It's easy to say Miami Spice is the ideal time to make your grand return to the Beach, but you won't run out of excuses to stay away. There will be traffic, you say. Take an Uber. But surge pricing! Try Lyft. If you're going to drive yourself, don't complain about $40 valet parking. That's for tourists and their rental cars. Avail yourself of South Beach's many public parking garages even if you have to walk a couple of blocks. Now off to dinner and $15 cocktails!
6. Prime Fish
The most understated tentacle of the Prime empire is the one worthiest of your attention. You're not jammed into Prime Fish the way you are at Prime One Twelve. Here, you're given plenty of elbow space to dive into the lobster bisque ($26 by itself on the regular menu), cluttered with sweet, buttery knobs of lobster meat that appear en masse in each bite. Also snap up the swordfish schnitzel, which at a regular $38 price tag, costs as much as the entire Spice dinner, which encases a juicy fillet in a crisp crust topped with a bright fried egg.
5. Byblos
This Mediterranean gem is dishing out a wide variety of bites, kicking off with an appetizer section that commands you to select two choices. Labneh and kibbeh? Lamb rib and pide? The choice is yours. Then, choose short-rib kebabs, Persian fried chicken with tahini and za'atar, or yogurt-baked mahi-mahi. There's also a quartet of side selections, but the duck-fat-seared cauliflower and couscous seem the obvious choices. Finish things off with baklava ice cream laced with salted caramel.
4. Drunken Dragon
Miami Spice is the perfect time to check out this swanky, albeit high-priced Korean spot. Start with the hamachi, beef tartare, or Peking duck bao. But to maximize your spending, you'll have to opt for the duck confit board (usually $30) — a do-it-yourself fiesta complete with steamed buns, pickles, and a variety of house-made sauces. Tack onto that your choice from three
3. Quality Meats Miami Beach
This New York City import that quickly became a Collins Avenue favorite is doubling down on the meat. Whereas many steak joints during Spice offer only one cut of beef, Quality Meats will fire you either a filet mignon or a flavorful bavette, cut from the cow's flank. Be sure to get ahold of as much of the steak sauce, prepared tableside, as you can.
2. 27 Restaurant & Bar
The kicker here is the complimentary cocktail that comes with the hybrid Israeli-Latin American-Caribbean spot's favorite dishes. On a recent night, summer specials included a sherry cocktail with a dash of Pedro Ximénez alongside a citrusy michelada hit with a spot of mezcal. They're the ideal complement to all of the falafel, griot, arepas, and shakshuka you'll devour.
1. Pubbelly
Since its first years participating in Miami Spice, Pubbelly has committed to launching a blitz on your palate. There's a long list of appetizers to choose from, and you get to select five, whether they be veal brains, sweetbreads, Japanese amberjack, octopus, and buns filled with soft-shell crab, short rib, and buffalo sweetbreads. Not done yet. You still have to choose a four-pack of plates for your table from the pasta offerings. May we suggest the uni pasta with harissa butter and horseradish, the kimchee bolognese, the corn soup dumplings, and short-rib gyoza?
