Miami
A curated guide to the city — where to stay, where to eat, and where to be seen. Every recommendation hand-picked.
Where everything sits
Miami is a string of distinct neighbourhoods. A quick orientation so you always know what is nearby.
South Beach
Art Deco, beaches and Ocean Drive energy.
Lincoln Rd · Lucali · Mila · Joe’s
Mid-Beach
Quieter luxury and the landmark hotels.
Faena · Setai · EDITION · LIV
Surfside · Bal Harbour
Refined, residential, ultra-luxury.
The Surf Club · Bal Harbour Shops
Design District
Luxury flagships and contemporary art.
COTE · Contessa · Mandolin
Wynwood · Midtown
Street art, galleries and nightlife.
Uchi · Sparrow · Wynwood Walls
Downtown · Brickell
Skyline dining and the big clubs.
Sexy Fish · Komodo · Space · E11EVEN
Coconut Grove · Key Biscayne
Leafy calm and waterfront quiet.
Sereia · Basquet · Ritz-Carlton
Coral Gables
Old-world avenues, banyans and morning bakeries.
Facade · Madruga Bakery
Illustrative map — numbers match the neighbourhoods above.
Drag to explore · pinch or ctrl + scroll to zoom
Hotels
Six addresses, from Art Deco landmarks and theatrical grandeur to eco-luxury on the sand and an island retreat minutes from the city.
The Setai
$$$$A hushed Art Deco landmark of Asian-influenced luxury — three towers, black-brick courtyards and one of the most serene pool gardens on the beach.
Best for: grown-up, understated glamour.
Faena Hotel
$$$$Baz Luhrmann drama made real: a gilded Damien Hirst mammoth, the red-velvet Faena Theater and Francis Mallmann’s fire kitchen, Los Fuegos.
Best for: a stay that is a spectacle in itself.
The Miami Beach EDITION
$$$–$$$$Ian Schrager minimalism up top; downstairs, Basement — the hotel’s own nightclub, bowling lanes and ice rink.
Best for: sleek days and a party below.
Four Seasons at The Surf Club
$$$$A restored 1930s beach club turned Four Seasons — old-Hollywood glamour, Le Sirenuse Miami and a storied pool terrace.
Best for: timeless elegance on quieter sand.
1 Hotel South Beach
$$$–$$$$Reclaimed wood, living walls and four pools — barefoot luxury, with Watr on the rooftop for sunset.
Best for: a natural, romantic, beach-forward base.
The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne
$$$$A calm island retreat ten minutes from the city — wide beach, spa, tennis and a genuine hush.
Best for: resort quiet over South Beach buzz.
Dining
The heart of the guide — from the hardest tables in town to omakase counters, waterfront scenes and late-night pizza.
Italian
Carbone
$$$$Major Food Group’s red-sauce theatre — tuxedoed captains, tableside veal parm and the cult spicy rigatoni. The hardest table in Miami.
Signature: Spicy Rigatoni Vodka.
Book weeks ahead · smart dress.
Casa Tua
$$$$An intimate villa behind a hedge — candlelit garden, members’-club hush and impeccable classics.
Best for: a discreet, romantic dinner.
Reservations essential.
Cipriani
$$$$The Venice institution’s Miami home — Bellinis, vitello tonnato and timeless Harry’s Bar glamour.
Signature: the Bellini & baked tagliolini.
Forte dei Marmi
$$$Elegant Versilia-coast cooking — crudi, delicate pastas and pristine seafood in an understated room.
Best for: a refined, lower-key evening.
Mother Wolf
$$$$Evan Funke’s ode to Rome in a soaring Art Deco hall — hand-pulled pastas done exactly right.
Signature: cacio e pepe & carbonara.
Loud and buzzy · book ahead.
Casadonna
$$$$A blockbuster inside a historic 1926 bayfront palazzo — 20,000 sq ft of coastal Italian on Biscayne Bay.
Best for: a big night with a water view.
One of the city’s hottest tables.
Contessa
$$$$Major Food Group glamour in the Design District — handkerchief pasta and a see-and-be-seen marble room.
Best for: a glossy group dinner.
Sparrow Italia
$$$Dramatic and plant-draped under a soaring atrium — wood-fired coastal Italian with a lively bar.
Signature: wood-fired pastas & crudo.
Lido at The Surf Club
$$$Poolside at the Four Seasons Surf Club — bright Mediterranean plates from morning coffee to candlelit dinner.
