These 11 Miami restaurants nail outdoor dining

Head straight to Amara at Paraiso on Biscayne Bay if you’re looking for a meal with a spectacular view. James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz heads up the kitchen, which serves a Latin American menu that includes spicy grilled prawns and family-style seafood parrillada (barbecue). For an excellent midweek happy hour or Saturday brunch—hello, bottomless rosé—snag a scenic seat on the airy upper deck.

Casa Florida boasts three outdoor spaces that allow diners to choose their ideal atmosphere. The Playground features a ping-pong table and a renovated 1969 transit bus that serves as a cocktail lounge. The Deck features a shipping container turned bar and a DJ booth. And The Lawn has spaced-out tables for grazing on Atlantic Coast tuna tostadas and zucchini carpaccio. Stop in for happy hour from 5 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday through Friday for half-priced oysters and buckets of beer.

Simple preparations of locally sourced ingredients define the menu at this airy Design District spot—another gem from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz. The menu rotates often to accommodate seasonal changes but always includes a variety of fresh-caught seafood and creatively prepared vegetables. Enjoy dishes such as stone crab with green sambal and mustard sauce and wood-roasted tilefish while sitting on the outdoor patio, surrounded by potted plants and twinkling lights.

There’s not a bad outdoor seat at Glass & Vine. Diners can choose from an expansive patio beneath a tree canopy or a spacious open-air bar. The contemporary American menu features classics with a South Florida twist such as nori-crusted tuna and grilled miso salmon. Go during the day to sip on brunch cocktails between bites of cornflake-crusted French toast.

MILA is a Mediterranean- and Asian-inspired restaurant on Lincoln Road that boasts a 5,000-square-foot rooftop deck with sculpted wood tabletops, natural textiles, and a central water feature. And the fancy menu matches the swanky surroundings. Stop in for signature dishes such as wagyu beef carpaccio with onion jam, salted seaweed and shaved black truffle and seared salmon with sweet pea mint velouté, garlic sauce, chile oil, and herb salad. If you’re looking for a special occasion brunch, check out the two-hour multi-course buffet experience, which includes eggs Benedict with blood orange hollandaise sauce and corn on the cob with feta cream.

Right off 79th Street along an often overlooked canal, Tigre is a quaint spot inspired by the bistros of Buenos Aires. Its leafy outdoor patio offers views of manatees happily floating by. The menu hones in on the Argentinian theme and is heavy on meats such as the 36-hour beef rib and churrasco, but there’s also plenty of seafood for non-carnivores.

Dining along the Miami River is always a treat, but it takes on new heights at Casablanca Seafood, part Key West-style restaurant, part thriving fish market. Diners have a front-row seat to the docks where commercial boats pull in with the day’s catch. Go big with a seafood tower or opt for individual appetizers such as conch fritters and grilled shrimp bruschetta. Guests can select their fish and have it prepared to their liking: seared, broiled, fried, or baked, with a choice of sauces including lemon butter, lemon caper, mushroom cream, or scampi.

Stroll through the lobby of the Eden Roc Hotel and make your way to breezy Ocean Social, a restaurant that sits right up against the sand with stunning Atlantic Ocean views. The spot is helmed by Tristen Epps, a Chopped champion and Marcus Samuelsson mentee. Epps’s surf and turf menu prioritizes local ingredients and bold flavors with standouts such as Key West shrimp toast made with aji amarillo, garlic honey, and dashi mustard espuma (foam) and 14-day dry-aged swordfish t-bone that’s aged on-site and served with local maitake mushrooms.

Le Zoo is a lively French restaurant in the high-end Bal Harbour Shops mall. The Stephen Starr concept has both indoor and outdoor seating, but the best seats in the house are the bistro tables, primed for epic people-watching and the occasional celebrity sighting. Le Zoo’s crab and avocado salad and onion soup gratinée make delightful starters. Get the steak frites or tagliolini with truffle butter and Parmesan for something heartier.