What to Eat, See and Do During Miami Art Week

Each December, visitors from around the world descend upon South Florida for the annual Miami Art Week. Over the past few years, the region has also had an influx of new residents. An array of restaurants, boutiques and other businesses have opened alongside the community’s longtime favorites, with both the new and the old appealing as much to out-of-towners as they do to Miamians.

The restaurant scene is especially vibrant and includes excellent Caribbean, Central American and South American options. Cuban food, in particular, is a local specialty, and has been for many years.

The area has also added eateries with connections to beloved and acclaimed spots in other cities, like outposts of the New York City mainstays Rao’s, which opened a South Beach location in October; Pastis, whose gracious branch in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood was unveiled in April; and Carbone, which has been consistently packed since it opened its Miami Beach location in 2021. There are transplants from London, too, such as Sexy Fish Miami and Novikov Miami, both of which are downtown.

Still, the Miami area — including the separate cities of Miami Beach and Miami — has a distinct energy. Here is what to eat, see and do in some of its most popular neighborhoods during Art Week.

Miami Beach

For many tourists, the South Beach neighborhood’s bustling stretches, like Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road, embody the Miami area. Locals, however, tend to gravitate toward more subdued parts of the Beach, like Sunset Harbour, about a mile northwest of Lincoln Road. Its charming businesses include row., a home décor and gift boutique that opened in September, and Consign of the Times, which has been a reliable source of gently used designer clothing and accessories for over two decades. There’s also a branch of Pura Vida Miami, a fast-casual chain with a health bent.

Elsewhere in South Beach, there’s Macchialina Taverna Rustica, a rustic and relaxed Italian restaurant; Puerto Sagua, for hearty Cuban meals; and Medium Cool Cocktail Lounge.

Watch collectors from Miami and beyond make a pilgrimage to Matthew Bain’s appointment-only atelier; New York City’s Material Good, which sells high-end pre-owned timepieces as well as jewelry, recently opened a Miami Beach space not far away.

Farther north is the Bal Harbour Shops, an open-air mall with luxury brands like Chanel, Prada and Gucci. It also houses a location of Books & Books, a cherished independent bookshop with several stores in the Miami area. The complex is popular for people watching, too, especially at the restaurants Carpaccio and Makoto, with their mix of designer-clad locals and upscale snowbirds.

The beaches in the area, like the calm oceanfront stretches in the town of Surfside, tend to be quiet and not overly crowded. For something a bit less conventional, there’s nearby Haulover Beach, where clothing is optional.

Wynwood and Edgewater

The vibrant art that lines many of Wynwood’s streets has turned it into a particularly popular tourist destination. The neighborhood’s edginess has also made it a hub for hip restaurants that locals love, like Uchi Miami, which specializes in Japanese cuisine, and doma, an upscale Italian spot. On weekends, the neighborhood hosts Miami’s version of Smorgasburg, the open-air food market that originated in Brooklyn.

There are lively bars, too, including Dante’s HiFi, which has a vast selection of vinyl albums that are played as each evening’s soundtrack, and Gramps, a neighborhood mainstay with a funky feel, large outdoor area and live entertainment.

The community, with its many new apartment buildings, tends to resonate with a cool crowd, and businesses that serve that type of clientele are steadily moving in. Vanity Projects, a luxe nail salon that specializes in art-adorned manicures, is relocating its Miami operation there from the Design District this month.

In neighboring Edgewater, Casadonna, an Italian restaurant that opened in October, has quickly become a hot spot for dinner. It exemplifies a specific type of Miami-style culinary experience: It is a massive space, with over 400 seats indoors and outside, and the attraction for many diners is more about the scene — and possibly spotting a Miami Heat player at the next table — than it is about the food.

The Design District and Beyond

The Design District is filled with a wide range of high-end shops by international brands, from the luxury watch maker A. Lange and Söhne to the climate-appropriate women’s wear label Zimmermann. Still, a few locally owned gems are tucked inside.

C’est Chou by Sienna is a boutique that stocks ultra-stylish children’s clothing from under-the-radar European labels. (Petite adults often shop for themselves there, too.) There are destination restaurants, like Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, a local culinary mainstay since 2006, and the inviting Greek taverna Mandolin Aegean Bistro. Free public art from the likes of Virgil Abloh and Marc Newson adds a cool but sophisticated vibe to the neighborhood.

Walking north, the area becomes decidedly more low-key. Baker and Barista, which opened in August, has quickly won a loyal following for its sourdough focaccia and fruit-filled crostatas. Nearby, there’s Upper Buena Vista, a cluster of informal cafes and shops with a hippie energy. Its focal point is a 120-year-old Banyan tree; ribbons to tie around its trunk and make a wish are for sale.

Not far up, toward Little Haiti, is Boia De, where dinner reservations are hard to come by. At first glance, that might seem surprising — it’s an upscale Italian restaurant in a no-frills strip mall dominated by a supermarket — but the excellent food and friendly service explain the demand. (A table at its sister restaurant, Walrus Rodeo, is easier to land.) Nearby, Sweat Records is a magnet for music fans hunting for hard-to-find vinyl.

Farther north is the MiMo district, short for Miami Modern, the architectural style that defines the neighborhood’s look. Fans of vintage clothing and accessories head to Harlow’s Vintage and to Fly Boutique, which moved to the area from Lincoln Road more than a decade ago.

The Downtown Area

Sleek skyscrapers and construction cranes dominate the ever-growing skyline of Downtown Miami. Still, there are plenty of free activities in the area, such as visiting Bayfront Park, popular with families, and checking out the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.

Foodies head there, too: Tam Tam, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened in May; Chateau ZZ’s, a Mexican restaurant from Major Food Group — which owns Carbone, among many other establishments — opens this month in a grand building on Brickell Avenue.

For beer and cocktails, there’s Blackbird Ordinary, whose outdoor space is ideal for Miami’s warm and breezy nights.