Best for: elegant day-to-night by the water.
Japanese, Sushi & Omakase
Mila
$$$$A rooftop see-and-be-seen temple blending Mediterranean and Japanese — and one of the Beach’s best late-night scenes.
Signature: wagyu & the rooftop energy.
Dress up · late tables get loud.
Makoto
$$$Stephen Starr’s chic robata-and-sushi room at Bal Harbour Shops — ideal after a day of shopping.
Signature: robata skewers & toro.
Uchi
$$$Tyson Cole’s acclaimed sushi house — inventive rolls and pristine nigiri in an intimate Wynwood room.
Signature: the omakase & hama chili.
Ogawa
$$$$An 11-seat counter rated among the country’s very best — a quiet, precise, high-end omakase ritual.
Best for: a special-occasion sushi pilgrimage.
Tiny · book far ahead.
Hiyakawa
$$$$Serene, cypress-wood omakase — meditative, beautiful and deeply traditional.
Best for: a calm, refined sushi night.
Hiden
$$$$A hidden omakase counter behind a taqueria — you need the password. Intimate and theatrical.
Best for: an in-the-know date.
Speakeasy entrance · reserve.
Osaka
$$$Lima’s Nikkei star in Brickell — ceviches and sushi where Peru meets Japan, with a lively bar.
Signature: tiraditos & ceviche.
Japón
$$$$Inside The Setai — a Prix Versailles “most beautiful restaurant,” with a crane-mosaic room, sushi and wagyu katsu.
Best for: dinner that feels like an occasion.
Steakhouses
Papi Steak
$$$$David Grutman’s flashy steakhouse — the diamond-cased “Papi Steak” tomahawk paraded out amid sparklers.
Signature: the Papi Steak tomahawk (for the table).
A party as much as a dinner.
Sunny’s Steakhouse
$$$A Michelin darling under a fairy-lit banyan tree — dry-aged wagyu, Old-Florida cool and a killer patio.
Signature: dry-aged steaks & schmaltz potatoes.
Very hard to book.
COTE
$$$$Michelin-starred Korean BBQ — the “Steak Omakase,” tableside grilling and a dark, sexy room.
Signature: the Butcher’s Feast.
Mediterranean & Greek
GAIA
$$$$The Dubai favourite’s US debut — a signature seafood “Ice Market,” honey-baked feta and one of the year’s most wanted tables.
Signature: feta in filo with honey.
Book well ahead.
Kiki on the River
$$$Riverside Greek that becomes a day-into-night party — yachts, whole fish and spilling champagne.
Best for: a long, boozy waterfront lunch.
Mandolin Aegean Bistro
$$A charming blue-and-white garden bistro — mezze, grilled fish and a leafy courtyard.
Best for: a relaxed daytime Aegean lunch.
Casa Neos
$$$Modern Mediterranean on the Miami River — wood-fired whole fish, homemade bread and a breezy bayfront terrace.
Best for: a waterfront Mediterranean dinner.
Sereia
$$$A chic Grove newcomer — coastal Mediterranean seafood in a serene, design-led room.
Best for: a stylish Coconut Grove dinner.
Pan-Asian
Sexy Fish
$$$$Caprice’s opulent London import — Asian seafood and sushi under Damien Hirst art, with a DJ and a full-on party by 10.
Signature: sushi, robata & the room.
Dress to impress.
Komodo
$$$$Grutman’s three-storey Brickell staple — Pan-Asian sharing plates below, lounge-club energy above.
Best for: dinner that becomes the night.
Watr at the 1 Rooftop
$$$The 1 Hotel’s rooftop — sushi and Pan-Asian plates with the best sunset-over-ocean seat in South Beach.
Best for: a rooftop date at golden hour.
Latin & South American
Amazónico
$$$$A rainforest brought indoors — Amazonian plates, live music and the hidden Jungle club upstairs.
Best for: dinner, drinks and dancing under one roof.
Icons & Seafood
Joe’s Stone Crab
$$$$A Miami rite since 1913 — stone crabs with mustard sauce, creamed spinach and tuxedoed old-school waiters.
Signature: stone crab claws & key lime pie.
Now on OpenTable (14 days out) · walk-ins & takeaway still work.
The Surf Club Restaurant
$$$$Thomas Keller’s glamorous supper club inside the Four Seasons Surf Club — tableside classics and 1950s sparkle.
