In the list you’ll see below, we set out to find the best Black-owned restaurants in town. But something unexpected happened. Instead of just narrowing in on that one category, we ended up creating a list that just so happened to be a rundown of many of our favorite spots, too. These are places owned or run by chefs who get to tell the story of their background in the dishes they produce. These are places that are tried-and-true, that have seen gentrification and urbanization and a thousand other changes in their neighborhoods. These are places that are both black-run and also happen to be stellar. Add them to your need-to-go-to restaurant list, whether you’re wanting to support black-owned spots, or simply because you like to eat great things.
With his downtown Miami restaurant behind him and a new one just off Las Olas, chef Timon Balloo decided to tell a story of his heritage at The Katherine. It’s there in his dishes, imbibed with sauces and spices that are both homey and original. There’s heirloom tomatoes in a coconut vinaigrette with Thai basil. There’s mom’s Trini oxtail with Haitian pikliz and coconut rice and peas. Most if it is unlike anything you’ve had, because like Balloo, it’s an original.
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Tourists would have paid cold hard cash to eat pretty much anything served at this spot, simply to take in those ocean views from the eastern side of the Eden Roc. But instead the hotel hired Tristen Epps, former chef at Red Rooster. Epps created a coastal menu: whole fish roasted in banana leaves with maduros, lobster roasted with butter and turnips and a dry-aged swordfish t-bone – and its earned him a James Beard Award nomination this year.
Have you ever had a meal so memorable you countdown the days until you can have it again? It happened to us the day we tried Rosie’s wild mushroom polenta for the first time, and we’ve been looking forward to it ever since. What began as a pop-up landed in an outdoor-only space before relocating to its permanent (we hope!) location in Little River (162 NW 73rd St.), where brunch is on offer 9a-3p Friday through Sunday. You'll find Chef Akino West's Southern-inspired dishes with hints of Italian flavors and techniques.
The fact that Chef Marcus Samuelsson teamed up with Grove Bay Hospitality to open this Overtown spot sounded good enough to make it a thing. But then they brought in chef de cuisine Tristen Epps, who’s among the most creative kitchen pros in Miami. The menu is always changing as it's focused on whatever's fresh, but be sure to start with the curry buttered cornbread before moving on to dishes with influences as wide as the Deep South, Italy and West Africa.
Awash, Miami’s only outpost of Ethiopian cuisine, takes first-timers and enthusiasts down a journey of the country’s well-spiced cuisine, with meats and vegetarian platters as big as the simply adorned tables. For the uninitiated, the delectable little piles sit atop of injera, a spongy bread made of teff grain that's used to scoop up the stews in lieu of utensils.
Sometimes all that’s needed to improve a day is something gooey and cheesy, and, as you might guess from the name, that’s exactly what’s on the menu here. Former Pitbull manager Derrick “Chef Teach” Turton turned this food truck concept into a Wynwood restaurant by spiking his mac with pizza toppings and lump crab and dropping balls of it into a fryer, a crispy and golden cure to a bad day.
Usually, in South Florida, authentic island restaurants are tucked away in soulless strip malls, but Dukunoo is smack in the middle of bustling Wynwood. That explains why the jerk chicken here is served in an atmosphere that feels like a street festival, often with banging music and a crowd dressed for a Friday night.
A no-frills Jamaican joint in Little Haiti that's been around longer than most of us, Clive's will, hopefully, forever be putting out massive plates for modest prices in a humble space. There's all manner of curries, salt fish, oxtail and, of course, conch, best done here fried. All of it comes with sides to feed a family but are all yours.
With locations in the Citadel food hall and the outskirts of Wynwood, Manjay puts out dishes that update favorites from every corner of the Caribbean, like Haitian slow-braised pork, panko-fried Jamaican jerk, and a "neo Cubano" with prosciutto that's out of this world.
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Owners Nicole Gates and Kariym Bryant created a cozy Overtown restaurant that immediately became a neighborhood hangout, in part for the casual vibe and also for the soul food classics like biscuits and gravy and a banana pudding with vanilla wafers. Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King paid a visit to the family-owned restaurant in 2020, so you know it's legit.
Former college ballplayer and NFL agent Ricardo Young created a Midtown restaurant that's as much nightclub as it is dinner spot, with all the DJs and twerking and hookah pipes you'd expect from a true Miami scene. There's going to be sparklers, champagne corks getting popped, and somebody, before dinner is done, will be dancing on those tables.
This Overtown mainstay is still serving up big plates of soul food that have made it a favorite since 1946, with a second location on South Beach, where you can also find hearty breakfast plates of eggs and grits and griddled potatoes for days.
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