The Best New Restaurants in Miami [October 2026]

Bar Shishi

Miami Beach just got another cocktail hideaway, except this one actually makes you work a little for it. Tucked up on the third floor of RIVANI, just off Lincoln Road, Bar Shishi is a tiny Japanese-inspired lounge where the entrance is marked by a guardian lion and the whole thing feels a bit like a secret you’re not supposed to tell everyone about.

The 12-seat bar is helmed by certified Japanese Ice Master Kevin Lee, so yes, the ice is kind of a big deal. Hand-carved diamonds, kakigōri-style shaved ice, Japanese cocktail techniques, and house-made bitters and infusions turn the drinks into a little bit of a show. The Guava Kakigori mixes rum, guava, yuzu, shiso, and shochu over shaved ice, while the Hakushu 12 Old Fashioned gets its own sculpted ice moment you don’t want to miss.

There’s food for the inevitable “okay, but we need a snack” scenario, with hamachi crudo, chicken karaage, wagyu katsu, sushi, caviar, oysters, and more. Meanwhile, 100-plus vinyl records curated by Eddie Mac bring deep house, funk, soul, disco, and Latin sounds into the room.

Bar Shishi is located at 1691 Michigan Ave., Suite 320, Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.

Bazaar Meat

Michelin-starred chef José Andrés is coming back to Miami Beach, and this time he’s bringing Bazaar Meat—not the kind of steakhouse where you quietly order a ribeye and call it a night. Opening October 22 at the newly reimagined Andaz Miami Beach, the restaurant revives some of the showstopping energy of Andrés’ Miami days with a carnivore-heavy menu that likes to have a little fun.

The kitchen takes center stage, with prime cuts hitting the fire alongside seafood, vegetables, modern tapas, and plenty of unexpected twists. Think large-format meats cooked over open flames, ingenious bites, and dishes that mess with your expectations.

The whole thing is designed to feel more like dinner as a spectacle than your standard steakhouse outing, with a dark, seductive setting, bold cocktails, and plenty of Andrés’ signature Spanish-meets-modern approach. Miami has had a taste of The Bazaar before, but Bazaar Meat brings a different beast to the table. And with a few South Florida touches worked into the mix, we’re curious to see what Andrés has cooked up this time.

Bazaar Meat is located at 4041 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33140. For more information, visit their official website.

BRUMA Wine Bar

Some places are made for one very specific thing. BRUMA is apparently having none of that. The new Wynwood café and wine bar is designed to take you from your first espresso of the morning to a glass of something chilled after dark, without making you change tables (or outfits).

The concept comes from Chicago hospitality brothers JP and Alfredo Garduño, who are bringing a little of their Mexican roots and Chicago neighborhood-bar sensibility to 26th Street. Mornings are all about espresso and easy café hangs, while evenings get moodier with wine, bubbles, espresso cocktails, charcuterie, and artisan cheeses.

The room got the memo, too: marble tables, brass accents, crystal chandeliers, and warm lighting that should hit a little differently once the sun goes down. It’s the sort of place where “just one coffee” could very easily become “okay, fine, let’s open a bottle.”

BRUMA Wine Bar is located at 73 NW 26th St., Miami, FL 33127. For more information, visit their official website.

Flaky

Miami has ventanitas for just about everything now, so naturally, the flaky pastry was next. Opening in South of Fifth this month, Flaky is a new bakery window dedicated to Israeli-style burekas with a modern Miami twist.

The concept comes from Broken Shaker co-founder Elad Zvi, who is teaming up with Lola Galloni and Mike Tewel for this tiny pastry operation at The Fifth Hotel. Zvi’s version starts with an unleavened, croissant-style dough made with French butter, resulting in a seriously crisp, flaky shell around fillings like three-cheese with lemon zest, creamed spinach, and a potato-and-miso option we’re dying to try.

Each bureka comes boxed up with grated tomato, tahini, house pickles, a jammy egg, and fermented spicy mango sauce, so there’s plenty to swipe, dip, and pile onto every bite. And because we all need a little sweet to complement our savory, the menu will also feature chocolate babka slushies, rotating soft serve, fruit and citrus fizzes, and coffee.

Flaky is located at 321 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their Instagram.

Kush Wynwood

Kush Wynwood is coming back, but Matt Kuscher apparently decided reopening a restaurant wasn’t ambitious enough. After four years of work on its historic 1926 building, the Kush favorite returns this October as the anchor of Kush Korner, a 7,500-square-foot project in Wynwood that also includes affordable housing for hospitality workers, a cocktail bar, and a tattoo studio.

