Six Locally-Loved Restaurants to Try During SOBEWFF
When you need a bite between festivities but don't have a reservation
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival celebrates its 21st year this week, with four days of events, parties, dinners, and seminars. In total, about 70,000 people are expected to eat and drink at the festival’s nearly 90 different events.
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While there’s plenty to eat and drink at parties like Burger Bash, the Art of Tiki, and the Grand Tasting Village, chances are you’re going to want to sit down and relax with a meal.
Abbale Televivian Kitchen
Chef Sam Gorenstein and pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith offer Mediterranean and Israeli fare in this charming bistro. Dine on the porch filled with flowering vines and comfortable pillows while you graze on freshly baked Jerusalem bagels, shakshuka, roasted fish and vegetables, and housemade hummus. Open for lunch, dinner, and all-day Sunday brunch (closed Mondays). 864 Commerce St., Miami Beach.
Enriqueta’s
Stop at this little family-run Cuban cafe to fuel up for a festival day. Enriqueta’s opens daily for breakfast and lunch (closed Sunday) from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. making it perfect for both early risers and those sleeping in to get their fill of solid no-nonsense foods like a breakfast platter, croquetas, or a Cuban sandwich paired with a rich, caffeinated dose of cafe Cubano. 186 NE 29th St., Miami.
Joe’s Take Away
During SOBEWFF, you can find high-profile celebrities like Martha Stewart and Andrew Zimmern dining at Joe’s Stone Crab. If you want to experience the succulent stone crab claws and tangy mustard sauce but don’t want to wait for hours, simply drop by Joe’s Take Away. The casual little sibling of Joe’s offers all of the restaurant’s iconic dishes like stone crabs, Key Lime pie, creamed spinach, and fried chicken without the wait. Joe’s Take Away opens from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, so pick up some claws and fried chicken and take them to the beach (just a block away) for a picnic on the sand. 11 Washington Ave., Miami Beach.
Phuc Yea
Miami’s MiMo neighborhood, rich with mid-century architecture, is also home to a number of innovative, locally-owned restaurants. Phuc Yea offers Vietnamese-Cajun food and fantastic cocktails by restaurant partners Ani Meinhold and Cesar Zapata. Not-to-miss items include a soulful pho for two; fluffy bao buns filled with soft shell crab, fried chicken, or pork; and the restaurant’s buttery, cheesy P.Y. noodles. Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday and Sunday brunch (closed Monday and Tuesday). 7100 Biscayne Blvd, Miami.
Bar Meli 69
Liza Meli is the proprietor of this MiMo wine bar that transports you to some blissful taverna in the Mediterranean. Bar Meli features a good selection of natural wines along with a tapas menu. Whatever you do, don’t forget to order the flaming saganaki. Open for dinner Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday). 6927 Biscayne Blvd, Miami.
Cerveceria La Tropical
Cindy Hutson and Delius Shirley owned the much-beloved Coral Gables restaurant, Ortanique for decades before closing it in July 2020. Fans of Hutson’s tropically-tinged “cuisine of the sun” can find her at Cerveceria La Tropical, where she’s in charge of the food menu inside this enormous brewery that brews beer from traditional Cuban recipes dating back to 1888. Key menu items include a ceviche of the day made with local catch, curry jerk chicken wings, and mussels steamed in La Tropical’s amber beer. Open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday). 42 NE 25th St, Miami.