MIAGuide
The Best Late-Night Restaurants In South Beach
photo credit: Rami Sabban
You know the feeling: it’s late, you’re hungry, and every place you can think of is closed. You tried looking up “french fries now” in your contacts list and, as time marches forward, you can feel fate dragging you towards another sad frozen pizza at home. But it doesn’t have to be that way, which you probably know because you’re here, right now, reading this. So, here’s hoping one of these spots has what you’re so desperately looking for.
The Spots
Open Until 5am
Most of the food on this guide is good by post-midnight standards, but La Sandwicherie is one of our favorite places to eat in South Beach no matter the time of day. They do sandwiches here, served on croissants or huge baguettes. They’re customizable, but generally come overflowing with veggies, meat, and an excellent vinaigrette that they sell in bottles to-go. Just be aware that when it’s really busy, ordering can be chaos. There is no organized line; it’s more a mass scrum of hungry zombies. Our advice: stand your ground and make constant eye contact with the staff hustling behind the counter. They’ll get to you quicker than you think.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Open Until Midnight
A simple, well-executed fried chicken sandwich is a beautiful sight, especially when it’s very late and you’ve had two or five cocktails over the last six hours. You’ll find just such a sandwich at The Chicken Spot, a small restaurant on Washington Ave. There are five versions, including one with coconut breading and a great hot honey sandwich with pickles and sriracha mayo. Other potentially fun things to eat here while intoxicated include fried mac and cheese balls, popcorn chicken, and loaded waffle fries. They have indoor and outdoor seating, and also take to-go orders on their website.
Open Until 4am
Here’s an easy questionnaire to determine whether or not you should go to Cheeseburger Baby. Is it after 11pm? Do you want a cheeseburger? If you answered yes to both, then go to Cheeseburger Baby. Their burgers are solid, and if you stick to the simple quarter pound cheeseburger, you should be able to eat it on the way home without making an absolute mess of yourself. There are some other things on the menu, but stick to the burgers and fries, which you can load up with cheese, bacon, or both.
Open Until: 3am Sun-Wed, 4am Thu-Sat
If you’re at that point in your night when you no longer want to be around people, maybe Bodega isn’t the best place to go for food - especially if it’s the weekend. This is because Bodega is not only a taco spot, but also a club, and a popular one too. The good news (if you’re here for tacos) is that most of the big crowd outside is probably just waiting in line for the club, and not for tacos. So just go inside, find the register to the left, and order a couple al pastors or any rotating weekly special that catches your eye. They have benches outside too in case you want to eat there and enjoy some bro-tastic people-watching.
MIA Guide
The Best Bars In South Beach
Open 24 Hours
For late night sushi, all roads lead to Moshi Moshi on Española Way. Is it our favorite sushi spot in town? No. But it’s open 24 hours, and it’ll do the trick if you’re craving crispy rice or a spicy tuna roll when it’s past most people’s bedtime. They have indoor and outdoor seating, and also do takeout.
Kitchen Closes At Midnight
Are you not quite ready for the night to end, but need to get something in your stomach within the next 30 minutes before you start acting grumpy? Then go to Sweet Liberty. Not only is it one of the best bars in South Beach but they also have some very tasty food, like a great fried chicken sandwich, deviled eggs, and potato chips and caviar. Just be aware that the kitchen closes at midnight.
Open Until: Midnight Sun-Thu, 2am Fri-Sat
Blocks Pizza makes a solid slice to grab on the way home. They serve square pizzas with a sourdough crust. You can point to a few ready-to-eat slices in the display case and take it to-go, or call ahead and order an entire pizza with your drunken choice of toppings.
