Where to indulge in New Year's Day brunch in Miami

Want to start 2023 off on the highest note? The Setai has a $125 courtyard brunch experience with live jazz by quintet The Vinyl Blvd., endless Roederer Champagne, elaborate bloody Marys and elevated breakfast classics alongside seafood and meats grilled to order, Asian dishes, sushi, and more. 

Bloody Mary lovers, this one's for you. This New Orleans-themed seafood bistro is hosting a special New Year's Day Brunch from 12pm to 3pm, featuring a new la carte brunch menu and a DJ if a mild day party seems like the right way to go for you. As no brunch is complete without a boozy component, there's a Bloody Mary Menu with creative spins on the official cocktail of hangovers® like the Bloody Caesar, the Bloody Maria, and the  Bloody Kirby – available via glass or pitcher.

Can you name a more exhilarating way to kick off 2024 than with a drag brunch? Catch Athena Dion (otherwise known as Miss Ultimate Miami Drag Queen) for a fabulous first show of the year as you dine on cayenne fried chicken or cinammon sweet French toast. The experience is $60 and includes bottomless mimosas, white wine sangria, and mojitos.

Every day is brunch day at Sadelle's, where a $139 tower of bagels and smoked fish feels, well, fine. From superb benedicts to perfectly drippy egg sandwiches, this breezy Coconut Grove patio-restaurant serves up all the brunch classics, as well as crisp wines and smashes (fresh fruit, pounded and topped with soda water – and your choice of spirit, if you want) to indulge in a truly lazy Sunday. 

Head to Fort Lauderdale for a fresh start – and chilaquiles. Lona Cocina & Tequileria is hosting a beach-view hangover brunch for $60 and it includes Mexican buffet spread with sizzling stations and bottomless margs, mimosas and bloody Marys. In addition to the much-loved Guacamole Bar, Tacos Station, Ceviche Station, Omelet and Waffle Stations, Lona is adding Roast Beef Carving Station, Chipotle Meatball Station and a Tamales Station, just for the occasion, plus there will be Milagro tequila tastings from 1 to 3pm. 

If the perfect smoked fish dip, sublime conch fritters, whole Florida fluke and lobster carbonara make you want to get out of your hangover cocoon, we've got one place for you: Stiltsville. This Sunset Harbour mainstay doles out the freshest Florida seafood, enjoyed in a chill yet classy ambiance that'll make you wonder what side of the state you're on. 

Missed the fireworks show on New Year's Eve? The skyline view is still there and you can enjoy it at Quinto. They're doing a $75 South American brunch on New Year's Day with free-flowing bottomless cocktails from 12 to 5pm. Highlights include a seafood cocktail with orange-lime- tomato cold broth, huevos rancheros divorciados and a meatlover's tabla de carne with grilled skirt steak, NY strip steak, rack of lamb, and chimichurri. You could opt for classic brunch cocktails, or opt for others like the blood orange pisco sour or a coconut espresso martini. 

Want your first meal of the year to feel like a spring day in Paris? Café Bastille is a delightful French brunch eaterie that serves AM standards like Nutella French toast, Salmon benedict, creative lattes and cappuccinos, and fresh pressed juices if your diet starts January 1st. Best of all, their bottomless brunch runs all week, so you can leisurely enjoy several rounds of Peach bellinis or pitchers of Rosé sangria. 

Can you imagine a better way to spend the first day of the year than Champagne-in-hand with yachts in view? Seaspice is open for brunch on New Year's Day with a classic a la carte burnch spread, bubbly, cocktails and more. 

Loaded brunches are great and all, but when better to kick start a healthy year than on January 1st? The Strand, Carillon Miami's beachfront café is hosting a brunch from 11:30am to 3:30pm. Seriously, you can't beat the view here – nor the brunch spread. We're talking pistachio waffles with whipped Greek yogurt, fennel citrus burrata, and griddled chocolate bread pudding. A $28 bottomless mimosa package seals the deal. 

You could do like everyone else and go to Greenstreet for brunch, but then you'd be missing out on Ariete's amazing spread just two blocks away. Their $85 pre-fixe features items like local fish crudo with crispy corn and passionfruit leche de tigre, uni and bone marrow oysters, duck and waffles, frita benedicts and brûléed maduro torrejas for dessert.

