Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen, a partnership between chef Samuel "Sam" Gorenstein and Omer Horev, founder of Pura Vida Miami, might just be the most charming restaurant in Miami Beach. The eatery, inside a small house complete with a porch lined with flowing plants and cozy cushions, offers a plethora of bright fare. Start with a few mezze before moving on to more substantial fare like grilled lamb chops or a whole branzino. Gorenstein drew his inspiration from the cafés of Tel Aviv, a city he says is like Miami in style and climate. Abbalé is intimate, inviting, and altogether an extremely pleasant way to pass the time grazing on shareable plates while sipping a glass of wine (or two).

A business that began on a Weber Smokey Mountain has grown into one of the area's best barbecue restaurants. In 2022, Jeff Budnechky channeled his pandemic side hustle into a standalone location. Outside the restaurant, a small array of smokers billow aromas of pork and beef that betray Budnechky's Brazilian-Argentinian roots and his wife's Cuban heritage. Arrive early and you might snag an order of the brisket bacon: seasoned and smoked pork belly sliced thick and tossed on the flattop before serving. If you manage to resist ordering the St. Louis-cut ribs at first, you might change your mind after seeing platters emerge from the kitchen, slow-cooked and practically begging to be lacquered with Budnechky's colada-infused "oro negro" sauce. Cafecito-rubbed, Texas-style brisket or pulled pork shoulder pair nicely with the chef's Carolina-inspired mustard sauce (not to mention classic sides like a pepper-flecked mac & cheese, sweet coleslaw, and honey-doused cornbread). Further upping the ante: a ten-seat bar offering tropical and classic cocktails. Try a shaken piña colada made with fresh juices or the berry-infused, housemade sangria.

It's not necessarily the hot dogs themselves that are better at Arbetter's. Rather, these all-beef or pork-and-beef franks are ideal blank canvases for the three garnish combinations that solidified Arbetter's reputation when this family-run institution opened more than a half-century ago. The basic onion/relish dog is nicely tangy, and the sauerkraut/mustard dog, loaded with beautifully buttery, cooked-all-day-tender kraut, is even better. Along with the rich and flavorful but not overly hot all-meat chili topping from an old Arbetter family recipe, a garnish of diced raw onion adds that reassuring subliminal message that you're consuming a healthful greenish vegetable that certainly counteracts the menu's cholesterol count — so, hey, have another. For a taste of the 305, try a "Miami" dog with mustard, onion, cheese, tomato, and potato sticks. Or throw caution to the wind and order the "Zelda": a hot dog with "everything" on it.

Chef Michael Beltran's Ariete adds an air of refinement to Coconut Grove not seen since the days when industrialist James Deering caroused its shores. Ariete serves dishes like foie gras with smoked plantains, but there's something more than fancy amid the elegance offered by Beltran, who trained under chefs Norman Van Aken and Michael Schwartz. The Little Havana native twists bits of Cuba and France into every dish, just the way his grandparents taught him. In 2022, Beltran's culinary craftsmanship earned Ariete a Michelin star.

At Awash, owners Eka and Fouad Wassel want to take you to an authentic Ethiopian-style home kitchen called a gojo bait. Try the doro wot, a rich chicken dish with a depth of flavor similar to the moles of Mexico. The Awash River, from which this restaurant and many other Ethiopian eateries across the nation take their names, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The valley surrounding it was where researchers in 1974 found 52 fossilized bone fragments of the famed early hominid Lucy. Carbon dating put the partial skeleton's age at more than 3 million years, a fact almost every Ethiopian knows. But it's also one that brings home the history of this part of the world and the fact that much of human culture was born here. You might be tempted to visit only at night, but be sure to pop in during the daylight hours for a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, the same one that's repeated up to three times a day in the Horn of Africa. Green coffee beans are pan-roasted, hand-ground, and then slowly brewed over hot coals. The point is to slow you to a stop in order to connect with the coffee and those with whom you're sharing it.

Bachour, the namesake restaurant and bakery from Antonio Bachour, is an oasis of the Instagram-worthy pastries that made the Puerto Rican pastry chef a national sensation. The clean, industrial setting is the perfect backdrop for the brightly hued pastries, cakes, and other confections. Open for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner, Bachour's all-day menu of salads, sandwiches, and hearty entrées earned the restaurant a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation in 2022. A meal can range from an egg sandwich or eggs Benedict to heartier fare, including a steak sandwich, lomo risotto, and fettuccine in a housemade pomodoro sauce. Be sure to grab a box of bonbons or macarons to take home. Since opening in Coral Gables in 2019, Bachour has added a location in Doral.

