Food

Is Wynwood Miami’s hottest dining destination? Check out all these new restaurants

By Connie Ogle

Updated May 22, 2021 3:36 PM

Wynwood’s Wayku, a Latin fusion restaurant, pays homage to Andean culture.

The new Miami: a series of villages

Not so long ago, Miami-Dade was a story of east — the sprawling Beach — and a mainland of undifferentiated suburbs, centered by a central business district that shut down at 5 p.m. Today the county increasingly is coalescing around a series of urban villages or centers — compact, pedestrian-friendly places where people can live, shop or dine out, even work or go to school, with few or mercifully short trips by car. Here’s a look at some of the county’s burgeoning neighborhoods.

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Wynwood is having yet another moment. A dining moment.

You thought Wynwood was over? Ha. Apparently not. Over the past several months all sorts of new restaurants have opened in Miami’s trendy neighborhood, joining other recent arrivals like Poke OG, Pastificio Propaganda and La Tiendita Taqueria, which has a ventanita for tacos and margaritas and thus holds a special place in our hearts.

And Wynwood isn’t even finished luring new restaurants. Coming this spring is a standalone restaurant for Manjay, the Caribbean spot in The Citadel food hall. In August of 2022, New York’s Pastis, which helped revitalize the Meatpacking District, will open a Wynwood location. If reservations are as hard to get here, you might want to start trying now.

Here are some of the spots that have opened in Wynwood.

Shelter

This cozy favorite, from the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, has brought its wood-fired menu — with pizza, burgers, ribs and empanadas — to Miami’s trendiest neighborhood (Wynwood, of course).

Shelter: 10 NE 27th St., Miami

Restaurants at the Oasis

At this new outdoor venue, you’ll find several new restaurants serving customers out of shipping containers, including New York transplant Prince Street Pizza, Alidora, Buya Dumplings + Buns, Chikin, Mr. Mandolin and Los Buenos.

The Oasis: 2335 N. Miami Avenue, Miami

Uchi

With a sushi bar and an outdoor patio, this Austin, Texas-based brand serves sushi and sashimi as well as specialty rolls like thinly sliced flounder, candied quinoa and olive oil or bigeye tuna, goat cheese, apple zu and shiso. There are cooked dishes, too, as well as omakase tastings and Japanese spirits.

Uchi: 252 NW 25th St, Miami; 305-995-0915

Momosan

Momosan is “Iron Chef” star Masaharu Morimoto’s second restaurant in the area: His first, the high-end Morimoto, lasted less than a year on South Beach. Momosan is more approachable, serving up ramen noodles, grilled skewers and other comfort food you can expect to find at an izakaya.

Momosan: 415 NW 26th St.; 305-851-8450

Mayami Mexicantina & Bar

Tulum vibes and Mayan culture permeate this restaurant and lounge from the team who brought you El Patio Wynwood. Mexican food is king, from comfort food like tacos and pozole to more complex items like carnitas de salmon with guacamole and chicharron de mar. Lots of Mexican-themed cocktails, too, including scorpion-infused mezcal.

Mayami Mexicantina & Bar: 127 NW 23rd St., Miami; 786-660-1341

Wayku

Andean culture meets Latin fusion at this experimental restaurant, led by Milan-born Chef Matteo Gritti. Its “nomadic-inspired” cuisine includes cold ceviche and hot tapas as well as such entrees as short rib with mashed peas and octopus with eggplant and beetroot. The cocktail program is lit.

Wayku: 73 NW 26th St., Miami; 786-584-8487

Buya Izakaya + Yakitori

Buya Izakaya serves izakaya favorites and has a secret cocktail den.

There’s a secret cocktail den at this spot created by the founders of Kyu, and that is excellent. But the food is also a star at Buya Izakaya: yakitori, wagyu kushiyaki grilled over binchotan charcoal, a duck dumpling hotpot and Tokyo street corn. If you find the secret cocktail den, you have your pick of 30 different kinds of Japanese whisky.

Buya Izakaya + Yakitori: 250 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-0601

Jeepney

Miami loves lechón, chicharrón and flan. This is good news for the second location of this Filipino restaurant from Nicole Ponseca, cookbook author and James Beard Award nominee. Pork plays a huge part in the menu at Jeepney, located at the 1-800-Lucky food hall.

Jeepney: Inside 1-800-Lucky food hall, 143 NW 23rd St,, Miami; 305-768-9826

Cerveceria La Tropical

The beer isn’t the only menu item worth trying at this new brewery, modeled after a brewery founded in 1888 in western Havana, brought in chefs Hutson and Delius Shirley from the recently closed Ortanique on the Mile, to create a menu. Expect a tapas-style Cuban menu: croquetas with beer-cheese dip, chorizo sausage with La Original mustard and beer-steamed mussels.

Cerveceria La Tropical: 42 NE 25th St., Miami; 305-741-6991

Pilo’s Tequila Garden

Yes, it’s an outdoor tequila garden with a DJ in a treehouse, which usually indicates a nightlife venue. But there’s also food at the new Pilo’s location in Wynwood. Street tacos abound: Pork tacos, fish tacos, mushroom tacos. You’ll need as many as you can order to go with all that tequila.

Pilo’s Tequila Garden: 158 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-800-8226

Freehold

The hospitality concept from Brooklyn chose to open its second U.S. location in Wynwood, which means it’s time to order some New York style thin crust pizza. There are also light café and lunch menus that do not involve pizza. You can order from them if you like. We’re sticking with pizza.

Freehold: 2219 NW Second Ave. Miami; 305-280-0330

Salt & Straw

The popular Oregon-based small-batch ice cream brand arrives in Wynwood with some of its popular flavors (Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons, Chocolate Gooey Brownie) and some new Miami collaborations (The Salty Donut Guava + Cheese, Gables Delight Pineapple Coconut Cream Pie, both of which are so delicious they can alter reality). Go ahead. Eat a pint for dinner. We won’t stop you.

Salt & Straw: 246 NW 25th St, Miami; 786-633-0157

Pastis

It won’t open until 2022, but NY transplants are already excited about the move by this French bistro, which reinvented the Meatpacking District in the early 2000s.

Pastis: 380 NW 26th St., Miami