Greater Miami & Miami Beach is one of the world’s premier dining destinations. So says the Forbes Travel Guide, which highlighted nine Miami restaurants in its 2025 Star Awards. There’s a five-star restaurant, five four-star restaurants and three recommended restaurants on this exclusive list. Whichever restaurant you choose, you’re in for a culinary treat.

Forbes 5-Star Restaurant

A Singular Japanese Dining Experience at Naoe

On Brickell Key off mainland Miami, Naoe is the epitome of specialized dining. There are only 10 seatings each week, and every morsel of food is prepared by Chef Kevin Cory. No more than five diners in any given seating means Cory and manager Wendy Maharlika attend to you with personalized care. The menu changes daily depending on the discretion of the chef, who scrutinizes the catches flown in from Japanese harbors. And it’s not just fish. Egg-tofu uni and butternut squash soup are among the dishes that blew away Forbes diners. The Japanese cypress bar overlooks the open kitchen, where Cory creates and serves dishes, answering questions and heightening your dining experience. Repeat diners will find that the restaurant tracks past dishes so you will always enjoy a new experience.

Indoor dining area at Il Mulino — Discover exceptional Italian cuisine at Il Mulino New York

Forbes 4-Star Restaurants

New York Italian with Miami Chic at Il Mulino New York

Inside Acqualina Resort & Residences on the Beach, named a Forbes Five-Star hotel, you’ll find Il Mulino New York, a spinoff of the famed New York City restaurant. But in Sunny Isles Beach, the experience has been taken up a notch, with tuxedo-dressed servers and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. The cuisine offers the same level of exquisite attention as the original and is why the restaurant is frequented by celebrities and A-listers. Over-the-top portions, a robust wine list and a helpful, attentive staff are part of the experience. The veal osso bucco with porcini mushrooms, housemade ravioli with black truffles in champagne sauce, and other pastas sauteed tableside are some of the dishes Forbes loved most. Gluten-free options are also available.

Old-World Beachside Elegance at Lido Restaurant at the Surf Club

The Forbes Five-Star Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club in Surfside has brought back the golden age of beachside elegance, and Lido Restaurant at The Surf Club is a perfect match. Its Italian summer cuisine and service evokes the original menu from when the Surf Club opened in 1930. The hotel’s elegant ballroom, with painted ceilings and frescoes of the original hotel, is now a restaurant with a menu by Italian chef Marco Calenzo. And Forbes says his piece de resistance is Cotoletta Alla Milanese, a tender, breaded veal cutlet. Four tomato varieties make up a lick-your-plate sauce offered with pasta a la carte or as part of a tasting menu. Forbes says another must-try dish is the Tagliatelle All’astice, an egg pasta made in-house and served with Maine lobster and Sicilian pesto.

A spread featuring a variety of meats and roasted vegetables — Fire up your appetite at Los Fuegos By Francis Mallman

Enjoy Live-Fire Cooking in an Artistic Space at Los Fuegos By Francis Mallman

Live-fire cooking has been the hallmark of Francis Mallmann, one of the world’s great chefs, featured in Netflix’s “Chef’s Table.” At Los Fuegos By Francis Mallman, located inside the Forbes Five-Star Faena Hotel Miami Beach in Mid Beach, the restaurant pairs that rustic essence with Miami Beach elegance for a singular dining experience around a Tree of Life that serves as the space’s focal point. The restaurant was partly designed by Juan Gatti, art director for Vogue Italia, setting the scene for a feast where Forbes says the grilled and roasted meats are cooked to perfection. A 48-ounce tomahawk steak with chimichurri and salsa criolla and Mediterranean branzino with fennel and herb-lemon dressing highlight the menu. Theatrical plating heightens the experience.

Sea urchin dish at Pao by Paul Qui — Experience Forbes dining at Pao by Paul Qui in Faena Hotel Miami Beach

Surprising Asian Cuisine at Pao by Paul Qui

Paul Qui, a James Beard Award-winning chef, opened his first restaurant away from his home state of Texas at Faena Hotel Miami Beach, and a decade later, Pao by Paul Qui is still, according to Forbes, a one-of-a-kind culinary experience. Pao’s concept is modern pan-Asian cuisine, with influences from Qui’s Filipino heritage and ranging to Spanish, Japanese and French flavors and techniques. That includes dishes seared tableside on a Japanese white oak charcoal grill. Hearts of palm with thinly sliced hiramasa yellowtail are an eye-opening start to a meal that, Forbes insists, must include the signature Unicorn dish: sea urchin with grilled sweet corn pudding, calamansi, chile de árbol and sake aioli. Forbes calls the desserts, including a Cheddar cheese ice cream sandwich, sublime.

Ora King Salmon dish at Tambourine Room — Discover seasonal tasting menus at Tambourine Room

Seasonal Tasting Menu Surprises at Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt

Seasonal tasting menus drive the vision at Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt, tucked inside Carillon Miami Wellness Resort in North Beach. Modern French dishes with Asian influences underlie the menu, which changes every three to four months. Only one dish has remained over the years: housemade candied walnuts to cleanse the palate between dishes. Wine pairings are available for the multicourse tasting menu. The restaurant is ideal for parties of two, though larger parties are welcome.

Elegant dining area at Bourbon Steak Miami — Bourbon Steak Miami features a bar and an award-winning wine cellar

Forbes Recommended Restaurants

Dig Into Luscious Steaks and Duck-Fat Fries at Bourbon Steak Miami

Everything about Bourbon Steak Miami implies precise luxury, from the glass-box entrance to the shimmering dining room with soft pink and glass decor inside the JW Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura. Forbes highlighted the restaurant’s classic American fare, including American Wagyu steaks poached in butter, duck-fat fries and rich truffle mac and cheese, interpreted by Chef Michael Mina. The Wine Spectator-awarded cellar features more than 850 bottles. And don’t miss the molten chocolate cake with house-made beignets.

Steamed lobster dumplings from Hakkasan — Indulge in Hakkasan’s steamed crystal lobster dumpling

Cantonese Cuisine with International Flair at Hakkasan Miami

Inside the Forbes-recommended Fountainebleau Miami Beach hotel, you’ll find Hakkasan, the Mid Beach outpost of the London-based luxury Chinese restaurant. Cantonese cuisine is the inspiration for the menu, and it takes on a high-end international flair with dishes like Peking duck with caviar and a wok-baked lobster. All of it is served in a sleek, moody, low-lit restaurant of ocean blues, dark wood and swirling marble that evokes the sea. Forbes praised the cuisine inspired by the Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. The menu is best when shared, Forbes says, so go with a large group ready to have a fun night out.

Crispy pizza topped with avocado slices — Taste the creativity at Matador Room with Forbes-praised, artfully crafted pizzas

Spanish Cuisine and More at Matador Room

World-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten reimagined the supper clubs of the 1950s and set his Matador Room restaurant inside the sleek, electric The Miami Beach EDITION hotel in Mid Beach. With images of bullfighters on the wall, Forbes says the stage is set for a menu of Spanish, Caribbean and pan-Latin flavors that is uniquely Miami. Forbes highlighted the sweet pea guacamole to start, a pan-seared Florida cobia with glazed artichokes, and even creative pizzas with truffles and fontina cheese.

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