Miami Restaurants and Dining

(Miami, Florida - FL, USA)

Dining out in Miami is immensely popular and there are literally thousands of restaurants, many with outdoor seating areas and excellent views. The city's eateries serve a variety of cuisine from all over the world.

Places to eat range from basic snack bars and coffee shops, to high-class restaurants and gourmet haunts. Miami is also well-known for its street food, which includes pizza and hot dog stands. Restaurants are usually excellent value for money and there are also a number of in the city that serve food 24 hours a day.


Diners that serve breakfast usually open between 06:00 to 07:00. Other Miami restaurants tend to open at midday and stay open until the early hours of the morning, although some do close between lunch and dinner. Almost all of the restaurants in the city have a happy hour, which is usually on weekdays between 17:00 to 20:00, when drinks are cheap and food is discounted, including chicken dishes and fresh seafood, often with free hors d'oeuvres.

Sunday brunch is particularly popular and is often a fairly upmarket affair, with high-quality buffet food which is laid out in stylish settings, together with cheap drinks and wines, or champagne in the more luxurious, expensive restaurants. Brunch in Miami is served between 11:00 to 15:00 and the price is usually fairly inexpensive, depending on the quality of the food and actual restaurant. Newspapers in Miami often list the latest Sunday brunch and meal offers.

Miami has a number of large fast-food outlets and pizza chains are particularly plentiful. Typical American food and diners are also popular and serve steaks, juicy burgers and large, fresh sandwiches. Miami is also well-known for its own style of 'Floridian' cooking, which is a tasty combination of Caribbean ingredients, including fresh tropical fruit and seafood, with a nouvelle cuisine-style presentation.

This cosmopolitan city is too diverse to be known for one type of food in particular and the only common feature among the many restaurants and eateries in Miami is seafood, typical of a large and busy port city. Over 500 species of fish thrive offshore and regional specialties include fresh lobsters and crabs.

Cuban food is also popular in Miami restaurants and there are a number of family-run Cuban eateries in the city, serving large, tasty lunches and dinners, at very inexpensive prices. There are also many more expensive, stylish Cuban restaurants located in Little Havana and Coral Gables. Haitian cuisine is also gaining popularity in Miami and there are several highly regarded restaurants in Little Haiti, to the north of Downtown Miami.

There are countless excellent restaurants situated throughout Miami, many with exceptional views of the city, the coastline and the surrounding scenery. Restaurants have strong Latin American and Caribbean elements and other styles include:

• Italian - some Italian cuisine favors the heavy cream sauces of northern Italy, while others feature tomato sauces from the south
• Argentine, Jamaican and Peruvian - serving a variety of Caribbean cuisine
• Japanese - a number of Japanese eateries are found Downtown and in South Miami
• Spanish - offering a broad spectrum of this type of Mediterranean cuisine including Fabada Asturiana (bean stew)
• Seafood - always popular with many excellent seafood restaurants, serving a selection of fresh fish, lobsters and squid
• French - serving classic French haute cuisine, in bistros and brasseries
• Vegetarian - some vegetarian establishments exist in the city, but vegetarians should also consider Indian and Southeast Asian eateries, where there are many tasty meat-free dishes