As one of the few restaurants open on a Monday, it's safe to head to the Brickell restaurant for lunch along the Miami River. You're coming here for Bourbon, Burgers and Beats every Monday, where mid and top shelf bourbons are $9-$12 and smash, Amso and truffle burgers are $8–$12. Time your lunch on the later side to try and catch those happy hour specials, too. 

Icebox makes a Monday feel like a Sunday. Breakfast at the restaurant's Sunset Harbour location lists all the plused up standards: guava-filled French toast, lemon ricotta pancakes, avocado toast, messy eggs. Plus you can enjoy brunch items like latke and eggs or their signature eggs benedict well into lunch. There's also a Hallandale location if schleping to South Beach is a hassle. 

Its smash-hit food truck was a favorite among those whose favorite Saturday morning activity was waiting in line for food. Now El Bagel’s brick-and-mortar is the preferred bagel spot of people with incredible patience. Takeout at this small MiMo shop can take up to two hours but no one craving an oversize, NYC-style hand-rolled bagel seems to mind. The standard toasted everything bagel with butter is never a bad choice, but if you want to see why people stand in line for hours get the B.E.C. with Proper Sausages bacon, egg, and cheese.

We really can't think of a more enjoyable way to spend the first afternoon of the year than at Pastis Wynwood. Are you in Paris? Are you in New York? No – you're caught up in Miami's next sophisticated chapter and, really, every dish is one to write home about. On Mondays, lunch is served. Don't sleep on the leeks vinaigrette, foie gras parfait, spaghetti limone or even the plat du jour, duck a l’orange. Wash it all down with a spritz royale or two. 

Want to kick off 2024 with a strike? Pinstripes Aventura is a new restaurant with a bowling alley with Italian-American cuisine, 12 bowling lanes and nine indoor and outdoor bocce courts. On January 1st, they're hosting a 'Pintastic Buffet,' and anyone who comes in their pajamas gets a $10 credit. Load up your plate with AM classics like waffles, steak & eggs Italian-style, Florentine egg white tostadas and avocado toast. They're also offering bottomless Aperol spritzes and mimosas, which may not help your bowling game but do make for a fun afternoon.  

Hangover cures and craft cocktails await at Le Chick in Wynwood, and if you're looking to soak things up beeline for a Royale with cheese or the Reina bagel with blackened salmon and cilantro aioli.  

Fi'lia is hosting a recovery brunch, though it definitely feels like a continuation of the previous night's festivities. We're talking two-hours of unlimted AM classics like rosé, Bloody Marys and spritzes, plus a number of savory items like a wagyu burger with truffle aioli or fried chicken tucked into a pancake bun. Brunch will run from 11am to 4pm. 

If your first order of business for the year is to expand your repertoire of vino, there's nowhere better than Vinya Table on Miracle Mile. Indulge in their $35 pre-fixe Hangover Brunch, with a bottomless add-on package for an additional $35). Highlights include patatas brava with yellowfin tuna tartare, and caviar, shortrib empanadas, steak and eggs and crispy chicken and waffles with maduros. 

Following an evening of galas and festive NYE dinners, the St. Regis is hosting a "Recovery Brunch" – and this is one of your few chances to enjoy a bottomless Monday. Expect a sweet and savory buffet plus unlimited mimosas, bellinis, and Bloody Sunrises, which is the St. Regis Bal Harbour's Florida on the luxury hotel's iconic New York version. 

If dancing the afternoon away to afrobeats sounds like the perfect way to kick off 2024, then join AfroCode for a brunch and day party at Brick. Dancehall, hiphop, soka, zouk – it's the rhythmic buffet your soul simply needs. 

Got the Amalfi coast on your mind for 2024? Manifest it at Italica Midtown with bottomless Aperol Spritzes and prosecco ($25). They're offering a New Year's brunch menu from 11am to 4pm featuring dishes like the hearty Buongiorno (mascarpone cheese, marmalade, Nutella and pistachio on toasted sourdough), French toast topped with bananas, nutella and pistachio and an a classic avocado toast on sourdough.