The Best New Restaurants in Miami [March 2026]

This month’s openings stretch from sun-drenched Italian courtyards to moody Osaka alleyway-inspired dining rooms, from mariachi-fueled singalongs to sushi boats drifting past your seat. There are global heavyweights planting flags, hometown bar vets building their dream rooms, and concepts that feel distinctly of-the-moment. These are the tables setting the pace in Miami right now.

Bella

Eyal Shani has built a global reputation on intensity—buzzing dining rooms, provoking plates, and theatrical dinners without losing soul. With Bella, inside the Liberty Park Hotel, he shifts the lens. This is his first concept devoted entirely to Italian cuisine, though filtered unmistakably through the Mediterranean instincts that define his work.

The restaurant centers on a courtyard that feels built for South Beach: terra-cotta floors, a working fountain, blooming flowers, and space for a hundred guests under open sky. Inside, a green onyx bar and hand-blown glass lamps frame a large antipasti table that sets the pace from the start. The room moves easily from sunlit lunch to late romantic dinners.

The menu leans Southern Italian but resists purity tests. Womanmade pastas anchor the experience—ragù, all’olio, Madagascan black pepper with a sharp edge—alongside golden fritto misto and prime rib soaked in grape nectar and sage. Shani’s voice comes through in dishes like tabuleh faro with sheep’s yogurt and grouper shawarma, where Middle Eastern accents interrupt tradition without overwhelming it. Bella isn’t cosplaying Italy. It’s Italian warmth, filtered through Shani’s Mediterranean sensibility and calibrated for Miami Beach.

Bella is located at 236 21st St., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Canta Corazón

Imported from Mexico, Canta Corazón frames itself as a sentimental saloon, where dinner, cocktails, and communal singing replace the usual DJ-drop formula. The space leans hacienda—terracotta floors, stucco textures, ranch-style woodwork, cactus-green accents—flowing between indoor rooms and a central patio where mariachi musicians rise above the crowd to lead full-room singalongs. It holds more than 200 guests, but the design keeps the experience intimate, almost theatrical.

There’s cultural weight behind it: Canta Corazón is rooted in the legacy of the Fernández dynasty, one of the most iconic families in Mexican music, grounding the concept in regional Mexican tradition rather than aesthetic borrowing we all so loathe. Songs move between English and Spanish. The energy glides from heartbreak to celebration without warning.

Women are greeted with white roses; later, a masked luchador named El Santo presents white cowboy hats in a ritual moment. Piñatas break. A boxing machine absorbs stress. Cowboy boots arrive with shots tucked inside. Canta Corazón will be open Thursday through Sunday, with happy hour, taco Tuesdays, a full menu, and curated cocktails. We can’t wait.

Canta Corazón is opening at 2445 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127. For more information, visit their official website.

GAIA

Dubai has never been shy about exporting ambition. With GAIA, it sends one of its most polished success stories to South of Fifth. The Greek-Mediterranean concept from Fundamental Hospitality and chef Izu Ani marks its first U.S. address—an intentional choice we are nothing but exuberant about.

Since its 2018 debut, GAIA has built a following across Dubai, Monaco, London, Doha, and Marbella by focusing on simplicity and exceptional seafood. The Miami menu follows that logic. Fresh bluefin tuna with caviar and sea bream carpaccio lead; barrel-aged feta wrapped in honey and filo dough follows, and every last piece is devoured. Wood-oven-grilled prawns carry heat and smoke from harissa. Whole fish, selected from the brand’s signature ice display, are prepared to let the produce speak for itself—with a sage and orange zest salt crust sending aromatics through the dining room.

The scene leans Cycladic: whitewashed walls, limestone textures, greenery—but tuned to Miami’s coastal glam. As dinner softens, NYX, an intimate members-only private dining room inspired by the Greek goddess of the night, turns things a little moodier.

GAIA Miami is located at 801 S. Pointe Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Gigi Rigolatto

The reopening of the Delano Miami Beach comes with familiar names and global ambition. Among them: Gigi Rigolatto, the Italian concept from Paris Society that has already planted flags in Paris, Saint-Tropez, Rome, Dubai, and Bodrum. Miami marks its first U.S. address, and the setting—spilling from the hotel’s first floor to the pool and beach—suggests it plans to use the latitude.

