Virginia Otazo
Staff Writer, Miami
Virginia is a Miamian with a creative writing degree. She managed restaurants for 11 years before joining The Infatuation Miami in 2022.
MIAGuide
Miami’s Best New Restaurants Of 2024
In a year stacked with openings, these 11 restaurants were the best of 2024.
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
We round up our highest-rated new restaurant picks every year, but this is our biggest edition of Best New Restaurants to date. That’s not because we lowered our standards. We’ve actually never been more skeptical of new restaurants, which, this year, often came from out of town and chased trends the way sugar-fueled little leaguers descend upon a soccer ball. But the restaurants below feel distinctly of and for Miami. They use South Florida ingredients in ways we’ve never seen, serve tequeños with their smashburgers, and one even has a life-sized cutout of Jimbo Luznar hanging over their bar. These were revitalizing beacons for locals burnt out by an endless stream of hollow buzzwords. The Best New Restaurants Of 2024 prove that nobody knows what Miami needs more than the people who call it home.
Looking for the best places to eat in Miami, full stop? Check out our guide to the 25 highest-rated restaurants in town.
What Our Ratings Mean
Learn more
NONE
1-5
6s
7s
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9s
No rating: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.
THE SPOTS
$$$$
Sunny’s has returned as the easy answer for anyone looking for a stupidly fun blowout dinner in Miami.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT (AGAIN)
When we rounded the corner past the banyan tree and witnessed the full glory of Sunny’s two-year glow up.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR A BIG NIGHT OUT
Martinis (plural), Parker House rolls for the table, shrimp cocktail, corn agnolotti, steaks (we like the hanger), and the chocolate cake for dessert. Finish the night at their outdoor bar with more martinis.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Juicy steaks, hanging out for drinks after dinner, and a steakhouse that isn’t just your typical meat and potatoes.
$$$$
Itamae's stunningly creative Nikkei dishes, infused with local ingredients, exist in their very own galaxy.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
Nodding along to hip-hop while using a little block of yuca pavé to wipe up jackfruit leche de tigre.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR ONE
It’s a set menu with no add-ons or additional courses to worry about. So just find a good bottle of sake and get excited.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Otherworldly leche de tigre, hip-hop, and dry-aged seafood.
$$$$
Recoveco shows that simplicity can still be thrilling with a one-page menu tuned to microscopic perfection.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When the best chicken we’ve ever had arrived moments after the best fish we’ve ever had.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR DATE NIGHT
The chicken liver mousse, beef tongue, and salad to start. Fish and chicken for entrees. Both desserts. And a bottle of wine suggested by a sommelier we trust like an experienced local meteorologist.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
A meal that builds momentum like your favorite novel, and leaves you just as emotionally satisfied.
$$$$
This pop-up does more with Florida’s oceans, farms, and backyards than most restaurants with their own kitchens.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When we found out the grill was welded from a bed frame. Love that Miami ingenuity.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR TWO
The menu changes frequently, but always order the crudo, seasonal salad, the rotating fish, steak, and mamey rum cake.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Farmers markets, read the Farmer’s Almanac, or love a front-row view of a spectacularly creative kitchen.
POWERED BY
$$$$
Edan is Miami’s best Spanish restaurant, and a rare special occasion meal we can recommend on nearly any budget.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
Ending the meal with a Basque cheesecake that might be even better than its forefathers in San Sebastián.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR FOUR
Mushroom croquetas, steak tartare, pumpkin creamy rice, dry-aged boneless ribeye, and four slices of Basque cheesecake because you’ll want one all to yourself.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Spanish food that goes way beyond patatas bravas and overplayed tapas.
RESERVE A TABLE
POWERED BY
$$$$
ViceVersa has the spirit of a fun bar, the precision of a great restaurant, and the excitement of a Roman dinner party.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
The first sip of a Negroni so perfect, we felt the bones of Count Camillo Negroni shake beneath our feet.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR A PRE-CONCERT MEAL
A round of every Negroni variation, royal red shrimp, scallop, wagyu carpaccio, jerk snapper collar (if it's on the menu), mortadella pizza, and pistachio gelato.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Aperitivos, gesturing excitedly at food, and generally pretending you’re a Roman enjoying la dolce vita.
$$$$
Gramps Getaway feels like old Miami: a waterfront party where every coconut-shrimp-loving Floridian is invited.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When we locked eyes with the life-size cutout of Jimbo Luznar.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR SITTING ALONE AT THE BAR ON A RANDOM WEDNESDAY
A frozen piña colada, the blackened fish sandwich, and a slice of key lime pie. And then another piña colada because it would be a crime to miss the sunset.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
To pretend you’ve fled to Key West and retired to the Florida life you’ve always dreamed of.
$$$$
Yes, Ogawa is very expensive, but it’s the best sushi omakase in Miami.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
As a freight train rumbled past the restaurant mid-bite of sea bream marinated in cherry blossom leaves, and we felt closer to Tokyo than Little River.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE MEAL
Relax and let the sushi chefs do their thing. Your only job is to start with a Hibiki highball.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Making everyone who watches your Instagram stories unfathomably jealous with videos of transparent baby eels and beautifully prepared scallop, kinki, and ebi nigiri.
$$$$
Barra Callao is the ceviche bar and salsa party you can’t get at any of the other 200 Peruvian restaurants in Miami.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When the chef handed us a plate of chalacas as beautiful as the prettiest flower at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR TWO AFTER A LONG DAY AT THE BEACH
The aforementioned gorgeous choros a la chalaca, any ceviche, the cause de pulpo anticuchero, and the frozen pisco sour you won’t see on the menu (just ask for one).
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Watching a chef dance to Héctor Lavoe while making mesmerizing classic ceviches.
$$$$
In a year that will be remembered as The Great Smashburger Boom, Cowy outshined them all.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When we realized we now get to inhale the burgers from this former pop-up under an actual roof with cold AC. And never again worry about it raining on our burger parade.
A PERFECT ORDER FOR WHEN IT’S 12:15AM AND, YEAH, YOU’RE A LITTLE DRUNK
The Cowy—obviously as a double—and a side of tequeños.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
Smashburgers with edges no thicker than a credit card, and flavor combinations unlike any of the other bajillion Miami smashburgers.
$$$$
At Mangrove, jerk and rum are the party favors for an always-fun dinner that inevitably turns into a dance party.
THE MOMENT WE KNEW WE LOVED IT
When the lights grew dim, Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” got a little louder, and we felt so at ease that we almost did the worm.
A PERFECT ORDER SO YOU HAVE ROOM TO DANCE LATER
Start with a Red Red Wine, a couple of beef patties, and jerk mac and cheese for the table. Then get the curry oxtail or whole fish, and skip dessert for something with rum in it.
GO IF YOU LIKE…
When going to the afterparty is as easy as getting up from the table.
About Us
Ryan Pfeffer
Senior Editor, Miami
Ryan is a native South Floridian who's written professionally about his strange home (and its cheeseburgers) for over a decade.
Mariana Trabanino
Staff Writer, Miami
Mariana is a Hialeah native who uses her degree in French studies to discover Miami’s best croissants, steak frites, and foie gras dishes.