The most romantic restaurants in Miami

Real-life chef couple Luciana Giangrandi and Alex Meyer own and operate this cozy Little Haiti spot that oozes with charm. If your date doesn’t make you swoon, watching these two cook together will. Sit side by side at the counter while you slurp excellent fresh pasta together and trade sips of your organic wines. Bonus: The tightly edited menu keeps quarrelsome couples from agonizing over dishes they’ll both like.

Let’s say there’s a first date coming up where your prospective mate says no expense will be spared. Or perhaps it’s a last date and, just before the breakup, you want to stick him or her with one last whopper of a bill. Yeah, Klaw is the pick. The views of Biscayne Bay and the opulent dining room are reason enough to book a reservation, but it’s the budget-busting menu that makes this a spot to go all in. Plates of Norwegian crab legs and aged steaks run well into the triple digits. Are all these prices worth it? Who can put a price on love?

It's dinner by candlelight, only this candle is made out of butter, and it melts into a lovely aromatic pool for slathering onto thick, spongy slices of fresh-baked bread. And that's just the beginning the beginning of a meal at Erba, Chef Niven Patel's latest Italian-inspired concept in Coral Gables. Pastas feature prominently here, but the veg dishes (all sourced from Chef's farm down in Homestead) are not to be overlooked. A gorgeous cascading chandelier and the restaurant's warm, richly textured design all serve to complement the meal—and your dreamy date.

The website for this sexy, Catalonian hotspot in Downtown offers a simple description of the concept: “Straddling the line between madness and genius.” This makes NIU an ideal spot to test a date’s willingness to try new things. Creative riffs on Iberian Peninsula dishes include Galician octopus, brothy clams and, if you're lucky to find it on a night it's available, big plates of rice or noodle paella studded with seafood and the most perfect aioli this side of Madrid. Next door, sister restaurant NIU Wine offers an even tinier, more intimate nook to sip wine and devour tapas for hours on end.

This go-to Greek/Turkish restaurant feels like a pseudo trip to the Greek Isles. The spacious outdoor area’s rustic blue-and-white design helps to keep up the illusion, while dishes such as the whole fried fish and the authentic Greek salad (without lettuce!) dupe your taste buds almost instantly. Any table in the restaurant’s courtyard is sure to impress, but on nights when it’s too hot, take a seat inside by the window. Nothing ruins a date like sweating through a meal.

Nestled on a quiet Downtown street, this understated, family-owned trattoria doles out fresh pastas in homemade sauces and frequently hosts live jazz and literary events in the evenings. Grab a seat in the alley-esque interior, with soaring ceilings and weathered bookshelves decorated with a hodgepodge of Italian knickknacks and Miami memorabilia. On the sidewalk, enjoy lazy people-watching with healthy wine pours and the feeling that you and your date have abandoned Miami altogether.

Dark, rustic and with low-slung ceilings to help keep things intimate, the charming Coconut Grove restaurant exudes romance from every corner. With a menu built on sharing, date night at Ariete is a no-brainer. But to really impress that blind Tinder date, order the duck, prepared tableside with an elaborate French press, something you simply won’t find anywhere else in town.

Part ramshackle backyard, part vintage saloon, the homey Lagniappe makes for the ideal laid-back date spot. Wine and food are ordered at the counter and paid for upfront, so you’ll get the awkwardness of splitting the bill over with quickly. Outdoors, bistro lights and cafe tables get the romantic mood right, but snag a spot on a sofa indoors for intimate conversation paired with live jazz music.

This charming Edgewater hole-in-the-wall is a hidden gem that won't break the bank. The cozy interior nook and outdoor patio—usually manned by a single server and lone chef—will transport you to a tucked-away alley in Madrid where the tapas are full of flavor and the sangria is boozy and well-balanced. Order a pitcher of the red stuff to share along with the tortilla de patatas, gambas al ajillo and croquetas de bacalao. 2697 Biscayne Blvd

Unless you live down south, it’s a trek getting to Fiola. But with acclaimed sister restaurants in D.C. and Venice, it’s a relatively short trip you’ll want to make. The menu is filled with enticing things like wild Dover sole in a bright and zesty brown butter sauce. But we’d recommend going for the pasta omakase option: a six-course tasting menu featuring executive chef Daniel Ganem’s choices of pasta made with ingredients like stone crab and wild venison, plus a dessert course. At $145 per person, it’s a decadent affair that says “I love you this much” in the best way possible.

With a former Mandolin chef at the helm, it’s like one of our favorite romantic restaurants remade itself in modern style. While Mandolin maintains more of an old-world charm, Doya is all Miami, with an ultra-modern dining room that spills out into a sparkly outdoor area. It’s not only a respite from the craziness of Wynwood but also a great spot to stare longingly in the face of your date—or, at least, lust longingly after plates of Turkish kofte meatballs, fisherman's stew and wood-fired kebabs.

La Mar is one of the few places in Miami where the scenery doesn’t come at the expense of the food—the views and chef Diego Oka’s Peruvian cuisines are equally unparalleled. Whether you’re in for a breezy waterfront brunch or romantic dinner with a clear shot of Brickell’s twinkling skyline, you’ll want to order up one of chef Oka’s delicate ceviches and the arroz chaufa (Peruvian fried rice), mixed up tableside. Cocktail options are aplenty, but if this is your first time at La Mar, or trying Peruvian food altogether, the classic pisco sour is a must.

