The best restaurants in Brickell, from glam rooftops to waterfront gems

Zeru demonstrates the Spaniards’ unrivaled ability to elevate simple ingredients and transform them into very special dishes. The concept arrives via Mexico City, and here, corporate chef and partner Israel Aretxiga runs the kitchen in a very chic space at the bottom of the AKA Hotel. In a city where Spanish food is plentiful, Zeru stands out, even with dishes you’ve seen before, like the Galician octopus.

Order this: The manchego cheese fondant is just simply a mind-blowing rendition of this sweet-savory dessert.

Technically, La Mar’s head chef is Peru’s famed Gastón Acurio, but the guy actually cooking day-to-day back there is the talented Diego Oka, who’s constantly experimenting with new recipes. For sure, order the ceviche, done up in semi-traditional and quite original ways, plated with the precision of a gallery artist. From there, Peruvian classics like lomo saltado and chaufa get remastered with new ingredients, right down to grilled veggie anticucheros (that’s often beef hearts, mind you). All this gets served up in a dining room and outdoor patio with Miami’s best skyline view, the waters of Biscayne Bay lapping up just right there.

The gorgeous dining room at Delilah, full of mismatched fabric booths, thick drapery and massive chandeliers, looks repurposed from the estate of a jazz-age industrialist. It would all make a dazzling backdrop for your next selfie if not for the restaurant’s famous no-pics policy. The menu spans from bits that sound off the kids' menu, like chicken fingers and a hot fudge sundae, and also supper club-level steaks that run up to a $317 tomahawk. 

Order this: Kendall’s Slutty Brownie (yes, named after that Kendall), a gooey hunk of chocolate with a scoop of ice cream and two half circles of Oreos on top. It’s as sweet as a child’s Valentine’s Day card and worthy of breaking the no-photo rule. 

The former El Tucán space in Brickell rings more opulent than ever, with cherry-red banquettes along the walls, chandeliers that look like giant golden flower buds and a thick, Tonight Show-like curtain in the back. The menu here too drips with nostalgia, full of steakhouse classics, full of phrases like bone-in, dry-aged and caviar-topped. Gold will be flecked on the desserts, entertainers will occupy the grand piano and dishes and cocktails will be finished tableside. 

Good for: The vibe here is more chill than your average Miami clubstaurant, making this better for first dates or nights out with the boss rather than mistakes-will-be-made bachelor party. 

A seasonally driven, farm-to-table menu is filled with dishes made from ingredients sourced locally. In keeping with the wholesome vibe, Edge serves seafood, vegetarian options and lightened-up versions of meat dishes, focusing on smaller cuts and veggie sides. 

Time Out tip: On Fridays, nine-to-fivers in the Brickell area flock to the outdoor patio for drinks on the terrace.

Enjoy sophisticated Niçoise cuisine at this upscale French import. Despite the white tablecloths and double-digit price tags, LPM is warm, welcoming and surprisingly low-key. It's true that the restaurant caters to more refined palates, but it's also a haven for potato lovers. Case in point: There are fries and then there are the pomme frites served at LPM. Soaked, baked and fried, the labor-intensive spuds take hours to make, and it shows through in taste and texture.

Time Out tip: This summer, take advantage of Les Precious Moments, two chef's tasting menu options (starting at $60 or $90 per person) that highlight the French Mediterranean concept's greatest hits.

This financial district stalwart has survived recessions and land acquisitions, satiating the local business crowd with the freshest oysters around since 2003. The River Oyster Bar’s sleek, contemporary space is as timeless as its classic seafood menu, featuring staples like crab cakes, whole roasted fish and Florida lobster. 

Time Out tip: Few Miami specials beat the daily happy hour, with $1.75 oysters, bar snacks like caviar-topped deviled eggs and $11 cocktails every day from 3 to 7pm.

There are only two seatings per day and a maximum of five people per seating at Brickell Key’s exclusive sushi den, NAOE, where chef/owner Kevin Cory has been quietly and skillfully preparing each piece in the intimate restaurant’s open kitchen for more than a decade (long before the present omakase boom in Miami). His authentic approach and meticulous attention to detail are what set his meals apart from the myriad Japanese restaurants in town. 

Hong Kong expat Hutong shows off its culinary prowess with a Peking duck that takes 24 hours to make, carved tableside and served two ways. The rest of the northern Chinese menu includes seafood items from Shanghai, a variety of noodles and rice dishes and plenty of dim sum to snack on and share with the table. Pricey Asian fare is common in Brickell, but Hutong attracts a crowd that’s more focused on the food and ambiance than the scene. 

Time Out tip: Brunch at Hutong is both a study in upscale dim sum and a place to show off that new outfit in a room full of people also showing off that new outfit.

If the crisp-like-a-saltine crust of Lucali is your thing—and for many people, it defines good pizza—then the good news is that there’s a clone pie being put out here in Brickell. Dominic Cavagnuolo, one of the guys behind Lucali Miami, is the boss here too and made sure everything learned back from the original Brooklyn Lucali was duplicated in Brickell, right down to the big handfuls of basil that end up in a clump on the cheese pizza.

Time Out tip: For those who want Lucali but don’t want to wait at the Sunset Harbour location for a table, DC is like a secret back-door entrance.

With a Michelin star already for his D.C. restaurant, perhaps it comes as little surprise to his fans that chef Juan Manuel Barrientos also earned one for his spot in Brickell. The Colombian-born Barrientos combines the fresh ingredients of farm-to-table with molecular gastronomy and some of the prettiest, and most expensive, plates in Miami.