The building itself is basically a Miami history lesson with excellent snacks. More than 25 works by 20 artists turn the space into an unofficial gallery, including a giant Walter Mercado mural, a tribute to Wynwood’s Puerto Rican roots, and an entrance installation naming 180 artists who helped shape the neighborhood. And because no Miami restaurant opening would be complete without at least one wildly unexpected detail, Kush has a replica of James “Whitey” Bulger’s jail cell hidden inside, right down to his prison ID and fork.

Inside, Kush is serving a greatest-hits menu pulled from across its hospitality empire, including the Johnny Utah (voted Best Burger in Miami by Miami New Times), Frita by Kush (named among Food Network’s Best Burgers in America), the Jewban sandwich (ranked the No. 3 sandwich in the world by Time Out), Reuben croquetas, Florida alligator bites, chicken and waffles, and banana cream bread pudding. The cocktail list gets just as playful, with drinks like Coming Home From Tootsies, Mexican From Miami, and Sana Sana Culito de Rana. There’s also a $5 happy hour for those looking to make a meal out of the deals.

Kush Wynwood is located at 2003 N. Miami Ave., Miami, FL 33127. For more information, visit their official website.

La Sponda

Grove Isle has a new waterfront Italian restaurant, and La Sponda is clearly not here to be shy about it. Set inside Vita at Grove Isle in Coconut Grove, the 120-seat ristorante and grill pairs panoramic Biscayne Bay views with copper wallpaper, agate chandeliers, and a menu that moves across Italy’s regions.

Chef Daniel Ganem, culinary director of Gioia Hospitality, is making fresh pasta daily, with dishes ranging from caviar carbonara to spaghetti alla chitarra al tartufo with Burgundy truffles and linguine all’astice with Maine lobster. There’s also a serious steak program, including a 42-ounce wagyu bistecca Fiorentina, plus caviar, crudos, branzino, and other seafood.

But despite the truffles, wagyu, and tableside theatrics, approachability is part of the plan. Thomas Angelo, who runs Gioia Hospitality with his daughter Kassidy, wants the restaurant to work for both special occasions and repeat visits, with pastas under $50 and bottles of wine at friendlier price points.

La Sponda is located at 4 Grove Isle Dr., Miami, FL 33133. For more information, visit their official website.

LITO

Something sunny just dropped into the heart of Wynwood. LITO, a new Southern European-inspired restaurant from Liz Mattos, Eduardo Antunes, and chef Junior Santos, is bringing the flavors of Italy, France, Spain, and the Mediterranean together under one roof, with plenty of room for Miami to sneak into the medley.

The menu jumps freely between regions, so a table might start with tuna carpaccio and charred colossal prawn with ’nduja butter before moving into caserecce al limone with calamari and bottarga, octopus romesco, or butterflied branzino with Sicilian salmoriglio. There’s also gnocco fritto topped with Florida blue crab, avocado, lemon, and cilantro, because this is Wynwood, after all.

Sharing is very much encouraged, with crudos, vegetables, pastas, seafood, and grilled meats designed to bounce around the table. The cocktail list follows the same sunny Mediterranean direction with citrus, fresh botanicals, and premium spirits, alongside a wine list built to pair with all of it.

LITO is located at 137 NW 26th St., Miami, FL 33127. For more information, visit their official website.

Regener8 Café

Most farm-to-table restaurants start with a menu and work backward. Regener8 Café in Wynwood did things a little differently: the farm came first. Founded by David and Leila Centner, Regener8 grows much of what ends up on the plate at its South Florida farm, then works with other local growers using the same regenerative practices. The 34-acre operation includes no-till market gardens, hydroponic and aquaponic systems, an orchard with more than a dozen tropical and subtropical fruit varieties, cage-free laying hens, and its own beehives.

The café follows the same philosophy, skipping seed oils in favor of olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and tallow, while sticking to artisanal grains like einkorn, quinoa, amaranth, millet, and farro. Produce is harvested just days (sometimes hours) before delivery, with no chemical pesticides or fertilizers used on the farm. Expect einkorn sourdough sandwiches and bowls packed with the farm’s freshest harvest, plus some healthier comfort food like the wild bison smashburger, crispy organic chicken sandwich, and organic fries fried in tallow.

There’s a wellness angle here, too, extending beyond what’s on the plate. Regener8 incorporates purified water, advanced air filtration, and circadian lighting into the café, turning the whole experience into an extension of its farm-first philosophy.

Regener8 Café is located at 3490 NW 2nd Ave., Miami, FL 33127. For more information, visit their official website.