Now in classed-up digs across Biscayne Boulevard from the original site, Danny Serfer's Blue Collar still takes its cues from the classic American diner. The MiMo District stalwart offers daily specials and elevated comfort foods. Start with a gutsy New Orleans-style dish of shrimp and grits with bacon and Worcestershire-based barbecue sauce, or Hanukkah latkes (served year-round). Don’t miss the veggie plate, shich allows you to build your own customized entrée. Order a thermos of Panther coffee and a cheeseburger or the pasta of the day and make yourself as comfy as you’d be in your mom’s kitchen. Pro tip: Serfer's also the chef behind another of our faves, Mignonette, an oyster bar and all-around seafood gem just north of downtown.

This hip Little Haiti spot run by chefs Luciana Giangrandi and Alex Meyer offers an ever-changing lineup of pastas designed to comfort and enchant. Look for pappardelle "Alla Lepre" — unctuous shreds of braised rabbit tangled with wide ribbons of pasta. It's not all about noodles here, however. Boia De offers plenty of non-pasta delights, including meat and fish dishes and crisp potato skins filled with milky stracciatella cheese, caviar, and a hard-cooked egg. The editors of Florida's first Michelin Guide took note, awarding the strip-mall standout a star.

What began as a mom-and-pop 30-seater has grown into an Indian-food mainstay with locations in Coconut Grove, Doral, and Fort Lauderdale. Diners crunch on crisp papadum wafers while watching Bollywood movies on a large screen and perusing the menu. That list is lengthy, but at its heart are the tikkas, tandooris, and vindaloos that fans of Indian food crave. Bright vegetable samosas are a good start, as are some of the tandoor-baked breads — try the soft, fluffy, onion-flecked kulcha naan. Most dishes can be ordered mild, medium, or hot. On that last count, Bombay Darbar thoughtfully offers cold Kingfisher beer to cool you down from even the spiciest of culinary adventures.

Byblos, the Eastern Mediterranean restaurant at the Royal Palm South Beach, focuses on interpreting dishes from Levantine culture, found mostly in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and parts of southern Turkey. The original Byblos is in Toronto, and as is often the case with Miami outposts, this one offers a more extensive seafood selection than its Canadian sibling. It's equipped with a wood-burning oven, used to bake pide (Turkish flatbread) and to finish off whole fish, lamb, and chicken dishes that are rustic yet refined.

Between Cuban cantinero Julio Cabrera's daiquiris and chef Michelle Bernstein's fare, there's something uniquely Miami about Cafe La Trova. Bernstein's comfort food is all-around tempting; she works to meet the foodie fantasies of her guests, whether they're in search of elaborate dishes or a traditional tres leches dessert. Cabrera's cantineros take pride in the art of drink making. Here, they "throw" daiquiris, tossing the precious liquid from shaker to shaker to create an arch in the air before spontaneously bursting into a choreographed dance number. But as with all things Magic City, this joint isn't fueled solely by good food and drink: At any given time of the day, expect guayabera-clad musicians or jazz trumpet players to fill the air with their vibrant tunes from a stage whose backdrop is the weathered façade of an Old Havana edifice. The debut Florida Michelin Guide recognized Cafe La Trova for its superior food and drink.

An impossibly tiny kitchen at this modest, unassuming eatery consistently turns out simple, hearty, satisfying French bistro fare at affordable prices. The bistro has been a staple in South Miami for more than two decades, serving delicious French cuisine inside a small yet intimate restaurant in an unassuming, blue awning-lined strip mall on Red Road. Until recently, the IYKYK crowd knew it as Café Pastis, but that all changed halfway through 2024 when the management got sufficiently fed up with being confused with Starr Restaurants' famed establishment of the same name, which carpetbagged from NYC to Wynwood in 2023. Name change notwithstanding, Café Panisse immediately transports its guests across the Atlantic with its bistro tables, French ambiance, and lovely decor. Try the first-rate steak frites or a superlative bouillabaisse, followed by a cookbook-perfect crème brûlée, and be thankful you're in Panisse’s neighborhood.

Ask anyone about Caffe Abbracci and the word "family" will likely come up. And no wonder: The doted-upon Italian restaurant has maintained its consistently excellent reputation for more than three decades, thanks to its late founder, revered restaurateur Nino Pernetti, who died from COVID complications in 2022 at age 76. The restaurant gracefully carries on in his memory, sticking to a fantastic formula of warm, inviting service and a steadfast menu of classic and contemporary Italian dishes. Abbracci is always filled with locals (including families) who know to order well-executed options like vitello tonnato, red snapper al cartoccio, and Pernetti's homages to his daughters: tortellini Tatiana and agnolotti Katerina.

David Garcia (La Camaronera Seafood Joint) now owns this iconic North Miami seafood spot, which dates back to the 1990s. This heir to Miami seafood royalty kept the menu mostly unchanged, allowing Captain Jim's to do what it does best: serve the freshest fish possible. Favorites include stone crab claws (in season) and a beautiful take on conch salad with meaty hunks of the mollusk tossed in a spicy tomato marinade and cubed red and green peppers. Fresh yellowtail snapper and hogfish can be ordered grilled, blackened, or fried. Regulars go for the "Captain's Combo" — the catch of the day served with one side.

