The Best Italian Restaurants in Miami

Forte dei Marmi, which occupies a stunning circa-1938 Mediterranean revival building on Ocean Drive, takes its name from a seaside resort in Tuscany. The inspiration for its fine Italian cuisine comes from local, organic produce, prime meats, and sustainable seafood of the highest quality. Acclaimed chef Andrea Reitano is a pioneer of the slow food movement, an ethos exemplified by signature dishes like the 32-hour slow-cooked suckling pig. It's often available as an entree or shareable shoulder for the table. Caviar and truffles frequently accent Reitano's sophisticated preparations, which feature on the restaurant's a la carte dinner and Sunday brunch tasting menus.

Fabio Trabocchi, a chef and restaurateur from Italy's Adriatic Coast who has won the highest praise from critics throughout his international career, opened Fiola in Coral Gables in 2018. The pricey, sophisticated space inside the 1515 Sunset Building immediately became a serious contender for the best Italian restaurant in Miami, and possibly one of the city's top restaurants in any category. Fiola's glass-walled wine room houses the finest of labels, while its kitchen presents outstanding seafood, house-made pastas, and composed steakhouse offerings from its wood oven and grill. Classics share the menu with uncommon dishes, such as bison tartare topped with maitake mushrooms and a sunny-side-up duck egg. The desserts are works of art as well.

Palat, located steps from the Design District in Miami's Buena Vista neighborhood, specializes in seafood but presents a range of Italian classics and contemporary creations for lunch, brunch, and dinner. Popular dishes include a beet ravioli, braised rabbit, and, for bigger appetites, a wagyu ribeye with broccolini. Interesting salads and charcuterie plates are highlights of the lunch menu. Palat presents ample vegetarian and gluten-free options as well. Happy hour takes place every day from 5 to 7 p.m., with great deals on drinks and appetizers.

In a modern, light-filled space in the Wynwood art district, dōma presents a range of southern Italian classics alongside contemporary dishes with Mediterranean flavors. Certain items are a showcase of fresh, seasonal produce: for example, the Harpke Farm organic carrots starter with charred cauliflower and purple potato crisp. Others star the freshest fish and seafood from Florida waters, such as the grilled local swordfish and the homemade tagliolini burrata with red shrimp, lemon, and sea bean. Popular classics include a spaghetti alle vongole and braised veal osso buco. dōma is open for lunch, dinner, and weeknight happy hour, which offers great deals on small bites and half off on drinks.

At MC Kitchen, a staple of Miami's Design District since 2013, acclaimed founding chef Dena Marino creates sophisticated, modern versions of Italian classics. This includes making fresh pastas, cheeses, and cured meats and sausages in house from scratch, along with lunch and dinner items showcasing the finest local, seasonal, organic ingredients. Marino brings an impressive set of skills to MC Kitchen — she previously won praise from Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and other notable publications, and once challenged Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef America. MC Kitchen's venue is almost as impressive as its cuisine, featuring striking art installations, reclaimed wood floors, and walls of windows letting in the glorious Miami sunshine.

Call Me Gaby, a Miami restaurant owned, operated, and inspired by women, brings a cozy and welcoming aesthetic to its rustic dining room and colorfully decorated garden space full of flowers. The restaurant's specialty is handcrafted Roman-style pizzas made using only fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Pizzas include both classics and gourmet options, some with uncommon toppings like pistachio crumble plus mortadella and basil pesto on the Carla, and smoked salmon, sesame seeds, avocado cream sauce, lemon, and dill on the Gabriela. These share a small amount of space on the menu with traditional pasta dishes and a handful of steak and seafood entrees.

With white tablecloths, candlelight, and an inviting outdoor space, Spiga Ristorante Italiano has a romantic, special-occasion-worthy vibe. The dinner menu perfectly fits this old-school atmosphere, staying true to the authentic, traditional Italian cuisine that's earned Spiga a place among the best Italian restaurants in Miami. Chef Roberto Legrand takes pride in presenting the finest preparations of pasta, which is handmade every morning. His popular pasta dishes share space on Spiga's lengthy menu with classic Italian entrees like veal scaloppini and saltimbocca all romana.

Casa Tua, a hotel and restaurant inside a Mediterranean villa in South Beach, offers seating inside its art-filled dining room or out in the leafy garden under lantern light. A 20-seat chef's table adds another option. Casa Tua's dinner menu, inspired by the cuisine of Northern Italy, is divided, course by course, into seasonal creations and classics. Among the latter are such dishes as burrata with organic tomatoes and basil, an octopus carpaccio with artichokes and potatoes, and taglioni with creme fraiche and caviar. A number of gluten-free options are available as well.