Gigi trades in “alla grande” living: long lunches that naturally flow into aperitivo, tables designed for sharing, and the favor of excess in the Italian sense of the word—abundance, not spectacle. The menu moves predictably but comfortably through crudi, antipasti, pizza, pasta, pesce, and carne, all tied together by high-quality ingredients.

The design keeps things light. Pale coral stone, soft finishes, and open transitions connect the dining room to the pool deck to the beach cabanas. At the Bellini Bar, spritzes and Negronis carry the afternoon into early evening. Gigi isn’t subtle. It’s sun-drenched, polished, and built for Miami’s slower, more intentional pace.

Gigi Rigolatto is located inside Delano Miami Beach at 1685 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Mimi Kakushi

Upstairs, the atmosphere shifts. Also from Paris Society, Mimi Kakushi brings its Osaka-meets-Art Deco mood to the fourth floor of the Delano Miami Beach, accessible exclusively to members and hotel guests. If Gigi trades in sun, Mimi is all about shadow. Moody, cinematic, and transportive.

Originally launched in Dubai, the restaurant has earned international recognition, including a spot on The World’s 50 Best Bars list (No. 36 globally, No. 1 in the Middle East). That bar program arrives intact in Miami. Cocktails draw inspiration from silent film icon Sessue Hayakawa, with drinks designed as narrative set pieces as much as pours—the Nara Nara, a martini encased in ice, among them.

The design nods to 1920s Osaka through a Deco lens. Wooden screens, hand-painted walls, low lighting, and a subtle cherry blossom scent woven through the room—a soundtrack blending Japanese record-bar classics with contemporary electronic beats rounds out the experience. We did say it was moody.

The menu brims with Japanese specialties of all characters: sashimi and sushi at the counter, tempura and gyoza for the table, followed by oven-baked miso butter lobster, donabe rice, and Kagoshima wagyu. It’s a testament to Delano’s return being as much about atmosphere and good food as it is about address.

Mimi Kakushi is located inside Delano Miami Beach at 1685 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Stormy Monday

Miami Beach gets a bar with an expiration date. Opening March 12, Stormy Monday is a limited-run cocktail residency taking over the former home of Macchialina and operating through July. The idea is craft, community, and a room that feels broken in from night one.

The project comes from James MacInnes, whose résumé runs through KYU, Kaori, KLAW, and most recently Shiso. He’s joined by chef Seth Blumenthal, formerly of Le Jardinier during its Michelin-starred run, along with former MLB All-Star Jason Kipnis as a partner. Together, they’re building the kind of bar industry people actually want to spend time in—serious about drinks, relaxed about everything else.

Named after the blues standard popularized by The Allman Brothers Band, Stormy Monday is soulful and unfussy. Cocktails prioritize balance and technique—mezcal with smoked grape and Thai basil; a barrel-aged spirit blend layered with palm sugar and palo santo; a spritz sharpened with tomate de árbol and carbonated Chablis. We can’t wait for that first sip.

Blumenthal’s food follows suit. Think foie gras xiao long bao, smoked mahi dip on shokupan, puffed beef tendon with chili lime, and smoked Beemster cheese with fermented South Florida honey. Open Thursday through Monday, 5–11 p.m., Stormy Monday is a well-timed reminder that a great bar doesn’t need anything extra—just good music, better drinks, and the right people in the room.

Stormy Monday is opening at 820 Alton Rd., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Tokyo Tuna

South Miami gets something different. With its second location, Tokyo Tuna introduces the neighborhood’s only sushi river experience—an interactive counter where chef-prepared dishes glide past diners on small wooden boats.

A fixture in Miami’s sushi scene for more than a decade, Tokyo Tuna built its following on fish flown in daily and a balance of traditional technique with crowd-pleasing invention. The new South Miami space incorporates warm woods and seating for 120 indoors and out, while centering the river without letting it overshadow the food.

Signature rolls like the Salmon Seduction, finished with torched king salmon and ikura, share menu space with hamachi crudo dressed in yuzu and spicy tuna crispy rice topped with bluefin and a truffle eel sauce. For something more tactile, thin slices of wagyu arrive tableside on a hot stone, ready to be seared and dipped in ponzu. Piping bowls of noodles, rice dishes, sake, and craft cocktails round out a program designed to welcome both first-time diners and the seasoned Tokyo Tuna regulars.

Tokyo Tuna is located at 5800 SW 73rd St., South Miami, FL 33143. For more information, visit their official website.