Best for: a dressed-up, old-Hollywood dinner.
Pizza & Casual
Lucali
$$$The Brooklyn cult pizzeria’s Miami outpost — thin-crust pies and a single nightly seating. Tiny and beloved.
Signature: the pie & meatball parm.
Extremely hard to book.
Fratesi’s
$$A cozy 46-seat throwback doing cartoon-thin, crispy pies — nostalgic and cash-free.
Signature: truffle-mushroom pizza.
Cards only · reserve.
Le Specialità
$$$Milan’s 1977 institution in Miami — thin, crispy pizza from a jaw-dropping terrazzo oven, plus handmade pasta.
Signature: the margherita & veal Milanese.
Nightlife
From the Fontainebleau megaclub and 24/7 ultraclubs to sunrise techno on the Terrace and boho gardens of live music.
LIV
$$$$The Fontainebleau’s legendary megaclub — hip-hop and EDM headliners, celebrity tables and total spectacle.
Best for: a big-energy, big-budget night.
Table service advised · dress sharp.
E11EVEN
$$$$The round-the-clock ultraclub — cabaret, acrobatics and A-list DJs that never really closes.
Best for: when the night refuses to end.
Club Space
$$$The temple of Miami techno — the open-air Terrace and sunrise sets are a bucket-list rite.
Best for: dancing past sunrise.
Go late · the Terrace at dawn is the moment.
Twist
$South Beach’s iconic LGBTQ+ multi-level club — seven bars, no cover, always a party.
Best for: an unpretentious all-night dance.
MODE
$$$A former Cold-War fallout shelter turned audiophile club — house and techno on Miami’s only L-Acoustics Arcs system.
Best for: real music-heads.
Jolene Sound Room
$$An intimate disco-and-house “sound room” built around the music — a cooler, closer alternative to the megaclubs.
Best for: dancing without the mega scale.
ZeyZey
$$A boho open-air garden of live music, DJs and food trucks — Miami’s laid-back creative side.
Best for: an easy, alternative night out.
Dinners that become the night: Amazónico’s Jungle, Komodo, Mila and Sexy Fish all turn from restaurant to party without leaving your table.
Brunch & Daytime
Slow mornings and easy afternoons — French bakeries, Milanese cafés, matcha in the Grove and a garden brunch under the palms.
Facade
$$A buzzy modern French bakery — high-hydration sourdough, “dippy soldiers” and standout brunch plates.
Signature: soft-boiled eggs & French toast.
Pura Vida
$Miami’s go-to for açaí bowls, smoothies and clean all-day plates — a wholesome reset.
Best for: a healthy breakfast or post-beach lunch.
Basquet
$A Coconut Grove neighbourhood café-market beloved for its matcha, pastries and easy charm.
Signature: the matcha latte.
Madruga Bakery
$A craft sourdough bakery and café — warm loaves, pastries and a friendly morning ritual.
Best for: coffee and just-baked bread.
Saint Ambroeus
$$$The Milanese classic — espresso, pastries and elegant lunches with a chic, see-and-be-seen crowd.
Best for: a stylish daytime coffee or lunch.
New — arriving on Fifth, South Beach, late 2026.
Cecconi’s
$$$The garden restaurant at Soho Beach House — cicchetti and pasta under a canopy of palms and umbrellas.
Best for: a leisurely garden brunch.
The City
Where to spend the daylight hours between meals — flagship luxury, open-air promenades, street art and food halls.
Miami Design District
Flagship boutiques (Hermès, Dior, Cartier), public art and the ICA museum in a walkable, design-led quarter.
Best for: high-end shopping meets culture.
Bal Harbour Shops
The ultimate open-air luxury mall — palms, koi ponds and every major house under one canopy.
Best for: serene, serious luxury shopping.
Lincoln Road
The mile-long open-air promenade — shops, cafés and constant people-watching.
Best for: a casual South Beach stroll.
Wynwood Walls
Wynwood Walls, galleries, murals, breweries and buzzy bars — Miami’s creative heartbeat.
Best for: street art, coffee and nightlife.
Brickell City Centre
A sleek downtown shopping-and-dining complex in the heart of Brickell’s high-rises.
Best for: shopping with dinner and drinks.
Mia Market
A lively Design District food hall — a dozen chef-driven vendors, cocktails and a social, graze-your-way vibe.
Best for: a casual group bite before going out.