Miami Is Home to 47 of the World’s Top Restaurants for Wine

Each summer, Wine Spectator recognizes the world’s top restaurants for wine, and this year, nearly 50 Miami restaurants received the highest international accolade presented to a restaurant for its wine program.

Initiated in 1981, the Restaurant Awards by Wine Spectator are the world's only award program dedicated entirely to recognizing excellence in restaurant wine service. The awards are distributed across three tiers: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence, and Grand Award, with this year's winners totaling 2,150, 1,531, and 96 in each category, respectively. The Award of Excellence category requires restaurants to have at least 90 selections of wine with a well-chosen assortment of quality producers and a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. The Best of Award of Excellence category requires restaurants to have at least 350 or more selections of wine and must display an excellent breadth across multiple wine-growing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers, along with superior presentation.

Out of the 47 restaurants in Miami that have been awarded in total, 26 were recognized in the prestigious Best of Award of Excellence category, while 21 were recognized in the esteemed Award of Excellence category.
Among the winners, some of the most recent additions for 2024 include Casa Vigil (an Argentine restaurant by world-renowned winemaker Alejandro Vigil that boasts more than 700 wines) and Zaytinya (from celebrity chef José Andrés, whose list focuses on Greek wines). New restaurants earning the Best of Award of Excellence title include notable additions like New York transplant Pastis, which highlights iconic French selections alongside rare labels, and the recently opened Barcelona Wine Bar, with a wine list focused on Spanish and South American varieties, boasting around 500 selections.

“The restaurant industry is growing and thriving, with restaurant openings surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time. To take advantage of the uptick, restaurateurs are re-investing in their wine programs,” says Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator.

The large number of winners in Miami should come as no surprise – after all, we are seeing a record number of restaurant openings this year, a trend that has been on the rise in recent years. On the wine front, we're witnessing establishments making big investments in more robust selections, showcasing more diversity among winemakers, drawing attention to environmentally conscious winemaking practices, and being more inclusive.

New Times has compiled the complete list of all the 2024 South Florida winners below. To learn what Wine Spectator had to say about each restaurant listed, visit the website.

Best of Award of Excellence

Amara at Paraiso
Avra
Barcelona Wine Bar
Bouchon Bistro
Bourbon Steak
Carbone
Casa D'Angelo
Casa Juancho
Cote Miami
Dirty French
Ferraro's Kitchen
Fiola
HaSalon
Jaya at the Setai
Klaw
Lido at the Surf Club
Mila Miami
Mastro's Ocean Club
Pastis
Queen Miami Beach
Red, the Steakhouse
Smith & Wollensky
The Capital Grille
The Surf Club Restaurant by Thomas Keller
Zucca Miami
Zuma

Award of Excellence
Carbone
BLT Prime
Baoli
Casa Vigil
Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant & Bar
Contessa Miami
Delilah
Fogo de Chao
Le Zoo
Leku
Macchialina
Makoto
Michael's Genuine
Morton's
Osaka
Perry's Steakhouse & Grille
STK
Seasons 52
TUR Kitchen
The Palm MIami
Zaytinya

While no Miami restaurants have received the prestigious Grand Award, granted to those that show exceptional commitment to their wine selections and service, the good news is that one needn’t drive far to try a restaurant that has this accolade – Marcello's La Sirena in West Palm Beach, HMF at the Breakers in Palm Beach, Bleu Provence in Naples, and Bern's Steak House in Tampa are among the best of the best.