Osteria Baiocco, part of the Milan-based Ranucci family of restaurants, opened in 2018 to immediate acclaim from critics and patrons alike. Its menu features bold and flavorful preparations by chef Mario Schiano and a 100-percent Italian staff. Most represent the culinary traditions of Rome and Tuscany, although select dishes are typical of other regions too. As notable as the cuisine at Osteria Baiocco is its venue — one of the oldest colonial houses in the city. The beautifully restored house in MiMo retains exposed brick and vintage accents in the 40-seat dining room and the original white colonnade around patio and terrace seating.

Cecconi's Miami Beach, one in an international chain modeled after the London original, presents fine Venetian cuisine in a glorious Soho Beach House courtyard. The space comprises a glossy indoor dining room and a leafy terrace lined with trees and twinkling lights. The all-day menu created by chef Sergio Sigala showcases handmade pastas, seafood, pizzas, and salads along with pricey entrees, among them scallops and sunchokes, Dover sole, and New York steak with parmesan potatoes. Ample plant-based options are available as well. Cecconi's Sunday jazz brunch buffet is hugely popular.

A South Beach haven for pasta lovers, Via Emilia 9 invites diners to sit at its pasta-making station to watch chef-owner Wendy Cacciatori expertly turning out pasta by hand every day. In addition to ample pasta dishes on the lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch menus, custom raviolis and pasta preparations are available upon request. Charcuterie boards and flat breads are other highlights, and seafood specials feature on Thursdays. Via Emilia 9 prepares its authentic Italian cuisine using imported Italian ingredients and fresh produce sourced locally; many the former are available in the on-site market.

Cipriani Downtown Miami is part of a popular international chain, yet its waterfront venue is truly unrivaled, boasting panoramic views of Biscayne Bay from its light-filled dining room. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with a comprehensive menu of Italian classics. Langoustine scampi, pan-roasted veal chops, and broiled wagyu rib eye are among the more substantial main courses, while creative cold and hot plates like sashimi salmon and black cod with yuzu miso sauce add creative fusion fare to the options.

Sette Osteria in artsy Wynwood offers diners an enticing balance between casual and sophisticated, with an unpretentious vibe and focus on house-made pizzas and pastas. The restaurant presents weekend brunches with bottomless mimosas and bellinis, and lunch, dinner, and happy hour seven days a week. Dining room seating offers a glimpse into the open kitchen with its wood-burning pizza oven, and there's also patio seating available for al fresco dining. Sette Osteria's menus are lengthy, comprising a wide range of classic Italian favorites and contemporary creations for all appetites.

At Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante, which is open until midnight seven days a week, chef and co-owner Pietro Vardeum presents the rustic, authentic cuisine of his Sardinian homeland. This includes house-made cheeses and fresh pastas, and other comforting culinary creations using the finest local produce, seafood, and meats. The jewel-like colors and accents of the wood-filled dining space are also evocative of the Mediterranean. The restaurant once featured on the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Alloy Bistro Gourmet departs from the typical cuisine of the best Italian restaurants in Miami, presenting instead a pan-Mediterranean array of Italian, French, and Tunisian dishes. Notable items include smoked and grilled meats, seafood risottos, and homemade pastas, plus ample vegetarian options. Alloy Bistro's chefs meticulously source humanely raised, non-GMO meats and high-quality local produce. Diners enjoy a choice of seating under arches in the Moroccan-tile-accented dining room, where there are views into the open kitchen, or out on the tropical patio.

An upscale and intimate spot on Espanola Way, Mercato Della Pescheria is ideal for date nights and special occasions, even if the occasion is just being in the mood for some top-notch pasta and seafood. The dining room and cuisine are both inspired by the traditional seafood markets of Italy, with guests glimpsing the chefs at work behind dedicated pasta, seafood, pizza, and steakhouse stations. There are also espresso and gelato stations, along with a comprehensive menu of classic and creative cocktails.

In a chic space with showstopping living walls inside Coral Gables' historic Hotel St. Michel, Zucca Miami presents contemporary Italian cuisine. Highlights include handmade charcuterie, pastas, and freshly baked breads, along with fresh seafood and steak preparations together encompassing the diverse regions of Italy. A modern mixology program and wine list 2,000 labels long add to the experience.