Fourth of July 2015 Events in Miami: Barbecues, Pool Parties, and Fireworks

This weekend, Americans will celebrate the Fourth of July, a day commemorating our great nation's independence, with picnics, cookouts, and nights bursting with color and light. Miami restaurants are rolling out the red (white, and blue) carpet with beach festivities, special cocktails, pool parties, and cool places to watch the fireworks. 

Here are some of Miami's best and brightest ways to celebrate the Fourth. As always, tax and gratuities are generally not included in prices, and reservations are strongly suggested.

Biltmore Hotel
Watch fireworks light up Coral Gables' skies at 9 p.m. and enjoy an all-American dinner at the resort's famed restaurant, Palme d'Or. The dinner costs $55 and includes a three-course menu featuring classics such as lobster caesar salad, fresh ricotta pie with heirloom tomatoes, and Alaska king crab cake for first-course options. Entrées include bourbon pork belly with crisp okra and compressed potatoes, braised short ribs with grits and mashed potatoes, and sea scallops with succotash and beets and butter macaroni 'n' cheese. Desserts include peach cobbler, apple pie à la mode, and Grand Marnier baked Alaska. 

The Federal Food Drink & Provisions
The Federal is offering a Fourth of July brunch with unlimited mimosas (and PBRs) for $19 per person. Offerings include an uni croissant ($7), a local tomato ceviche ($12), and barbecue deviled eggs ($9).

Jalapeño Mexican Kitchen
This Saturday, July 4, enjoy a Mexican-style grill experience with grilled chicken, pork, and steak tacos ($4 each). Wash them down with a red-white-and blue Liberty Vice cocktail, which layers a strawberry daiquiri, piña colada, and blue curaçao floater ($5). The specials are offered from 5 to 9 p.m. Jalapeño is also a great place to watch the fireworks, beginning at 9 p.m.

J. Wakefield Brewing Company
J. Wakefield is all about the beer and the barbecue this July 4. From noon to 10 p.m., enjoy ten specialty drafts fresh from the brewery. At 1 p.m., the grill will get fired up with a cash-only barbecue on deck. It'll be just like a real old-fashioned Independence Day backyard celebration — except Jonathan Wakefield gets to clean up your mess.

La Mar by Gastón Acurio
La Mar will offer a Peruvian take on an American grill theme with its grill platter. La Mar's parrillada costs $85 per person (two-person minimum) and features Peruvian barbecued pork ribs, Colorado lamb anticuchero, chicken and veal heart anticuchos, grilled jumbo prawns, and sweet corn and asparagus anticuchero.

Nikki Beach 
The only thing you need to have a Fourth of July beach party is a credit card and suntan oil at Nikki Beach's 11th-annual IndepenDANCE Beach Party. From noon to 11 p.m., feast on a mega barbecue featuring eight kinds of burgers, including the St. Tropez foie gras burger, with seared foie gras, sautéed mushrooms, and a fried egg and the 'Meeerrrica burger, with American cheese and pork belly bacon on a beef patty smushed between two glazed doughnuts. Burgers start at $10, and tickets start at $20. Featured DJs include Boris, Cocodrills, Vanjee, Patrick M, ALX, Allan Gallego, Bill Kelly, Donnie Lowe, Carabetta & Doon, Thinking of Us, Chiri, and Yander Delgado. Of course, it's also a prime spot to watch the Miami Beach fireworks. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit independance.com.

Panorama at Sonesta Coconut Grove
The Sonesta resort's Panorama Restaurant & Sky Lounge will serve a Fourth of July buffet from 6 to 10 p.m., featuring salads, shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, barbecued pork ribs, and corn on the cob for $45 per person. The restaurant will also offer signature patriotic cocktails such as the American Beauty, with vodka, blue curaçao, and grenadine, and the Star-Spangled Sonesta. Panaroma is the perfect place to watch the Coconut Grove fireworks at 9 p.m.

Radio Bar
After the fireworks, head to Radio Bar for a late-night barbecue beginning at 10 p.m., with $7 Sailor Jerry punch, $7 shots of Sailor Jerry, and PBR pairings. There'll also be a Miami Ink pop-up shop for your perusing pleasure. 

Rusty Pelican
Although the Rusty Pelican is no longer offering a Fourth of July buffet, the food and fireworks views are still solid. A $65 menu includes a three-course meal that starts with a choice of three appetizers (corvina ceviche, firecracker shrimp, or St. Louis ribs). Entrées include lobster risotto and New York strip steak, and there's all-American apple pie for dessert. Dinner reservations start at 5 p.m., but get there later and stay for the fireworks that begin at 9. For reservations, call 305-361-3818.

Shake Shack
The Shack corn dog will return July 2 through 5. This delicious ode to a summer county fair features a Vienna all-beef hot dog dipped in Shack-made corn batter, cooked golden brown, and served with Rick’s Picks sweet corn relish ($4.50). Cool off with the Blueberry Pie Oh My concrete (vanilla frozen custard blended with a slice of blueberry pie) for $4.50 or $6.75.  These goodies are available only this weekend, so hurry.

Swine Southern Table & Bar
Swine is offering a special Independence Day brunch Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to Swine's regular brunch items, the restaurant will also offer a spicy pork sausage hot dog with sauerkraut and homemade barbecue potato chips. For dessert, there's a cream cheese panna cotta with red velvet cake, freeze-dried blueberries, and strawberry pop rocks.

Tamarina
Tamarina will host a family-style barbecue with great views of the fireworks in downtown Miami. On July 4 from 4 to 9 p.m., enjoy pork ribs, honey-garlic chicken drumsticks, beef sliders, grilled corn, and asparagus. In addition, the kitchen will turn out sides such as mac 'n' cheese, red bean casserole, baked potatoes, and coleslaw. Fifty-six bucks per person includes unlimited Peroni beer and Four Roses bourbon (kids will have plenty of ice cream and soda). For reservations, call 305-579-1888.

Thompson Miami Beach
The Thompson will host a poolside Dirty BBQ, featuring chef Dale Talde's (of the soon-to-open Talde) favorites like kung pao chicken wings with buttermilk ranch (five for $8 or ten for $10), Korean fried chicken platters ($10) or buckets ($25), and hot dogs and burgers. Wash it down with $5 beers, $25 buckets, and $7 drink specials (including boozy slushies), and take a dip in the pool while enjoying a live local DJ. Admission is free, and cabana and bungalows are available for rent. To reserve a spot, call 786-605-4041 and ask for the director of fun (best job title ever).

Villa Azur
Villa Azur pastry chef Sebastien Feneyrol has reworked his strawberry cheesecake ($14) just for the holiday. It's the perfect treat to enjoy after watching the Miami Beach fireworks. Villa Azur is open from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. July 4.

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