MIAGuide
Where To Have A Fun Birthday Dinner Without Asking Your Friends To Spend Hundreds Of Dollars
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Birthdays are a special occasion—at least for the person celebrating one. For everyone else, a birthday often means splitting the check nine different ways and dropping $200 because Larry decided to order the most expensive thing on the menu and a sangria pitcher he didn’t even share with anyone. But there is a way to avoid making your friends spend way too much money to honor the day of your birth (other than not inviting Larry). Just go to one of the places on this guide. They’re all fun spots where you can drink, eat something delicious, and leave the table without spending more than $100 per person.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Your friends and family have seen the worst versions of you—like the one who wrapped their baby shower present in Christmas paper. So tell them to meet you at Madroño as a small act of gratitude. This Nicaraguan spot only takes walk-ins (so get there early). Everything is affordably priced, including the giant bandeja de antojitos, which comes with the best things on the left side of the menu and can probably feed the entire table. Madroño also likes to make a big deal for birthdays. They blast Las Mañanitas, light sparklers, and throw colorful streamers at you from every direction. Just don’t be surprised when your presents say Ho Ho Ho.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Off Site is a beer bar that pulls double duty as an outstanding restaurant. It’s a fun spot if you like beer and appreciate a perfect hot dog, but it’s also very laidback, so don’t expect to dance or anything. But do expect some great beer as well as a menu full of Miami’s best bar food, including perfect chicken wings, an excellent Cuban sandwich, and one of the city's very best cheeseburgers.
Le Bouchon is an incredibly charming little French restaurant right in the heart of Coconut Grove. The prices might not look super affordable at first glance, but portions are huge—especially the steamed mussels, which can easily feed two or three and comes in a massive cast iron pot with a big pile of crispy french fries. Also, you get a free glass of champagne when you sit down, which is just lovely. Le Bouchon checks the “fun” boxes with ease too. It’s got a lively atmosphere that’ll make you feel like you’re in Paris. And yet another reason to celebrate a birthday here: they’ll play a special birthday song (an endearingly odd dance remix of the Rocky Balboa soundtrack) for you at a hilariously loud volume.
The Gibson Room is a bar and restaurant on Coral Way that comes from the Ariete team, which explains why the menu is a lot more creative (and tasty) than what’s at your average bar. They serve an impressively crispy chicken schnitzel, big bowls of pasta, foie gras flan, and more dishes that range from croquetas to duck ramen. Most of the large plates here hover between $20 and $30—but portions are big enough to share with the table. They also host live music and vinyl DJs almost every night, so it's always a fun dinner too.
If you're OK with a quiet option, go here. The Miami Gardens restaurant is usually full of people tearing chunks of spongy injera bread and using it to scoop up piles of beautifully seasoned and spiced vegetables and meat. The best thing to get here are the platters. We really like the taste of Awash, which comes with portions of all the vegetarian, beef, and chicken entrees served in tiny piles atop an injera the size of a city bus steering wheel. And even though it's a pretty chill spot, you can consume multiple glasses of their dangerously drinkable Ethiopian honey wine.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Next Door is a wine bar run by (and right next door to) Key Biscayne’s Flour & Weirdoughs. The menu is tight, but as good as you’d expect from one of Miami’s best bakeries. They make a great choripan, oysters, and excellent sourdough pizzas. Plus, there's pretty much nothing on the menu that costs more than $20. It's a small space, so not great for huge groups, but they can handle a party of six just fine. And if it’s nice out, they slide open the windows to take advantage of the ocean breeze.
Doya has a lot of things going for it—in general, but also pertaining to this guide. It's a huge, energetic restaurant great for big groups. The food and cocktails are excellent, and the menu is mostly meze plates that work wonderfully for sharing. You can certainly spend some money here, but most plates on the menu hover around $15 to $25, and you can easily spend far more on way worse food in Wynwood. The menu is consistent, but definitely get all the dips and a couple kebabs. An extra side of lavash is a good idea too.
If your birthday dinner is a relatively small one, bring the three or four people you still actually like spending time with to Jaguar Sun, a fun restaurant perfect for small groups who appreciate gin and pasta. This Downtown spot is all about stiff martinis, friendly and competent service, excellent pasta, and a great raw bar. The pasta portions are generous and most bowls hover around $20, which, in this age of inflation, truly isn't that bad. Same with the cocktails, which range from $15 to $17.