Royale Pizza Napoletana

Pizza aficionados, mark your calendars. Miami Beach is getting its first Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizzeria this month, and Royale Pizza Napoletana is bringing in some serious Japanese pizza cred to make it happen.

The restaurant comes from Jess Varughese, the restaurateur behind members-only Haiku, alongside Chef Bun of Tokyo’s legendary Savoy, the pizzeria credited with helping put Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza on the international map. Chef Albert Diaz, formerly of Zuma London and Miami, and pizzaiola Dalila Sabatino, who has worked with both Bun and Pizzeria Sei’s William Joo, round out the culinary team.

The whole operation is built around the dough, which gets more than 30 hours of fermentation before hitting an 800-degree oven. The result is meant to be light, chewy, crisp, and properly charred—deceptively simple pizza that apparently requires a small science experiment to get right.

Royale will keep things refined but casual, with 65 seats, a communal table, and counter ordering. The menu will include four traditional pizzas, three specials, antipasti, two pastas, and two mains, with walk-ins only and takeout and delivery available.

Royale Pizza Napoletana is located at 1680 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their Instagram.

Seaspice Omakase by Chef Wu

Seaspice is getting a little more precise. This month, the Miami River institution in North River is launching Seaspice Omakase by Chef Wu, adding a chef-led Japanese counter to its already lively waterfront setting.

The intimate omakase experience will move through a multi-course progression of seafood, fish, meat, and dishes that bounce between raw and cooked, hot and cold. For those who prefer a little more control, an expanded à la carte menu will run throughout the dining room, bringing the same focus on quality ingredients, technique, and presentation without committing to the full omakase.

The room has also been reworked with a warmer Japanese-inspired design, while keeping Seaspice’s signature waterfront energy intact. Two sculptural, origami-inspired wooden trees remain at the center of the space, now surrounded by a more organic and intimate setting with plenty of natural light and views of the Miami River, passing yachts, and the downtown skyline.

We love that this is omakase without the usual hiding-from-the-world energy. You get the precision of a chef-led Japanese meal with Miami doing what Miami does best just outside the window.

Seaspice is located at 422 NW North River Dr., Miami, FL 33128. For more information, visit their official website.

UKIYO

The conveyor belt has landed on Lincoln Road. UKIYO is bringing Miami Beach a Japanese kaiten sushi experience that treats the humble sushi belt less like a fast-food gimmick and more like the main event.

The 7,431-square-foot indoor-outdoor restaurant from NOAH Hospitality Group puts the custom conveyor belt right at the center of the room, with nigiri, sashimi, and specialty rolls making their rounds alongside live culinary performances and choreographed presentations. Chef Nono Shigetomi sources seafood from Japan, including Tokyo’s Toyosu and Tsukiji markets, with the signature Ukiyo Roll combining tuna, salmon, hiramasa, and Hokkaido scallop with soy-glazed wagyu and umami crunch.

There’s plenty to order when you’re not waiting for your dream plate to cruise by, including tableside kamameshi topped with skirt steak and Jidori egg, fire-charred robata, paitan ramen, seafood fried rice, and a House Dumpling Cart serving handmade dumplings throughout the dining room.

The space itself is decidedly dramatic, with emerald-toned marble, Rosso Lepanto stone, aged brass, Japanese-inspired lanterns, and a flowing water feature inspired by the “floating world” behind the UKIYO name. It’s set to open mid-October, so round up your crew and keep the calendar wide open for this one.

UKIYO is located at 818 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their Instagram.

Zebra Club

South Beach is getting an underground cocktail bar, because word on the street is regular bars are no longer dramatic enough. Zebra Club is set to open beneath the Townhouse Hotel on 20th Street, bringing together a seriously stacked Miami hospitality crew, including James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein, cocktail expert Naren Young, and the teams behind Café La Trova, Sweet Liberty, Medium Cool, and Schmuck. We’re counting down the days.

Six steps below street level, the intimate space is going full old-school glamour with crystal chandeliers, curved red banquettes, and a marble-topped bar. There’s also a custom martini cart rolling through the room, because some drinks simply deserve a little tableside theater. Young is building the cocktail program around vintage spirits sourced from around the country, while Bernstein’s food will draw on global influences with distinct Miami sazón.

The bar is also planning live music and rotating weekend performers, giving the luxurious setting a little more nightlife energy once the evening gets going.

Zebra Club is located at the Townhouse Hotel, 150 20th St., Miami Beach, FL 33139. For more information, visit their official website.