A staple in the Miami food scene since before there was one, chef Michael Schwartz elevates boho-chic with this waterfront gem featuring a recently updated menu of Latin-inspired fare. Minutes from Wynwood, downtown and the historic MiMo district, Amara is in a sweet spot for any occasion and boasts sweeping bay views ideal for taking in a perfect Miami sunset. 

Wow your date with a high-brow, two-for-one evening of art and food. Following in the tradition of great museum restaurants, Leku offers seasonal Basque cuisine amid a modern, design-forward setting. The menu highlights the region’s classics, featuring grilled meats cooked over hot coals in the outdoor dining room (Leku boasts the city's first outdoor Josper grill!). Vibrant salads, seafood-centric preparations and traditional soups—round out the familiar offerings.

The only time you might actually hope for rain in the forecast is when you have a reservation for a date at Pastis. That's not to say the NYC-imported French restaurant's outdoor patio isn't an idyllic spot to swoon over a steaming bowl of top-notch moules frites. It's just that with the orange glow of the orb pendants, the wrought iron furnishings and rustic mosaic tile, a gentle pitter-patter of raindrops is the perfect final detail to mentally send you and your lover to Paris for the night.

We all know every great sexy experience starts up in the old noggin. Why not mentally stimulate your date with some high-brow books before impressing them with your knowledge of low-intervention wines and plying them with Paradis' delicious, house-made bread and pizza? The vintage outdoor patio tables, bistro string lighting and edible garden really add to the romantic ambiance here, too.

The same way New Orleans is an ideal destination for a new couple's first weekend away, a night out at Joliet can be supremely romantic. The vibe here is casual but upscale, a comfortable Garden District-esque spot for a slow and lazy-in-the-best-way dinner date. Cocktails here are riffs on classics, like a grapefruit spritz similar to a French 75, as are the dishes, baked oysters not far off from a Rockefeller and a blackened red snapper with creamy crawfish that's good enough to transport you to the French Quarter.

Soho Beach House’s Italian restaurant (the club’s only area open to non-members) is a one-stop for good food and a good time—the menu of house-made pasta and an outdoor dining area practically set the mood for you. Reserve a center table near one of the trees covered in bistro lights: The soft yellow glow is subtle and sexy, and it will keep you from accidentally knocking anything over—which happens after one too many Picantes de la Casa, the club’s delish spicy margarita.

If it's a pedigree that gets them all hot and bothered, you'll want to go ahead and lock in a reservation at Bouchon, the latest Miami offering from Thomas Keller, the most decorated Michelin chef in the U.S. Bouchon's wine country origins and French bistro-inspired menu coalesce in a neat, classically romantic space in Coral Gables' historic La Palma building. The menu arrives folded up on parchment like a little love letter; take it as a cue to treat your boo. The dishes here might be simple, but the service and the well-heeled crowd will make the whole affair feel extra special.

Restaurants that transport you to far-flung places are always a good idea for a date night. Andalusian-inspired Tropezón promises rustic charm and mood-setting lighting in a cozy dining room that borders on cramped. Sit elbow to elbow with your beau, sipping on sherry and noshing on sliced jamón from the enormous cured pig leg hanging just behind the bar. Ask for a window seat for some extra privacy and spend the evening peering out at buzzy Española Way as though you were really on vacation.

Intimacy takes on a whole new meaning at this upscale omakase speakeasy located in the back of Taco Stand in Wynwood. Best reserved in advance (like, far in advance) for a special occasion, the Edomae-style tasting menu features a selection of cold and hot dishes and sushi prepared with only the freshest seasonal ingredients, including many flown in from Japan. All that airfare for your sushi comes at a price: $300 per person. After typing in a secret code you get after booking, make your way through the sliding door to the eight-seat counter for two hours of blissful made-to-order dining.

One of the city’s finest and fussiest big-bucks restaurants, Casa Tua is a sleek and chic country Italian-style establishment set in a refurbished 1925 Mediterranean-style two-story house. With several living-room-style nooks, Casa Tua offers the cozy familiarity of a night in—with much, much better food. If you’ve ever dreamed of hiring a notable chef to come over and cook you a fancy dinner, book a table at Casa Tua for an equally pricey experience with zero cleanup.

A fancy-pants Italian restaurant overlooking Biscayne Bay, the view and the toothsome fresh pasta doesn’t come cheap here. Special occasions call for a splurge, both fiscal and caloric. Blowing a wad and indulging with your S.O. over an extravagant dinner facing the water is what it’s all about at this pricey pasta joint, which is ideal for fans of garlic, truffles and homemade pasta that’s a far cry from Ragu.

Yes, a meal at one of Cote's generous circular barbecue banquettes is ideal for impressing large groups. But this Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse in one of Miami's chicest 'hoods boasts tables for two, too. If your date isn't already making you sweat, the copious amounts of dry-aged beef (and veg-forward sides), all cooked to perfection at your table, will surely do the trick.

Fourth-generation Cipriani brothers, Maggio and Ignazio, follow in their family’s footsteps with this upscale Italian restaurant perched on the rooftop of Coconut Grove’s trendy modern hotel, Mr C. In keeping with the luxurious, contemporary space, the cuisine is rustic Italian but with a modern twist. Enjoy lighter versions of traditional pasta dishes plus Italian staples like polenta and branzino with a birds-eye view of Miami’s sparkling bayfront skyline. There’s no leaving Bellini without trying the namesake cocktail, which Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, invented in the late 1930s.