Miami's best new restaurants in 2023. And a new food festival
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The croquettes — served with basque cheese and smoked paprika emulsion — from Beauty and the Butcher. Photo: Martin Vassolo/Axios
Miami's food scene is always evolving, and we had a ton of great spots open up in 2023.
Driving the news: We reached out to Ryan Pfeffer, The Infatuation Miami's senior editor, to talk about his new favorites and potential restaurant openings he would love to see in 2024.
Note: This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
What was your favorite new restaurant?
"Our highest-rated restaurant of the year was Tâm Tâm in downtown. It's a new Vietnamese spot that hits every note of a great restaurant. It has a consistently fun atmosphere, excellent service, and the food is never shy of amazing. Be sure to visit the bathroom (the second one on the right)."
What new restaurants are you excited about opening in 2024?
"I'm curious if 2024 will finally be the year that some of these new Little River restaurants begin to open. I'm crossing my fingers for the triumphant return of Sunny's Steakhouse, the pandemic pop-up from the Jaguar Sun team that's slated to become a permanent thing … eventually? Fooq's, a great Mediterranean restaurant that closed during the pandemic, is also apparently coming back to life in Little River.
What is the Miami food scene good at, and what are we missing?
"Obviously, the Hispanic representation is strong — this is a great place to live if you like Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, Colombian, Cuban and Peruvian."
- "But one thrilling part of the Miami food scene is getting to watch chefs push these cuisines into new territory using local techniques and ingredients. I think Maty's is doing that with Peruvian food. Chug's does it with Cuban food."
- "One thing we're sorely missing is more African food. I can only name two in Miami: Awash Ethiopian and Moji (both are very good)."
How can locals distinguish between flashy new restaurants and the truly great ones?
"My restaurant red flags include, but are not limited to: an abundance of celebrity sightings, any sort of pyrotechnics in the dining room and suspiciously impossible-to-find reservations. Also, if they have anything on the menu that costs $1,000 — stay far, far away."
- "One formula for finding great restaurants this year was to seek out second and third locations from groups that have already proven to be great. Walrus Rodeo came from the Boia De team, Maty's from the Itamae folks, Beauty and the Butcher from Stubborn Seed, and Erba from Ghee."
Worth your time: Check out The Infatuation Miami's full list of the best new restaurants of 2023, which includes Maty's, Walrus Rodeo and more.
- Catch Tâm Tâm, Caracas Bakery and many more local eateries at The Infatuation's two-day food festival, EEEEEATSCON, which is making its Miami debut Feb. 3–4 at Bayfront Park.
- Special guests include "Saturday Night Live" comedian Marcello Hernandez and Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
- Tickets are $30.