The fine-dining chain Casa Tua, with its big-bucks restaurant on South Beach, operates a concept in Brickell City Centre that feels more like a food hall, with stations serving pasta, pizza and charcuterie. 

Time Out tip: Ask for a seat in front of the pizzaiolos and you can watch the quite excellent pies get well charred in just a few seconds.

The folks behind Carbone and essentially a growing nationwide upscale restaurant empire, Major Food Group, converted a historic chateau on the south end of Brickell into a glamor-filled maximalist space. The dishes are straightforward Mexican and the menu is tequila-heavy, as there are about 1,000 different bottles on hand to try. 

Time Out tip: While nothing on the main menu will likely be your favorite new version of a dish, dessert hits the Latin best of's, including coconut tres leches, mango cheesecake and churros. 

Novikov is a total scene in the way that only a trendy Miami restaurant can be. But don’t let the beautiful crowd keep you from Novikov’s sushi—it’s as good as the people-watching. A must for birthdays and celebrations, Novikov scores high both in the food and atmosphere categories. Zero in on the Pekin duck and any of the assorted dim-sum options.

Looking for a sleek, understated spot in Brickell—one that channels the effortless cool of Williamsburg, for instance, and hasn't been overrun by the neighborhood's swarms of tourists or recent transplants? The intimate ground floor of this bi-level modern Asian restaurant fits the bill (though you can also dine upstairs for a more quiet meal with views of the city). Boasting a creamy quartzite bar, tufted leather booths, moody lighting and a hi-fi sound system primed for vinyl nights, Kaori also offers a happy hour menu of $12 cocktails made with cool ingredients like aloe and shiso, plus a selection of elevated snacks like $12 aji amarillo crudo and a $16 kimichi wagyu hot dog.

Major Food Group brings the joie de vivre to Brickell with its supper club steakhouse. There are several rooms, each one strewn with various animal prints and more vibey than the next. As is true of most (if not all) of the MFG restaurants, Dirty French delivers on more than ambiance with a menu of well-executed French classics like duck à l'orange and fresh innovations, including giant grilled oysters bourguignon and a mushroom millefeuille. The steady soundtrack of throwback hits and top-notch bar program conspire to keep you dancing in your seat all night long.

Osaka, the internationally renowned eatery from Lima, makes it obvious why there’s such an appetite locally for Nikkei cuisine, the Peruvian-Japanese trend. Its approachable up-market dining room has something to do with it, but mostly it's an exhaustive menu that runs the gamut from strictly sushi and seafood to traditional anticuchos and coal-fired meats dressed in spicy pepper sauces.

From the creators of Uruguay’s famed Parador La Huella comes Quinto, featuring South American classics cooked over an open flame. Many of its offerings are made using a parrilla, a Latin American grill traditionally used to cook meat, fish and vegetables. Signature plates include grilled provolone cheese, sweetbreads, steak milanese and squid ink rice.

If it’s buttered, baked or toasted, you’ll find it at Henry Hané’s popular Brickell spot. Portable sweets include verrines, like delicate dessert parfaits, and pastries that range from assorted croissants to a gooey Nutella brioche. This is the place where beautiful tarts topped with berries and other fresh fruit taste as good as they look.

Nightlife impresario David Grutman is behind this Brickell hotspot, which features a menu filled with traditional Chinese dishes such as dim sum and Peking duck that hang by the entrance. Weekday happy hour brings the opportunity to try some more innovative options, like the pastrami egg roll, as well as discounted cocktails.

This swanky, Mexico City import is your Brickell destination for stellar margaritas and the kind of traditional composed dishes you won’t find elsewhere in Miami. Cantina's carnitas are flawless, the soft-shell crab taco served in a shooter is craveable and the house-made corn tortillas are the freshest in town.

It reportedly cost $20 million to dress up Sexy Fish in untold pieces of glass sea creatures, flying dramatically over an aquarium-styled dining room and splaying out in mega-colorful bathrooms. You could spend a year, or at least the better part of a lively happy hour, studying over purple octopi and bedazzled blue marlin. The dishes created by acclaimed chef Björn Weissgerber are similarly styled, full of greens and fried things rising up like pieces of art above mostly seafood-centric plates. Throughout it all, you’ll be both overwhelmed and not sure where to look next, but you will not leave thinking they understated any one thing at Sexy Fish.

Time Out tip: Even if it’s unnecessary, take a trip to the bathroom, where all of Sexy Fish’s dramatic flourish is cranked to 11.

The original Motek in Downtown rivals the hip cafés of Tel Aviv with its bright, inviting space and stacked menu of authentic Israeli delights. As it's expanded into Brickell City Centre and beyond, the restaurant (which comes to Miami by way of New York chef Einat Admony), has evolved into a more sophisticated, Med-inspired space where you can still find Kosher-style and Middle Eastern favorites including fresh salads, creamy hummus, their famed, juicy arayes burger and poppable falafels you can order solo or stuffed in a pita.

Marabú dips into the city's Cuban heritage with a menu headlined by items cooked over charcoal. Grab a Havana-inspired drink and a Cubano with pit-roasted ham at the outdoor pergola or the expansive bar inside.

The Pubbelly boys put a fresh spin on sushi at their foray into Japanese cuisine. Pubbelly’s gastropub pedigree means you’ll find heartier fare here too, although, still, you should not skip dipping the crab roll into drawn butter. Chef/co-owner José Mendín introduces unexpected ingredients and Latin flavors to create inventive rolls you won’t find anywhere else.