reservations in town, even for locals. If you snag a Resy, order their famous manti dumplings and a handful of mezzes (you can’t go wrong with the Greek or Turkish samplers). Enjoy it with rosé, sangria, or a spritz, and you’ll know you’re doing Miami right.
18. Ghee Indian Kitchen Downtown Dadeland
The term farm-to-table might feel like a loose buzzword these days, but when it comes to Niven Patel’s restaurants, it’s at the heart of everything he does. And while Ghee might be a bit off-the-beaten-path from Miami’s more happening neighborhoods, you can’t have a conversation about Miami’s best restaurants without mentioning it. There’s a contemporary spin here on Patel’s Indian heritage, thanks to a menu that spotlights seasonal produce grown on his own Homestead farm, Rancho Patel. Amidst excellent curries, naans, and chutneys, there are creative renditions: short rib dosas, duck confit samosas, and vegetable-centric plates like charred corn and paneer. It’s the way that fragrant Indian spices meld with the freshest local produce that makes Ghee such a Miami standout.
Call 305-968-1850 for reservations.
19. Flanigan’s Multiple Locations
Ask any local for their favorite place to eat, and odds are a solid handful will say Flanigan’s. This fishing-themed seafood grill and sports bar has been a South Florida staple since 1959, and honestly the sports grub is even better than the seafood. (Don’t miss their famous BBQ ribs, wings, burgers, or the massive pile of nachos.) The seafood is great, too: try the smoked fish dip and anything fried in their signature seafood batter, like the fried shrimp or fried mahi sandwich. Note: You’ll want to take the bottle of barbecue sauce home with you.
Find more info here.
20. Jaguar Sun Downtown Miami
Photo courtesy of Jaguar Sun
Inside the lobby of the Alea building in Downtown Miami, you’ll find Jaguar Sun, an intimate cocktail bar that’s become a local haunt for many in-the-know Miamians. The bartenders are fun and the drinks are eclectic (from aperitifs to tropical), but the food is no afterthought. Start off with an order of their famous Parker House rolls and anything from the raw bar – oysters or a refreshing crudo. Then, one taste of their cacio e pepe bucatini and you’ll know this place deserves as much credit for its pasta as it does for cocktails. It’s cozy, so reservations are a good idea if you want a seat in the dining area. The bar is first come, first served.
Photo courtesy of Jaguar Sun
