MIAReview
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Boia De
Included In
The red neon exclamation point that hangs above Boia De’s door really says it all. There’s just so much to be excited about here—from the painfully adorable interior design to the consistently excellent Italian food—and it can be hard to sum it up better than an ionized jolt of neon in the form of a bright, red exclamation point.
But, we’ll do our best.
Boia De is an Italian restaurant barely wider than a bowling lane located in a strip mall on the edge of Little Haiti and Buena Vista. The one-page menu usually has somewhere between 15 to 20 outstanding dishes, along with wine and aperitivo cocktails. There are staples that have been on the menu since day one—like the world’s greatest chopped salad and a miraculous beef tartare—but options change often enough to make each visit feel fresh. Whenever you come, you can bet on encountering the best pasta in Miami.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
photo credit: Emily Schindler
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
photo credit: Emily Schindler
You’d be completely justified coming here only for the food, but we’d also make a reservation just to sit at the bar for ten minutes and stare at the restaurant. Boia De is cute—but not in a generic way, with various internet trends cobbled together into an algorithmic aesthetic designed to boost social media engagement. No, Boia De feels more personal than that, like a thoughtful present from a best friend versus a $10 gift certificate from a boss who spelled your name wrong on the card.
There are some details of Boia De that you can’t help but notice (and love), like the cigar-smoking monkeys on the bathroom wallpaper. But other details are nearly imperceptible, especially while distracted by the inevitably delicious things that’ll end up in front of you. The lighting hits your plate perfectly, the distance between tables feels optimally calibrated, and the exclamation point motif follows you through the restaurant subtly, from the wallpaper to the front cover of the fantastic wine menu. It’s a gentle reminder that you are currently experiencing one of the most exciting dinners in Miami.
MIA Guide
Where To Go When You Can't Get Into Boia De
Because Boia De is both so tiny and so great, it's consistently the toughest reservation in Miami—even in the traditionally slow summer months. They always reserve a chunk of bar seating and outdoor tables for walk-ins. It's not impossible to get one of those if you come very early on a weekday. But reservations go live on Resy at noon, 30 days in advance. At one nanosecond past noon, you need to be at your computer, refreshing the page like your life depends on it. Then, if you're lucky, you get to spend a few weeks living with the kind of anticipation that usually precedes birthdays or holidays you actually enjoy celebrating.
That’s one of the best parts of Boia De—the way that exclamation point feeling glows brighter and brighter from the moment you book a table until you’re finally sitting in the restaurant, sipping wine and twirling unbelievably good king crab tagliolini nero onto your fork. And afterward, it might be tough to describe the experience to friends without using a six-foot-tall neon exclamation point.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Luci’s Chopped Salad
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Chicken Liver & Foie Gras Pate
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Beef Tartare
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Tagliolini Nero
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Bufala Ricotta Gnocchi Al Pomodoro
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc