Miami Spice Heats Up Magic City Dining
This summer promotion is designed to help restaurants during the summertime slump
Miami is one of those destinations that reads like a dream: turquoise waters lap onto miles of white sandy shoreline. Sophisticated streets filled with art galleries or world-class shopping. Four-star hotels with rooftop pool decks.
If you go in the summer, you’ll also be hit with humidity that makes you feel like a warm squid has landed on your head and flash floods brought on by intense and sudden storms that roll in out of nowhere.
So why come here in August and September? There’s only one reason: Miami Spice. Each summer, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) offers a two-month promotion from August 1 to September 30, with lunch and brunch menus priced at $35 and dinner menus from $45-$60.
The promotion includes close to 300 restaurants reaching far and wide beyond the typical touristy meccas of South Beach, Coconut Grove, and Brickell. This year’s program also supports Camillus House, a nonprofit organization that provides services for individuals experiencing homelessness, with the first $25,000 of donations being matched by the GMCVB.
Miami Spice started as the Magic City’s version of New York City’s Restaurant Week, and now enters its 24th year. The program is wildly successful and serves two important needs: attracting visitors to Miami during its historically slow time and helping keep restaurants afloat until the fall season arrives.
This year, the program’s efforts are more important than ever since Miami restaurateurs are experiencing a loss in revenue that factors in a myriad of reasons like inflation, rising costs of rent and supplies, and a decline in tourism.
That’s good news for people wanting to spend a weekend dining through Miami (and you should spend a weekend dining through Miami). Hotel rates are typically discounted. A quick look at Hotels.com shows four-star hotel rooms by brands such as Kimpton and Sonesta going for under $200 a night this weekend. Not to mention, Miami’s food scene is worth visiting, and its chefs and restaurateurs are worth knowing, and you’ll be helping support them through their toughest months.
So, how does one choose which restaurants to visit?
First, visit the Miami Spice website, where you can see representative menus for each participating restaurant. Some restaurants offer a much greater value than others, so feel free to compare, but note that those menus are subject to change. Don’t think a big Miami restaurant name like, say, Joe’s Stone Crab, will offer the best value. Remember — stone crabs aren’t in season during Miami Spice, so you won’t be feasting on the restaurant’s signature dish.
Check the days of the week Miami Spice is offered for your favorite restaurant — many of the best places don’t offer Miami Spice meals during the weekend (and some, conversely, offer great weekend brunches with little bonuses like a welcome glass of champagne).
Also, please don’t get suckered in by Miami’s restaurants that offer Instagrammable neon walls, DJ booths, and “soaring water views”. The best restaurants in Miami have none of these things, I can assure you. Instead, look for restaurants owned and operated by local chefs or local restaurant groups. Here are a few of my recommendations to get you started.
Chef Jeremy Ford and his team earned a Michelin star and a Michelin green star for this restaurant’s tasting menu that utilizes items grown on the chef’s farm. During Miami Spice, you won’t receive the full experience, but you will have a fantastic three-course meal for $60 — an extreme value for the level of culinary expertise and service you’ll receive.
Though Abbale offers Miami Spice for lunch and dinner as well, go for its weekend brunch. The restaurant’s cozy outdoor seating is filled with colorful pillows, lush bougainvillea, and friendly people.
Every city has an iconic restaurant or two. Miami Beach has Joe’s. Though stone crabs are out of season, here’s a secret: Joe’s fried chicken is outstanding. Order the stone crab bisque, the fried chicken, and Joe’s famous key lime pie for dessert.
If you’ve ever wanted to go to Rao’s in NYC and you never did, go to Rao’s in Miami Beach. It’s not as impossible to get into — but your friends need never know. This is my only “not locally owned” restaurant on this list for that reason alone.
Chef Niven Patel is one of the most thoughtful chefs in Miami. He sources produce from his farm, Ranch Patel, and takes immense care in every dish to create layers of flavors and excitement in every bite. Patel is also a master with vegetables, so vegetarians and vegans will want to seek out this restaurant.
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink
Chef Michael Schwartz is of Miami’s most groundbreaking chefs, opening his eponymous restaurant, Michael’s Genuine, back before Dior and Gucci invaded the Design District. Schwartz’s approach to food — keep it local and honest — allows the ingredients to speak for themselves.
If you want to go where the locals go, then Blue Collar is for you. It’s not in any of the tourist areas (though it’s only a stone’s throw from the Design District), but it’s worth the short Uber ride. Chef/owner Danny Serfer takes classic diner fare to another level. Everything is delicious from the latkes to the burgers to the chicken parm. What’s more, practically everything on the menu is available for Miami Spice (not just a set menu), so you can create your own adventure. It could truly be the best value in town!
Chef Michael Beltran combines classic French culinary techniques with his Cuban-American roots at this Michelin-starred restaurant in Miami’s tree-lined Coconut Grove neighborhood. The Miami Spice menu offers some of the best hits, from the venison tartare to Beltran’s hearty pork belly.
If you want the version of Miami you see in the movies —- but actually want some good food and drink, then Cafe La Trova is for you. This restaurant combines chef Michelle Bernstein’s soulful takes on Cuban food with the cocktail stylings of Julio Cabrera and his team of cantineros (the precision bartenders of Cuba). Add a colorful scene filled with music and you’ve got one heck of a night on the town!