The best restaurants for Valentine's Day
Book your romantic dinner ahead of time
Jan
27
2022
These are the best restaurants for Valentine’s Day that still have reservations available.
If your partner cares about Valentine’s Day then you better book that table ASAP. This year the lovebirds’ holiday falls on a Monday which means some restaurants might not be open. We’re here to help you avoid unnecessary disappointment and devastation.
Our date night guide includes restaurants where the ambiance is cute, where you can whisper sweet nothings in each other’s ears and where the food is good. Some have special Valentine’s menus while others are serving their everyday menu. We’ll alleviate some of the pressure and guide your decision-making process depending on their personalities and ultimately setting you up for a win.
Don’t piss them off and follow these restaurant recommendations for where to eat out on Valentine’s Day.
MICHAEL’S GENUINE
Neighborhood: Design District
Address: 130 NE 40th St
Cuisine: American
Book your table: HERE
Lucky for us Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink recently went through some renovations. They’ve expanded the indoor space and outdoor terrace, bringing back Chef Michael’s Schwartz staple restaurant in the Design District. It’s bustling with guests and a lively ambiance. We’d choose Michael’s if you’re looking for a place where you can try a little bit of everything and get more than one dessert. The menu has changed since we were last there, but we’d try the slow-roasted rabbit leg, lobster toast, house-made rigatoni cacio e pepe, and crispy lechon. As far as desserts go, the cookies & confections are a must, with a scoop or two of their housemade seasonal sorbets and ice creams. They had a strawberry one that we really loved and we’re not even into sorbets.
View this post on Instagram
TROPEZÓN
Neighborhood: Miami Beach
Address: 512 Española Way
What to order:
Cuisine: Spanish
Book your table: HERE
The team behind Downtown neighborhood bar, Lost Boy Dry Goods, recently opened Tropezón, an Andalusian gin, and tapas restaurant. Located on South Beach’s Española Way, this street is having a moment right now and it’s only going to get better with more local concepts taking over. We’d come here if you promised your partner a trip to Spain. Get them excited with boquerones fritos; pan con tomate with basil seeds, charred turmeric sourdough; blue fin tuna pipirrana with garden vegetable, mosaic vinaigrette; gypsy gazpacho with cucumber espuma and smoked almond oil; and gambas al ajillo with piquillo.
View this post on Instagram
ORILLA BAR & GRILL
Neighborhood: South Beach
Address: 426 Euclid Ave
Cuisine: Argentinean
Book your table: HERE
Orilla is located inside the Urbanica Hotel on Euclid Street in Miami Beach. It’s a modern Argentinan Steakhouse led by renowned Chef Fernando Trocca. You’re coming here for a little mystery where you can be coy and play footsy under the table. This is a sexy, contemporary restaurant so we’d dress the part. Grab a table in their covered outdoor patio and go for the meats from the charcoal grill. The menu also includes Argentina empanadas; mollejas or sweetbreads with a roasted fennel puree; burrata with roasted leeks and salsa verde; chicken milanesa; and wagyu cheeseburger with bacon.
View this post on Instagram
MACCHIALINA
Neighborhood: Miami Beach
Address: 820 Alton Rd
Cuisine: Italian
Book your table: HERE
This rustic Italian-American favorite on Alton road is your neighborhood spot for a cozy meal for two. It’s a special place so we’d bring someone we’re in lurve with. You can sit inside or in their outdoor garden, but whatever you do, make a reservation. Chef Michael Pirolo’s menu includes creamy polenta with wild mushroom ragu; cavatelli Macchialina with baby meatballs, porchetta, and pecorino; and veal parmigiana with mozzarella, oven-dried tomato, and Parmigiano.They also recently launched a new cocktail program so you know you’re getting an after-dinner digestivo. And for sure you’re snuggling after this meal.
