Miami Guide Take
Dallas’s most-photographed dining room got a Miami sibling, and the Brickell Key waterfront suits it better than the original setting did. Come for the Northern Mexican side of the menu — barbacoa de arrachera, ribeye aguachile — and sit on the lower terrace, which drops you almost to the water. Ask for the reserve margaritas; the list goes well past the standard pour.
The Mexican arrived on Brickell Key from Dallas, where the original became one of those restaurants people photograph before they order. Owner Roberto González Alcalá built it around his hometown of Monterrey, and that isn’t a marketing line — interior architect Paulina Morán sourced much of the art, furniture, and material from Monterrey directly. The Dallas room won a Prix Versailles distinction in 2023 as one of the most beautiful restaurants in the world. Miami is the follow-up, and it’s the bigger, better-sited one.
You enter through floor-to-ceiling golden doors into a tequila gallery — hundreds of rare bottles on the walls, a hand-laid geometric heart installation as the centerpiece — before the space opens into a central bar and dining room under floating circular ceiling installations built from hand-finished wood slats. Limestone archways form lit alcoves around the perimeter, geometric tile grounds the floor, and the lighting traces the curves rather than flattening them. It’s over 10,000 square feet and seats more than 330, but the room is broken up carefully enough that it doesn’t read as a hall.
The waterfront is the second argument. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame Biscayne Bay and the Brickell skyline, and outside there’s a second bar, covered patio seating, and a lower-level terrace that steps down toward the water. That lower terrace is the seat to ask for — umbrellas, tables a few feet from the bay, and the island’s quiet working in your favor.
The kitchen is Northern Mexican at its core, heritage recipes run through modern technique. Barbacoa de arrachera is the anchor: slow-cooked skirt steak, tender, built on the traditional barbacoa method. Ribeye aguachile is the more interesting order — beef instead of seafood, layered with avocado, radish, and dried piquín. Lobster elote takes street corn upmarket with Maine lobster, roasted corn, crema, and Oaxacan cheese. The roasted cauliflower with truffle, habanero ash, and toasted pistachio is the rare vegetable dish that isn’t an afterthought, and the wagyu spinalis is there for the fire-cooking tradition and the expense account. A set of Miami-only dishes rounds it out, including a tuna tomahawk.
Drink accordingly. The margarita list runs past the classics into Mujeres Divinas with hibiscus and damiana, La Niña Fresa with strawberry and ginger, and reserve pours like Zapata and Pancho Villa built on ultra-aged tequila.
Come for a group dinner, a celebration, a night when the room is part of the point. Two private dining rooms handle the bigger version of that.
Go for: the design, the barbacoa, and a terrace that puts you on the water instead of near it.
Happy Hour Deal: The Mexican, the city’s new restaurant, is excited to launch its new Happy Hour. Available from Sunday-Thursday (closed mondays) from 4-7 PM. Guests can expect $10 apps, $2 Oysters, $15 drinks, and more at the indoor and outdoor bar areas. Menu highlights include:
Tuna Mexicano ($18), Camarones Gobernador Taco ($21), Cuatros Leches ($8), to name a few. Affordable bites, paired with picturesque waterfront city views, The Mexican is the perfect spot to make everyday feel like luxury.
