MIAGuide
The Best Late Night Restaurants In Miami
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Late night eating is more the norm than the exception in Miami—most restaurants sit fairly empty while the rest of the country is ordering their dinner. Even if you’re someone who manages to sit down for a meal before 10pm, you still might be hungry later—especially if it’s now 3am and you’ve spent the last four hours convincing your friends that the random guy in the VIP section is definitely not Bad Bunny. The spots on this guide are serving one of Miami's best burgers, some of Miami's best tacos, and they're open way past your bedtime.
THE SPOTS
Open 24 Hours
Pinolandia is one of the best Nicaraguan restaurants in Miami, and the classic fritanga is literally constantly churning out freshly grilled carne asada (because they never close). You're coming here for a takeout box stuffed with expertly grilled meats, crunchy rolled tacos with a swimming pool of crema, and savory tomato-based stews. Like almost all fritangas in Miami, make sure to order a traditional drink with your food, like a sweet barley tea that’s supposed to settle the stomach after a plate of rich food (or a night of drinking).
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Open Until 2am Sun-Thu, 4am Fri-Sat
Ending a long night on the sidewalk hunched over a taco or burrito is a tradition more of us should embrace. If you're near MiMo and trying to do just that, head to Uptown 66. This outdoor restaurant has solid tacos (but the burritos are better) and barrels you can hunch over while you eat them. Options are pretty standard—barbacoa, carnitas, chicken, or mushrooms. And they have California-style burritos stuffed with french fries too.
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
Kitchen Open Until Midnight Daily
This Downtown bar is open until 3am every day of the week. But the kitchen closes at midnight, which still gives you plenty of time to make it here for one of the best burgers in Miami—in addition to other delicious rotating specials and bar food. Don't expect a quiet meal here. It's a bar—a fun one where there's usually something loud happening in the back until very late. But if you want to keep the night going, but also need to sit and eat something, this is where you need to be.
Open Until 5am
We’d like to hire David Attenborough to narrate the scene at La Sandwicherie in South Beach at 3:30am on a Saturday night. There is no organized ordering system at the sidewalk window, which might make you feel like a hyena fighting over a fresh kill. 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. The sandwiches—all thick and overflowing with vegetables, meat, and whatever else you want them to stuff in there—are worth it. They have multiple locations around Miami (most open quite late) but the South Beach one is a Miami late night food staple.
Open Until 3am Sun-Wed, 4am Thu, 5am Fri-Sat
Joe's is an NYC pizza institution and its reputation is deserved. They make a deliciously uncomplicated New York slice. It's big, foldable, and hangs off a paper plate like a teen who outgrew their bed. Joe’s is also efficient. You can stop in and, even if they're busy, be holding a slice in a matter of minutes. Stick to a classic cheese or pepperoni, and you'll be happy. There's counter seating and a few tables inside, but you can also easily eat a slice while walking around. And this is the latest late night option in Wynwood.
Open 24 Hours
There are always people at Mary’s—both because the Cuban cafe is open 24 hours a day and it pulls double duty as a laundromat. Thankfully, you won’t have to worry about spilling pastelito crumbs on some poor dude’s towels. The food portion takes place outside on the sidewalk, where a small crowd is eating one of Mary's many sandwiches, which are quite large and usually stuffed with potato sticks. The pan con bistec is a good move, and will leave you extremely ready for bed.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Open Until 1am Thu-Sun
If we are ever approached by a genie who claims to only offer restaurant-related wishes, one thing we’d ask for is more great street food tacos in Miami—maybe like the ones LA are so blessed with. Someone apparently got to that genie before us, because Chito’s is exactly that. This food truck is permanently parked in an outdoor space in the North end of Wynwood, near Roberto Clemente Park. There are a handful of picnic benches where you can enjoy beautiful tripe tacos, cheesy vampiro tacos, birria, and massive burritos. But it's also a solid takeout option (and you can find them on the delivery apps too).
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Open Until Midnight Mon-Thu, 1am Fri-Sat
Yakko Bistro is the kind of casual, delicious Japanese izakaya you probably thought Miami didn’t have. But not only does Yakko Bistro have a menu that reads like our own personal list of Japanese dishes we’ve been trying to manifest more of in this city—they're open pretty late too. They have good sushi, but our favorite things here are the kushiyaki options—including the best tsukune skewers we've had in Miami. There's also a big plate of omurice and good okonomiyaki. Thanks to its hours (and the quality of the food) this place is a popular late night spot for restaurant industry folks, who may or may not be coming off a particularly hellish shift and need sake.
Open Until 2am Mon-Thu, 3am Fri-Sat, 1am Mon
A lot of people grew up going to Steve’s and now happily return as adults at 2am, even though it’s quite far from the city’s nightlife hubs. This dark little spot in North Miami has an old Ms. Pac-Man game in the corner, polaroids of regulars by the register, and years of graffiti covering the little wooden booths. The pizza is closer to a New York-style slice (paper plates and all) but has a sweeter tomato sauce. And the pepperoni is the kind that forms those awesome little oil-collecting cups on the pizza, which is exactly what you want in the middle of the night.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Open Until 12am Sun-Wed, 2am Thu-Sat
It’s 1am in Doral, and you just left Martini Bar. Needless to say, your night’s been filled with poor choices. But there’s room for redemption. Whip out your phone and order a ride to Pepitos Plaza, a classic Venezuelan fast food spot. They’ve been a late night staple since 2002 and specialize in hot dogs and pepitos—both drenched in their glorious six sauce combo: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pink sauce, garlic sauce, and tartar sauce. There's also a Brickell location that keeps the same hours.
Open Until 10pm Sun-Thu, 4am–Fri-Sat
La Latina is a great Venezuelan spot that is right next to the wonderful wine bar Lagniappe and very close to Wynwood, in case you happen to be drinking over there. The Edgewater restaurant might not work for a late meal during the week since they close at 10pm, but they’re open till 2am on Friday and Saturday. Swing by on the way home for one of the best arepas in the city.
Open Until 3am Fri-Sat, 1am Sun-Thu
Pizza Tropical is located inside Gramps, which is 99% bar and 1% pizza place. But that 1% is good enough to justify coming here whether or not you want to drink. There’s no cover at Gramps, so it’s easy enough to show some ID at the door and make your way to the bar’s back patio, where you’ll find the yellow and red window. You can order a whole pie or get a slice that’s simple, thin, foldable, and a very worthwhile pitstop on your way out of Wynwood.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
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? Are you in South Beach? If you answered yes to all, 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.