In 1971, Bill "The Captain" Bowers opened the doors of his seafood restaurant in the boondocks of southwest Miami-Dade, now known as Pinecrest, and has remained an institution for locals and tourists alike ever since. When Bowers died in 2020 at the age of 91, his wife, Audrey Palomino Bowers, and their son, Dale Palomino, who has worked at the Captain's Tavern since he was 16 years old and now serves as head chef, took over. So it has remained a family affair, and the patriarch's presence remains very much in evidence. The menu, the apotheosis of a seafood lover's delight, continues to offer the tried-and-true staples that made the Captain's Tavern famous: cracked conch, oysters Rockefeller, and, of course, a Tuesday two-for-one Maine lobster special. The restaurant also offers a full raw bar and sushi menu. Pretty much everything at the Captain's Tavern is housemade, from the sauces to the desserts.

When Pubbelly Noodle Bar closed in Miami Beach's Sunset Harbour neighborhood back in 2019, it left an empty space in the hearts of fans of José Mendín. Fortunately, the chef kept the lease, opening a quaint Italian bistro with longtime business partner Sergio Navarro and former Lucali chef Santo Agnello. The result, Casa Isola Osteria, is a charming spot that serves up red-sauce classics like linguini with white clams and pappardelle alla bolognese with braised Wagyu. The star of the show, however, is a stellar rigatoni alla vodka. The restaurant's décor attempts to replicate the ambiance of a tiny Italian village, so if you've been jonesing for some international travel, it's a chance to get away to Italy — if only for a meal.

A mural depicting a desert beneath a floating pair of eyes is the only sign that beckons passersby into this Uzbek-style hideaway, accessible only from one side of NE 163rd Street. Chayhana Oasis offers fare not only from Uzbekistan but also the entire central Eurasian region. Translation: You can eat your way around several nations. To keep the proceedings simple and entertaining, the menu contains quirky descriptions of lesser-known dishes. Begin with the doma, tender stuffed Turkish-style grape leaves; continue with shish kebabs of lamb, chicken, beef, or shrimp. For dessert, try gnezdo, a crunchy meringue topped with diced walnuts. In standard European fashion, wash it all down with a shot of top-shelf vodka. Go ahead — there's no shortage of fresh, chewy Uzbek-style bread to soak it up.

Puerto Rican-born chef/owner Jodrick Ujaque took stints at well-known Caribbean-inspired Miami establishments before opening his Homestead restaurant in 2011. With influence, however, comes innovation, evidenced by a menu that displays a tasty blend of American, Taíno, Caribbean, and even Asian influences. The eight-table dining room is simple, dark, and rustic, if a tad cramped. Start with pa' picar — snacks like bolita de queso (deep-fried golden torpedos of stretchy cassava dough filled with Gouda and white cheddar) and alcapurria (delicate picadillo nestled in a plantain masa and fried to crisp perfection). Puerto Rican purists might pass on more unorthodox offerings like macarrones con res, a truffle and chipotle mac & cheese made with cotija cheese and birria-style braised beef. But they'll surely rejoice when presented with the mofongo, a Boricua staple of pounded green plantain mash mixed with nibs of pork-belly chicharrón and shaped into a sphere, whose starchy texture softens when dunked into the accompanying caldo de pollo. It can be served alongside chicken, shrimp, or steak and arroz con gandules, the Caribbean island's version of rice and beans.

Michael Beltran distinctly remembers the day he got his nickname. It was his first day as a high school freshman; Beltran walked in late to class, a chocolate milk chug in hand. Today, Chug is the name of the restaurateur's Cuban-American diner, a successful pop-up he's since expanded into a permanent, full-service eatery and modern-day ventanita. Where once stood a tiny grab 'n' go, Chug's now shows off an airy, open design inviting morning, afternoon, or late-night dining, complete with diner-style booths and a bar with lounge-style seating. True to the diner ethos, a crave-worthy menu of Cuban-American eats covers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. While you can order lechón hash to start your day or grab a frita patty melt for lunch, don't miss out on the curated selection of Pastelito Papi's famous fruit- and meat-stuffed pastelitos, or the house Cubano sandwich served on fresh-baked Cuban bread from the diner's bakery. In 2022, Chug's was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its approachable, excellent fare.

Clive's Cafe makes its mark with Jamaican favorites such as curry goat, oxtail, and jerk chicken. The original Wynwood location, which had been around for nearly four decades, closed, but the Little Haiti digs make for a colorful haven in which to eat some of the best Jamaican fare in Miami. The chicken is cooked to diner perfection and the curry is a smooth and subtle blend. The jerk chicken with rice and beans is a favorite menu item. The mood is laid-back — right down to the small radio pumping out reggae sounds. You just may catch Clive's fan Lenny Kravitz taking in the scene. The place is great for takeout but just as nice for a pit stop at any time of day.