Five Champagne Brunches to Welcome 2019

As Miami prepares for the biggest night of the year, start the party early with a Saturday or Sunday champagne brunch this weekend.

From Miami Beach to Doral, look for restaurants offering bottomless drink specials and hearty plates of food. Before donning your New Year's Eve tiara, savor seafood towers, platano maduro pancakes, and pours of your favorite libation at one of these five restaurants.
Stiltsville Fish Bar. It's been more than a year since Stiltsville Fish Bar first debuted brunch. Now, the weekend meal is getting an upgrade with seafood towers, bloody mary carts, and grilled catches of the day. Top Chef couple Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth are calling it the "bubble bath brunch." Expect half-off specials like $55 bottles of Perrier-Jouët and $25 bottles of La Fête Rosé, as well as $6 Elyx Vodka bloody marys, which can be garnished with an array of ingredients from a nearby cart. Otherwise, the menu now includes the fisherman’s tackle box, featuring a selection of raw bites such as shrimp and oysters; the whole grilled barbecued big fish, which is grilled over white oak and only available during brunch; and a waffle of the day, which rotates weekly. 1787 Purdy Ave., Miami Beach; 786-353-0477; stiltsvillefishbar.com. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Biltmore. A Miami icon, the Biltmore is renowned for its famed champagne brunch. The opulent meal boasts a colossal buffet including a carving station, a breakfast table, tapas, salads, caviar, smoked salmon, and shellfish, along with a rotating dessert bar. Bottomless champagne and bellinis, as well as live musical entertainment, round out the feast. Though it's a buffet, food is constantly replaced, ensuring peak freshness. Because of its extravagance, the Biltmore's Sunday brunch has become a staple for special occasions such as New Year's. 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables; 305-913-3189; biltmorehotel.com. Cost is $90 and up per person. Brunch is served 10 a.m. Sundays.
Three. Norman Van Aken's restaurant inside the Wynwood Arcade, Three, features a recently launched Sunday jazz brunch. Here, sip a classic cocktail and munch on savory bites such as platano maduro pancakes, fried chicken and waffles, and huevos rancheros Miami style. As you dine, enjoy gypsy Latin jazz music by Miami-based band Tamboka. Plates average $12 to $20. 50 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-748-4540; threewynwood.com. Brunch is served Sundays 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Brimstone Woodfire Grill. Curated by Brimstone's culinary leader, Rick Schwager, the restaurant's brunch menu, which offers seven dishes, is unique to Brimstone's Doral location. Find plates such as Hawaiian pancakes garnished with homemade pineapple and rum compote, macadamia nuts, coconut cream, and a chocolate drizzle ($15); shrimp 'n' grits doused in a light creole cream sauce and corn salsa ($18); and Benedicts, served with either beef tenderloin ($18) or jumbo lump crab ($17) on a toasted English muffin topped with grilled asparagus and hollandaise sauce. Pair the fare with bottomless mimosas ($15) or the signature Brimosa, made with Ommegang Witte Beer and fresh-squeezed orange juice ($7 each). 8300 NW 36th St., Doral; 786-837-8960; brimstonedoral.com. Brunch is served 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
R House. The Wynwood restaurant's popular Sunday drag brunch recently extended to Saturday as well. On both days, savor unlimited small plates brought to your table and continually replenished, as well as a choice of hearty entrées, including cinnamon French toast and truffled skirt steak and eggs. While you dine, watch live drag performances every 15 minutes. Seatings at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday at R House, 2727 NW Second Ave., Miami; 305-576-0201; rhousewynwood.com. Brunch packages start at $40.