Travel to Miami and you’ll find great places to eat, stay and play–no matter your tastes or age. The destination has something for everyone along with 80-degree winter weather. So, if shoveling four feet of snow and freezing North Pole-like temperatures are vexing you or you just need some time away, grab your suitcase and go.
Restaurants for the mature, moneyed and sophisticated
Delilah
Walk into this downtown Miami, waterfront restaurant, which faces Biscayne Bay, and you’ll catch its swanky vibe. Views of the Miami skyline from the patio are astounding. While the interior’s low lighting, a white grand piano and red leather booths have a plush 1920s style superclub look. The fine American cuisine often attracts celebrity clientele. If you join the stylish crowd, you’ll be in for an exquisite dining experience.
Suggestions: 1. Seafood Tower appetizer (shrimp, oysters, lobster, Hiramasa ceviche, crab salad, tuna). 2. Main course Roasted Rack of Lamb. 3. Kendall’s Slutty Brownie.
Donatella Boutique Hotel & Restaurant
This a romantic dining experience you’ll want to share with someone. Credit the serene oasis feel in the heart of busy South Beach. Limestone columns and a brick courtyard that evoke the Baroque era. Waiters from places like Rome and Venice that help to create the restaurant’s Mediterranean atmosphere. The food tastes fresh and is so perfectly Italian you’d think a gondola might take you home.
Suggestions: 1. Black Truffle Cacio E Pepe pasta. 2. Lobster Spaghetti for main course. 3. End with Delizia al Limone (iconic Amalfi Coast dessert).
Las’ Lap
The Caribbean menu was created by the renowned James Beard Award-winning Chef Kwame Onwuachi. Famed for his Lincoln Center NYC restaurant Tatiana. Onwuachi and the team behind Las’ Lap in New York have brought their Afro-Caribbean flavors to South Beach. Come for the island flare. Stay for the rum cocktails, lavish bar and to dine on innovative dishes from Escovitch Crab Claws to Brown Stew Chicken. Yum!
Suggestions: 1. Ume Spritz mocktail. 2. Cape Romano Oysters. 3. Entrée Oxtail Cuban (black truffle, mojo oxtail, wagyu beef bacon).
Uchi
James Beard Award winning Chef Tyson Cole specializes in curated tastings and seasonal omakase. They’re just a few of the marque specialties at his upscale Japanese restaurant Uchi, in the vibrant Wynwood Arts District. The friendliest staff in Miami makes and serves his tempting tasting menus: Omakase (ten-course menu), Somakase (curated menu) and Vegetarian (Six-course menu). Sumptuous Japanese cuisine that looks gorgeous too.
Suggestions: 1. Zero Proof mocktail Raba. 2. Nigiri sushi appetizer Sake Toro (Scottish salmon belly). 3. Karaage entre (fried marinated chicken, cucumber, seasonal pickles). 4. Seasonal Sorbet.
Ocean Drive restaurants for the young and adventurous
Café Americano
Seek out Café Americano for the comfort food, invigorating music and people watching. Folks from around the world and around the corner gather at this outdoor/indoor diner set in Hotel Victor. Some venture up to the Rooftop open-air lounge to gaze at the beach and stars. Others stop by downstairs for breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks. The crowd is as much fun as the food and retro funky playlists.
Suggestions: 1. Spice Brined Chicken Wings. 2. Dine on crispy Branzino for the main course. 3. End with the very fluffy Bread Pudding Waffle.
J’Adore Miami Beach
Party hard and join the festivities with the dancers, singers and magicians who perform on a counter around the bar. The eclectic awestruck guests assembled look like extras from a Quentin Tarantino movie. Scrumptious Cuban Soul cuisine fills the menu. Cabaret shows include “House of Desire and Friends” (burlesque) and Havana Nights: Fiesta de Amigos (island flair). This nightclub space has history; it was once owned by Nick Cannon and Pitbull.
Suggestions: 1. Drink a Hotel Nacional (Bacardi 8 Rum). 2. Munch on Mojo Pork Crispy Rice. 3 Main course it with Fried Whole Snapper.
Oh! Mexico
At this dynamic Latino restaurant, fresh tortillas, five tangy salsas and delicious, handmade guacamole are the heart of its menu. The array of traditional and modern Mexican food includes spicey, savory dishes that embody indigenous New World ingredients and Spanish influences. The casual atmosphere is particularly lively on Taco Tuesday.
Suggestions: 1. Oh Mexico Margherita (Astral Blanco Tequila). 2. Crispy Shrimp appetizer 3. Fajitas with chicken, steak, shrimp and vegetables.
Hotels and resorts for the mature, moneyed and sophisticated
The Betsy
Want a home away from home? Check into this plush, super friendly 130-room, boutique hotel. The sophisticated accommodations are housed in an elegant 1940s Georgian Revival building. Join the upscale, international crowd in the cozy lobby lounge and listen to soft jazz music. Art and photography line the walls. This is what AAA Four Diamond hotel service feels like.
Suggestions: 1. The Betsy Breakfast is scrumptious. 2. The 16 Oz New York Strip Steak at LT South Beach restaurant is the best in Miami! 3. Lounge at the rooftop pool.
Nobu Hotel Miami Beach
A Zen feeling with lively interludes pulls chic travelers to Nobu and its Japanese/Miami fusion luxury. Spacious suites offer floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic Atlantic Ocean views. The Esencia Wellness Spa pampers; the Fitness Center invigorates. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s famous Japanese cuisine is served at his signature restaurant. With four oceanfront pools for cool dips and the warm Mid-Miami Beach shoreline for sunbathing you’ll feel the glow.
Suggestions: 1. Weddings at the hotel are stellar. 2. The Ocean Social seaside restaurant serves tasty Life’s a Peach cocktails and Shrimp Tacos. 3. The lobby bar is glamorous.
A hotel for the young and adventurous.
Hotel Continental Miami Beach, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
In ways this sprightly hotel, with its mid-century architecture and sunny bold-color interiors, is similar to the balmy beach town ones in Ipanema, Brazil. Pull up a chair at the Piola Famos Per La Pizza outdoor/indoor restaurant and watch throngs of beachgoers walk by on bustling Collins Avenue. Guests like the friendly, informal atmosphere and that nearby Mid-Miami Beach is quieter than South Beach. If hotels have a disposition, the Continental’s is “sunny.”
Suggestions: 1. The Divebar bar/restaurant’s self-pour beverage wall. 2. Divebar’s happy hour includes yummy smoked bacon deviled eggs. 3. Take a photo by the campy 1948 Continental pool sign.
Things to do for the mature, moneyed and sophisticated
Classy tours like Alvin Ailey and Kamala Harris come to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science features an eye-catching 31-foot oculus lens at the bottom of the Gulf Stream Aquarium. Works by artists like Woody De Othello (Haitian American ceramicist) are exhibited at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Walk down South Beach’s Lincoln Road, a pedestrian mall, stop at Havana 1957 for their Mojito Bar (120+ rum types), view art installations like “Mr. Pink Takes Flight” and shop at stores as famous as Nike.
Things to do for the young and adventurous
Jet across the Atlantic Ocean aboard Thriller Miami Speedboat Adventures. Kids feed giraffes at Zoo Miami. Gaze at the animal print dresses on the dancers at R House Wynwood’s famous Drag Brunch and party with a mixed crowd who love the sweet French toast and ogle the funny performers. Play tennis with teaching pro Julio Avila at South Beach’s Flamingo Park Tennis Center or Jorge at North Beach’s Miami Beach Tennis Center, which also has pickleball courts!
Miami has something for everyone!
(Photos by Dwight Brown)
Visit food and travel writer Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.