Miami BeachCity Guide

Miami institution since 1913, two years older than the city. Stone crab season runs mid-October through May; cash-only at the takeaway counter next door if the wait at the dining room is long.

Jeremy Ford's Michelin-starred tasting-menu and à-la-carte restaurant in South of Fifth — modern American with tight technique.

Major Food Group's red-sauce Italian. Spicy rigatoni vodka, table-side Caesar, jacket-encouraged room — one of the hardest reservations in South Beach.

By-reservation-only outpost of the Brooklyn pizzeria. Coal-fired thin-crust, hand-rolled at the counter; no walk-ins.

Neighbourhood-feel Italian on West Avenue from chef Michael Pirolo — pasta-heavy menu, low-volume room, the kind of place locals book for birthdays.

Mediterrasian rooftop on Lincoln Road that crosses into nightlife after 10pm — go for early dinner before the DJ takes over.

Myles Restaurant Group steakhouse that has anchored the SoFi power-dining scene for over two decades. The bar scene runs late.

Mid-Beach extension of the celebrated Little Havana cocktail bar (James Beard winner Julio Cabrera); cantinero-style Cuban classics and Versailles-school cuisine.

North Beach institution on 71st Street since 1993 — old-school Italian-Argentine, generous portions, deep wine list. The kind of place North Beach locals defend.

Local roaster's flagship beach location with indoor and outdoor seating, a long communal table, and a small park across the street — the closest thing to a third-place coffee shop on the island.

Cuban ventanita-meets-café concept; the cortadito and pastelitos run about a fifth of the price of nearby resort coffee.

Australian-style café from the Coral Gables original. Brunch-heavy menu, great flat whites, opens early.

Long-running European-style sidewalk café on Lincoln Road — best for afternoon espresso and people-watching rather than work.

17-acre park at the southern tip of the island with the best skyline views in the city, the South Pointe Pier, and a popular sunset-watching lawn.

74-acre oceanfront park stretching ten blocks along Ocean Drive (5th–14th). Includes the original 'Muscle Beach' outdoor gym at 9th Street and the Promenade — the busiest stretch of the Beachwalk.

South Beach's recreation hub — public pool, tennis center, baseball stadium, dog park, and a recently-rebuilt playground. Free to enter.

Mid-Beach pocket park at 46th Street with one of the quietest stretches of beach on the island and direct Beachwalk access.

Native-landscaped 36-acre coastal park between 79th and 87th Street — the lushest, least-developed stretch of beach on the island.

Free 2.6-acre tropical garden tucked between the Convention Center and Holocaust Memorial — easy to miss, surprisingly peaceful.

Miami Beach's contemporary art museum, in a 1930 Russell Pancoast-designed Art Deco building in Collins Park. The kid-focused Creativity Center is one of the best free perks on the island.

FIU's design and propaganda museum in a 1927 storage building on Washington Ave — strong on 1885–1945 decorative arts and political graphics.

Rem Koolhaas-designed cultural venue at the heart of the Faena District. Concerts, talks, and the city's most ambitious Art Basel programming.

Frank Gehry-designed academy and rehearsal hall with free outdoor 'Wallcast' concerts projected onto the building's exterior wall in SoundScape Park.

Kenneth Treister's 1990 sculptural memorial — the bronze hand reaching from a reflecting pool is one of the city's most recognized public works.

Eight-block pedestrian-only promenade (16th–17th, Washington to Alton). Mass-market apparel anchors plus indie boutiques and the historic Colony Theatre.

Walkable few-block district behind Alton Road — design showrooms, fitness studios, and small home and apparel shops. Quieter than Lincoln Road.

Pedestrian-only Mediterranean Revival block (1925) between Washington and Drexel — small boutiques, galleries, and sidewalk cafés.

Less obvious shopping spine running the length of South Beach — Trader Joe's, hardware, pharmacies, the kind of utility retail residents actually use day-to-day.

Technically in Bal Harbour but five minutes up Collins — Chanel, Gucci, Saks, Neiman, in the country's highest-grossing luxury mall by sales-per-square-foot.

Mid-Beach mega-club inside the Fontainebleau — three decades into the nightlife rotation and still one of the highest-grossing clubs in the country.

EDM-leaning club on Washington Ave from the same operator as LIV. Friday is the headline night.

1926 dive on 14th Street that pre-dates South Beach as a brand. Cash-only, late-license, no door scene — the local antidote to the velvet ropes.

James Beard-nominated cocktail bar near Lincoln Road from the late John Lermayer; the daiquiri menu is its signature.

Hostel-pool-bar concept that put Miami Beach on the craft-cocktail map. Tropical-tiki-meets-farm-to-glass, served in a courtyard behind the Freehand hostel.