View this post on Instagram
NIU KITCHEN
Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 104 NE 2nd Ave
Cuisine: Spanish
Book your table: HERE
NIU Kitchen in Downtown Miami is serving inventive Catalan food. Chef Deme Lomas is pushing the boundaries with his creativity and bold flavors in this tiny space. The food speaks for itself and you’re unbothered by the typical chairs of your middle school classroom. The menu is constantly evolving so a reoccurring dinner on the calendar is a smart move. Dishes that might be there when you go are the pa amb tomaquet; octopus carpaccio; charbroiled calmar; and the ous (poached eggs truffled potato foam, black truffle, and bits of jamon iberico sprinkled on top). Lovers of biodynamic wine will also thrive at NIU Kitchen.
View this post on Instagram
LUCA OSTERIA
Neighborhood: Coral Gables
Address: 116 Giralda Ave
Cuisine: Italian
Book your table: HERE
We can’t talk enough about the antipasti offering at Luca Osteria located on the pedestrian street of Giralda Street in Coral Gables. They’re super rich in flavor, yet simple. On Valentine’s Day, Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli is creating a seven-course prix fixe menu perfect for those that love truffles and chocolate in every dish. The special menu is meant to be shared and includes two glasses of rosé; black truffle stracciatella with chocolate honey, olive oil, local bread; black cocoa pappardelle with 24-month Parmigiano, black & white truffle butter; slow-cooked short ribs with white truffle hollandaise, black truffle jus & risotto di cacao. Reservations are required so make sure you book ahead.
View this post on Instagram
MAMEY
Neighborhood: Coral Gables
Address: 1350 S Dixie Hwy
What to order:
Cuisine: Caribbean
Book your table: HERE
Mamey located in Coral Gables draws inspiration from Asia, Polynesia, and the Caribbean. The menu is refreshing and Chef Niven Patel’s spiced-forward dishes incorporate locally sourced ingredients from his two-acre farm in Homestead. The outdoor corridor is dimly lit and is the perfect romantic setting for your special night out.
Para picar or to munch on, we recommend the yellowfin tuna tostones with a tomato sofrito that screams LATIN, mixed with chopped tuna, scallions, and a piquillo pepper aioli. You can’t leave Mamey without an order of the ghee roasted plantains. A family snack originating from India and commonly found in street carts. It’s sweet, tangy, and crunchy, representing a well-balanced dish. It’s served with tamarind yogurt, coconut, cilantro, crispy chickpea, and tomatoes–bringing that acid game that we so love and appreciate. As a main, we’d go for the lemongrass glazed grouper with bok choy, heirloom carrots, bamboo rice, and coconut curry.
View this post on Instagram
OSAKA
Neighborhood: Brickell
Address: 1300 Brickell Bay Dr
Cuisine: Nikkei
Book your table: HERE
Osaka is serving Nikkei-inspired dishes in a sleek restaurant setting. It’s just the spot to avoid the Beach, dress up and enjoy Peruvian dishes with Japanese technique. The best part is that the meal will be light enough that you won’t want to take a nap after. If you know what we mean.
We’re drinking sake but they also have a nice cocktail menu with drinks like the Mr. Osaka with rum, lulo, basil honey, citrus bitter, tonic and rosemary smoke. Order to the center of the table some of our favorites that include the osk ceviche with tuna, crispy quinoa, kyuri, yuzu ponzu sauce; carpassion, a salmon carpaccio with passion fruit honey, watercress and crispy strips; chirashi causa made with yellow potato, topped with tuna tataki, crab salad, ikura, dresses with acevichada sauce. From the nigiri section we’d get the Inca with cured tuna, aji amarillo, chalaquita, black quinoa; the katsu with salmon belly, lemon zest, white truffle oil; and the hotate truffle with hokkaido scallop, truffle butter, and lime. Currently, the main dining area is booked however, you can still reserve your seat for the lounge where they serve the full dinner menu.
View this post on Instagram
THE HUNGRY POST
PHOTO CREDIT MICHAEL’S GENUINE
The best restaurants for Valentine’s Day
