The 12 best restaurants to dine outdoors in Miami

Head straight to Amara at Paraiso on Biscayne Bay if you’re looking for a meal with a spectacular view. James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz has tapped Miami native Ivan Barros to head up the kitchen, which serves a Latin American menu that includes locally sourced heritage chicken and family-style seafood parrillada (barbecue). For an excellent midweek happy hour or Saturday brunch—hello, bottomless rosé—snag a scenic seat on the airy upper deck.

Simple preparations of locally sourced ingredients define the menu at this airy Design District spot—another gem from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz. The outdoor patio is a charming hideaway, surrounded by potted plants and twinkling lights. The menu changes often to accommodate seasonal changes but always includes fresh-caught seafood and creatively prepared vegetables in dishes like stone crab with green sambal and mustard sauce and wood-roasted tilefish.

There’s not a bad outdoor seat at Glass & Vine. Diners can choose from an expansive patio beneath a tree canopy or a spacious open-air bar. The contemporary American menu features classics with a South Florida twist like nori-crusted tuna and grilled miso salmon. Go during the day to sip on brunch cocktails between bites of cornflake-crusted French toast.

MILA is a Mediterranean- and Asian-inspired restaurant complete with a 5,000-square-foot rooftop deck adorned with sculpted wood tabletops, natural textiles, and a dazzling central water feature. The sophisticated menu matches the swanky surroundings and features signatures like Wagyu beef carpaccio with onion jam and seared salmon with sweet pea mint velouté. If you’re looking for a special-occasion brunch, check out the two-hour multi-course buffet extravaganza.

Dining along the Miami River is always a treat, but it takes on new heights at Casablanca Seafood, part Key West-style restaurant and part thriving fish market. Get a front-row seat to the docks where commercial boats pull in with the day’s catch. Go big with a seafood tower or get individual apps like conch fritters. Then select your fish and have it prepared to your liking (seared, broiled, fried, or baked) with a choice of sauces like lemon butter, scampi, and more.

Step into Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen and you’re transported to a secret garden-inspired setting with greenery and bright pink flowers, plus canopies and large umbrellas—necessary for Miami’s balmy temps. Expect a Mediterranean-accented menu featuring hits like an Israeli salad made with kale, romaine, pistachio, and herbed tahini dressing or fire-roasted jumbo prawns in garlic herb butter. Abbalé is the kind of place to book when you feel like a getaway-like alfresco meal.

Stroll the lobby of the Eden Roc Hotel and make your way to breezy Ocean Social, a restaurant that sits right up against the sand with stunning Atlantic Ocean views. The surf-and-turf spot is led by Tristen Epps, a Chopped champion and Marcus Samuelsson mentee. Epps’s menu is all about local ingredients with standouts like Key West shrimp toast and 14-day dry-aged swordfish t-bone that’s aged on-site and served with local maitake mushrooms.

The freshly renovated Essensia at the Palms Hotel & Spa is home to a tropical oasis of a restaurant that channels its tranquil and zen aesthetic. Essensia is known for globally accented Mediterranean food like rosemary lamb shank and black grouper carpaccio. Enjoy it all on an expansive terrace that overlooks the property’s garden and inviting pool area.

Le Zoo is a lively French restaurant in the high-end Bal Harbour Shops mall. The Stephen Starr concept has both indoor and outdoor seating, but the best seats in the house are the outdoor bistro tables, primed for epic people-watching and the occasional celebrity sighting. Start with crab and avocado salad or onion soup gratinée, then get the steak frites or tagliolini with truffle butter and Parmesan for something heartier.

Koko is an agave-fueled jungle in the heart of Coconut Grove, aka Miami’s oldest and arguably most charming neighborhood. Tall cacti line the entryway, and the only thing separating the outdoor patio from the indoor dining room are a set of convertible windows that give the restaurant a unique indoor-outdoor feel when the weather permits. Wide-cushioned wicker chairs let you relax as you dive into a Mexican menu with highlights including mole negro and flor de calabazas quesadillas.

Doya offers the ultimate escape from Wynwood’s crowds. This lush indoor-outdoor Aegean restaurant serves food that’s meant to be shared, inspired by Grecian and Turkish traditions (don’t sleep on the kebabs). If you book a seat outside, you’ll find yourself on a charming plant-filled patio surrounded by palms. Tables and banquettes fill the open-air space, and twinkling lights give off an especially dreamy and romantic glow.