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Manjay Restaurant
Photograph: Courtesy Manjay Restaurant

11 Black-owned restaurants in Miami to try right now

Find Southern classics, Ethiopian, Caribbean and unbelievable barbecue at these stellar Black-owned restaurants.

Eric Barton
Written by
Eric Barton
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If supporting minority-owned businesses is your thing—and why shouldn't it be?—then we’ve got some options for you. Dining at Miami’s Black-owned restaurants isn’t going to just make you feel good about doing the right thing, because the spots on this list also happen to be some of Miami's best restaurants too. These places range from the tried-and-true Overtown soul food to Caribbean imports in the heart of South Beach, to one of the city’s best sit-down dining establishments. Doing something to uplift and support a local business while also eating well? Yeah, that sounds like a great plan.

Best black-owned restaurants in Miami

  • Restaurants
  • Eating

Have you ever had a meal so memorable you countdown the days until you can have it again? It happened to us the day we tried Rosie’s wild mushroom polenta for the first time, and we’ve been looking forward to it ever since. The Overtown pop-up restaurant evolved to Rosie’s: The Backyard, an expansive courtyard where guests can enjoy brunch Friday through Sunday under the cover of large Banyan trees. Here, you'll find Chef Akino West's Southern-inspired dishes with hints of Italian flavors and techniques. 

Back in the darkest days of the lockdown, three local chefs made life a little better when they started slinging barbecue and sides from a cul-du-sac. That turned in early 2022 into a Saturday-only spot at Wynwood’s food market Smorgasburg. Currently, you can order pick up and delivery from their website, or dine in to enjoy the smoked meats, buttery cornbread and gooey mac and cheese at their original spot. 845 NE 151st S

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Awash Ethiopian Restaurant
Photograph: @beyondsouthbeach

3. Awash Ethiopian Restaurant

Miami’s only outpost of Ethiopian cuisine takes first-timers and enthusiasts down a journey of the country’s well-spiced cuisine, with meats and vegetarian platters as big as the simply adorned tables. For the uninitiated, the delectable little piles sit atop of injera, a spongey bread made of tef grain that's used to scoop up the stews in lieu of utensils. 

  • Restaurants
  • American
  • Overtown

The fact that Chef Marcus Samuelsson teamed up with Grove Bay Hospitality to open this Overtown spot sounded good enough to make it a thing. But then they brought in chef de cuisine Tristen Epps, who’s among the most creative kitchen pros in Miami. The menu is always changing, focused on whatever's fresh, but be sure to start with the curry buttered cornbread before moving on to dishes with influences as wide as the Deep South, Italy and West Africa.

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  • Restaurants
  • Coffee shops
  • Civic Center

While everyone waited for Rosie’s to reopen in early 2022, luckily the team behind it also put together this Allapattah breakfast and lunch spot. It puts out everything from egg sandwiches to a “basic ass burger” that’s anything but, plus pastrami that's made right there.

Sometimes all that’s needed to improve a day is something gooey and cheesy, and, as you might guess from the name, that’s exactly what’s on the menu here. Former Pitbull manager Derrick “Chef Teach” Turton turned this food truck concept into a Wynwood restaurant (and now North Miami Beach) by spiking his mac with pizza toppings and lump crab and dropping balls of it into a fryer, a crispy and golden cure to a bad day.

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Owners Nicole Gates and Kariym Bryant created a cozy Overtown restaurant that immediately became a neighborhood hangout, in part for the casual vibe and also for the soul food classics like biscuits and gravy and a banana pudding with vanilla wafers. Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King paid a visit to the family-owned restaurant in 2020, so you know it's legit. 

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