Somewhere in the last decade, brunch began to feel like more of a chore than a pleasure. The stress of rounding up all your friends in time for an 11am reservation; the repetitive menus; that loud table of 15 who’ve consumed a swimming pool worth of mimosas. All that for another $19 room temperature benedict? Is it even remotely worth it anymore?

Before you give up on the concept of brunch forever—please, we beg you—go to Rosie’s. The Little River restaurant will make you fall madly in love with the meal again, even if you never even liked it that much to begin with. Because Rosie’s is not only just one of the best brunch restaurants in Miami—it’s one of the best restaurants in Miami. Period.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings

Rosie’s started as a pandemic pop-up run out of Overtown’s former Copper Door B&B, then moved into an office building in Allapattah, and is now operating out of a partially-covered outdoor lot in Little River. There is (thankfully) no DJ around blasting EDM pop remixes. You will not encounter large groups drinking like it’s the apocalypse. The service is friendly and efficient, and Rosie’s is as relaxing and laid-back as breakfast in bed. Instead of trying to consume as many drinks as possible within a 90-minute time limit, everyone inside is paying attention to the main event: the food.

The menu revolves around Southern dishes, with classics cooked simply and perfectly, like crispy shrimp and grits, fried chicken and waffles, warm biscuits, and creamy polenta. Both the sweet and savory sides of the spectrum are well-represented. You can get a gorgeous stack of fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes or fried chicken and biscuits that look like they just came back from a photo shoot. There are also cocktails, mimosas, coffee drinks, and an excellent seasonal lemonade.

There will be plenty of other things on the menu you wish you had the stomach capacity to eat—but that’s alright. Just come back. Make it a weekend tradition. That won’t be hard, because nothing about Rosie’s feels like a chore.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings

Chicken & Waffles

Yes, you’ve seen this dish on every single brunch menu of the last five years. But, trust us, you’ve never had it with chicken this perfectly crispy, or vanilla waffles so light and airy. It also comes with a brown butter maple syrup. Use every last drop.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings

Pastrami Hash

This is one of those hearty plates that’s a fitting meal for a lumberjack getting off a particularly exhausting shift. It’s a big pile of smoked pastrami, cubed potatoes, sweet potato sformato, roasted scallion vinaigrette, and a heavy snowfall of parmesan shaved over the whole thing. Despite being full of rich things like pastrami and cheese, the sweet potato sformato helps keep this balanced and light.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

This is a lovely stack of reasonably-sized lemon ricotta pancakes. You can taste both the lemon and ricotta in the background subtly. Less subtle (but equally delicious) are the macerated berries and toasted pistachios they throw atop the stack.