MIAGuide
11 Great Miami Restaurants Where You Can Actually Find Parking
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
To live in Miami is to exist in an endless state of circling the block, wide-eyed and frantic, screaming out, “Is that a spot?!” (it's not, there is actually a scooter parked there). There are simply too many cars in this city, and we’re getting a little tired of nervously sweating in the driver’s seat, worrying about whether or not we’re going to make our reservation. If you’re feeling the same way, try one of the places on this guide. These are our favorite restaurants with easy-to-find, relatively inexpensive (or, in some cases, free) parking.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
This North Miami wine bar and bakery is just about always our pick for a low-stress, accessible delicious eating and drinking experience. Prices are reasonable, service is quick and friendly, and the parking situation is gloriously free. There's a parking lot located directly behind Paradis. We have seen it get full before on the weekends, but we typically have about a 97% success rate finding a spot, and it is 100% worth the always-rotating menu of focaccia and seasonal small plates.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
This one is risky because Tam Tam is in Downtown. And every square inch of Downtown is liable to be a mess thanks to a Heat game or just the usual vengeance of the Parking Gods. However, the block on which Tam Tam lives (right across from the courthouse) really feels like a ghost town outside office hours. And on our multiple visits to this perfect little Vietnamese restaurant, we have always found a prime spot on NW 1st Ave. If that looks full, the courthouse parking garage is only a block north, and will almost certainly have an open spot for you.
Blue Collar probably has more customer parking spots than seats. And that’s the kind of ratio we love to see. There are a few spots right next to the dining room along Biscayne. But if that section is looking a little crowded, go to the side of the building along NE 67th Street, where you’ll find a row of even more free parking. The MiMo restaurant is a great option for a guaranteed delicious dinner with parents who haven’t quite figured out rideshare apps yet. Plus, the menu full of comfort food classics is unanimously excellent—especially the burger.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
There is a chance that the free parking lot behind Schnitzel House will be full. But it hasn't been on any of our visits, and you'll almost certainly be fine if you come during the week. Worst case, the street parking on 79th isn't a nightmare. Either way, you will most likely have, at most, a 30-ish second walk to this great revival of a classic German restaurant. Dinner here is a blast (it comes to us from the Gramps team) and we haven't had better schnitzel in Miami.
Getting a reservation at Boia De may not be the easiest thing in the world. But once you do snag that reservation, take comfort in the fact that you will have no shortage of free parking options to choose from. It’s one of the perks of being a restaurant located in a strip mall. Other perks of Boia De include having an impossibly cute dining room, potato skins covered in stracciatella and caviar, and a chopped salad that should run for president.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Everything we just said about Boia De is true about its sister restaurant, Walrus Rodeo, which is located just a few doors down in the same strip mall. Plus, this endearingly bizarre restaurant is a slightly easier reservation to get. And they do some incredibly delicious things to vegetables, gnocchi, and pizza. Get the carrot tartare and end with the churros. You'll be full but the walk back to the car is mercifully short.
Phuc Yea is another MiMo spot with a private parking lot, which is our favorite three words right behind “ice cream sandwich.” We’ve always been able to find an open spot at this Vietnamese restaurant, and the parking is just steps away from the back entrance. This is good because after you consume Phuc Yea’s jacuzzi-size pho, you won’t be in a walking mood.
Downtown id a neighborhood that is the parking equivalent of a game of Tetris set on the highest difficulty level. However, Verde is an exception. This casual spot in the back of the PAMM not only has a ridiculously good waterfront view, but it also has its own little parking garage on the ground floor of the building. It’s not free, but it is very convenient and much better than trying to parallel park on East Flagler while rude people honk at you.
Key Biscayne's Vinya is a casual yet versatile spot with indoor and outdoor seating, a fantastic liquor store you can browse after you eat, and a really big parking lot where you are all but guaranteed to find a spot—for the low, low price of zero dollars. This place works equally well for post-work drinks as it does for a lowkey birthday dinner with a few friends and lots of wine. The food here is also so much better than your average wine bar charcuterie.
Everything about Jimmy’s, a classic MiMo diner, is wonderfully old school, including the fact that they have a free parking lot. Finding one of those in Miami these days feels like spotting a stegosaurus rex crossing the street. But Jimmy’s is stuck in time in the best ways possible, and it’s one of the best—and few remaining—greasy spoon diners in Miami, perfect for chugging coffee, eating eggs, and banishing hangovers.
Kon Chau is one of our favorite places for dim sum and dumplings in Miami, and every time we’ve been here their parking lot is absolutely flush with open spots just begging for our Honda Accord. They serve dim sum all day—not just on the weekend—and we normally load the table up with roast duck buns, green tea mushroom dumplings, shumai, and a whole lot more. But not so much food that we’re too full to go pick up some frozen dumplings from Lucky Oriental, an Asian grocery store in the same shopping complex.
