1. Porcao
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (305) 373-2777
Address: 801 Brickell Bay Dr.
Description: A carnivore’s paradise, $44.95 gets you the key to the golden city, and by golden city we mean unlimited beef buffet. This Brazilian churrascaria (also known as a steakhouse) serves everything from beef and lamb to pork and chicken. There is also the occasional unusual delicacy like pickled quail eggs. Leave your dinner plate upturned to receive whatever deliciously cooked carcass waiters are carrying around on their sword-like skewers. The set price seems to always be changing so it’s best to come with some extra cash. Desserts cost extra.
2. Plate
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (305) 854-1888
Address: 2135 Coral Way
Insider Pick:
Description: What started out as a small simple concept is a large-scale lunch operation that caters to the Brickell lunch crowd. With a menu that changes daily, it is a place that can be revisited multiple times per week. A 1-week plan costs $38 per week and includes one daily grouping per day; a single lunch costs $8, and the daily plate costs $7.50. Plates usually consist of three distinct foods; think turkey picadillo, black beans, and brown rice, or fish, or chicken breast in marinara sauce, tri-color tortellini, and salad. Weekly menus are posted online and online ordering is an option for an extra $1.
3. Rosinella’S
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (305) 372-5756
Address: 1040 South Miami Ave.
Description: This cozy, Downtown Miami restaurant serves up Italian-American cuisine of the red sauce variety. The restaurant’s owner, Rosinella Doino, is the Italian grandmother you may or may not have had growing up. The homemade pastas are a steal at $9, especially the penne tossed in an extremely rich gorgonzola sauce. Pizzas are thin-crust with basic toppings. The restaurant draws a large lunch crowd, so consider going in the evening and don’t be surprised with a wait. The wine list primarily features bottles in the $20 to $40 price range, making it a great date spot.
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1414 Brickell Ave.
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Address: 500 Brickell Key Dr.
6. Eos
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (305) 503-0373
Address: 485 Brickell Ave.
Description: Acclaimed chef Michael Psilakis’s brings sexy, Mediterranean-inspired small plates to Miami. The restaurant, tucked away on the 15th floor of the Viceroy Hotel and decorated by restaurateur favorite Kelly Wearstler, features a playful menu that begins with raw and crostini selections and then moves on to heartier fare. Several dishes, like the fingerling potatoes with feta and rack of lamb, recall Psilakis’s Greek background. It’s the lobster and sea urchin risotto and the smoked octopus, though, which are true culinary works of art and should not be missed.
7. The River Seafood And Oyster Bar
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (305) 530-1915
Address: 650 South Miami Ave.
Description: The restaurant has a devoted following who appreciate the unpretentious atmosphere and a gratuitous happy hour, which includes half-off oyster and drink specials almost every weekday (excluding Sun) from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. A long blackboard over the bar lists the daily specials. The menu is almost entirely fish with a couple of salads and a steak or two thrown in. Those in need of an aphrodisiac have 8 to 10 different types of oysters to choose from. This, along with the rich, mahogany bar also makes The River an ideal first date spot.
City: Brickell, FL
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1200 Brickell Ave.