The Resy Guide to Outdoor Dining in Miami

With its manti dumplings on the list of Miami’s must-eat dishes, cool, breezy, open-air Mandolin is a shoo-in among the city’s best outdoor dining spots. Each visit feels like a trip to the Aegean Sea, with Greek and Turkish standouts like tomato-cucumber-feta salads and grilled prawns and other things that pair excellently with cold, pink wine.

While other chefs often look to set up shop in Miami or Miami Beach, Eileen Andrade found her sweet spot in western Miami-Dade, first with Latin-Asian fusion hits Finka Table & Tap and Amelia’s 1931, and now with her latest: Barbakoa at the Doral Yard. The indoor-outdoor space is comfortable for a breezy lunch with cocktails or a cozy date night with a shareable entrée from Barbakoa’s “For 2” menu options (you want the whole fish of the day).

Shaded beams of subtropical sunlight smile down on the backyard oasis of Rosie’s, the newest space from rising-star Miami culinary couple Jamila and Akino West. Their summer brunch menu is rooted in Southern comforts with Italian sensibilities — highlights include chicken and biscuits with Calabrian chile oil, and crispy fish on brioche with spicy aioli.

Mexican restaurant. Natural wine bar. Vinyl and DJ spot. Michelin star winner. Get a feel for it all from a perch on Los Félix’s patio on Coconut Grove’s main drag, where heirloom corn totopos with fresh guacamole are on the brunch and dinner menus, as are the orange-braised pork cheek carnitas and pineapple-kissed al pastor tacos.

The team behind Mandolin in the Design District has helped turn The Drexel into a hospitable respite from South Beach’s hustle and bustle, right on charming Española Way. Chef Nano Crespo’s clean, straightforward, flavorful dishes like spaghetti cacio e pepe with lemon and wood-roasted eggplant with mint and pesto let you appreciate the true beauty of al fresco dining.

Chef Lorena Garcia partnered with Miami restaurant group 50 Eggs to open this pan-Latin restaurant in the former longtime Soyka restaurant space. Score a spot in the hip, Instagram-ready atrium, and you’ve unlocked a semi-private outdoor dining experience — all the better to enjoy Garcia’s multicolored arepas (beet, cilantro, black bean, cheese, nata butter), lobster croqueta mac ‘n’ cheese, and more.

Chef Sam Gorenstein’s light and bright South-of-Fifth Israeli cafe is full of food you want to share and outdoor nooks in which to share it. A selection of salatim like hummus, labneh, and babaganoush can lead into bigger plates of flame-roasted whole branzino with preserved-lemon tapenade and grilled lamb chops with roasted tomatoes and peppery arugula.

It may not be any easier to nab a reservation for an outdoor table at hot spot Carbone than it is to get an indoor spot, but the good news is that the menu is the same either way. So if you’re lucky enough, you’ll be perched for prime South Beach people-watching and have your bowl of spicy rigatoni and lobster fra diavolo.

Frito pies and smoked chicken wings and rib tips and frozen Negronis. You’re eating this inside? Nah. This is open-air eating, and you’re doing it in Hometown’s urban garden. Don’t head home without some racks of baby backs and a few pounds of smoked turkey and pulled pork to go.

French technique and vegetable-driven cooking feel perfectly at home in Le Jardinier’s lush outdoor setting in the Design District. From the seasonal summer menu, a corn and foie gras parfait with stone fruit and a strawberry mousse with lime curd are two dishes just meant to be paired with fresh air and a light breeze.