Diners seeking deep restaurant discounts this summer are once again spoiled for choice during Dine Out Lauderdale and Miami Spice, both returning Aug. 1.
Dine Out Lauderdale, Broward County’s recipe for recharging restaurants through the slow summer slump, returns Aug. 1-Sept. 30 with 137 (and counting) eateries selling multi-course lunches and dinners for $35 to $75, minus tax and gratuity.
Not to be outdone, Miami Spice, the grand poobah of summer promos, returns Aug. 1-Sept. 30 with 300-plus (and rising) restaurants touting $35-$60 prix-fixes.
Both deals offer diners passports to top eateries at prices that restaurants rarely charge during the South Florida high season (generally October-April). Keep in mind, though, that with a week to go before each promo begins, Dine Out Lauderdale and Miami Spice have so far posted a fraction of the deals on their website, so it’s smart practice to call ahead to confirm pricing, menu item availability and reservations.
Two notes about recommendations: We’re straight-up ignoring the $75-per-person blowouts, which are way too expensive to be called discounts, and instead we’re dishing the strongest deals for customers’ dollars. We’ve also avoided recommending so-called “culinary experiences,” surprise tasting menus that don’t list specific items, hyped at places like Heritage and Evelyn’s at the Four Seasons Hotel Fort Lauderdale.
With all due respect to these Michelin-blessed spots, the reason is simple: Diners deserve to know if the advertised discount beats the price of the year-round menu. (And we’ve already crunched the numbers for you.)
Here are three Dine Out Lauderdale and three Miami Spice prix-fixes that straddle the divide between elegant and economical, because — yes — it is possible to have it both ways.
BROWARD COUNTY
Oceanic
250 N. Pompano Beach Blvd., Pompano Beach; 954-366-3768, OceanicPompano.com
Founder Lou Moshakos (Lucky Fish Dania Beach, the upcoming Lucky Lou’s) has brought fresh seafood to beachside SoFlo customers since 1978, but the pinnacle of his nautical powers may just be Oceanic, his upscale sit-down beside the Pompano Pier. To maximize savings, try this three-course Oceanic deal ($35 lunch, $45 dinner): Start with sun-kissed shrimp dressed in sweet-spicy Thai chili sauce and peanut slaw, then continue with an entree of mahi-mahi with grilled asparagus, grape tomatoes and Israeli couscous, and finish (indulgently) with a Chocolate Trilogy of chocolate hazelnut mousse, milk chocolate cake and pistachio gelato. (Its current menu charges $71 for the same three items.) The deal is offered daily.
Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse
221 SW First Ave., Suite 1, Fort Lauderdale; 954-299-3661, UkiahRestaurant.com
Chef Michael Lewis’ wood-fired restaurant is no mere smokehouse — it’s a marriage of low-and-slow Texas barbecue and Japanese flavors that takes its culinary cues from KYU, the Miami hotspot he co-founded last decade. And it touts one of the best Dine Out deals this side of the Pacific: eight tasting-menu courses for $60. (A la carte menu price for all eight courses: $139). They are: edamame with sea salt, crispy squid dusted in salt and black shichimi pepper, roasted cauliflower in a herb-chili vinaigrette and buttermilk goat cheese, salmon sashimi in a wasabi-soy broth and scallions, wagyu skewers with shiso chimichurri, yuzu kosho and wasabi, yakiniku-style crispy baby back ribs, grilled seasonal vegetable and a chef’s dessert selection. The dinner-only deal is available Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Union Kitchen & Bar
2309 N. Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors; 754-216-0143, UnionKB.com
One of the finest deals on the Wilton Drive dining drag is also an underrated wonderland of Southwestern-Peruvian delights. “Union” refers to the husband-and-wife team of Christie Tenaud and sommelier Roberto Colombi, who met in Boca Raton after a heady career running Michelin two-star and James Beard Award-winning kitchens from Arizona to Italy. Kick off its four-course, $60 Dine Out meal with mejillones ala vinagreta, chilled Spanish-style mussels crowned with a pepper-onion salsa. Continue with a mid-course dish of porcini campanelle with fresh peas, spinach and truffle cream, followed by an entree of grilled cider pork chop with a celery-walnut salad and cider vinaigrette. Finish with a slab of carrot-cake cheesecake drizzled in caramel sauce and candied pecans. (Year-round a la carte price: $90) If you can stomach it, a $25 upcharge will unlock Colombi’s wine pairings with each course. The dinner-only deal is offered Tuesday-Sunday.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
Ghee Indian Kitchen
63 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-395-3431, GheeMiami.com
Set aside, for a moment, what a French tire company thinks you should eat. Chef-owner Niven Patel’s innovative fusion sit-down in Wynwood (and Michelin Bib Gourmand) has a ghost pepper-cheddar naan ideal for mopping up every saucy dish on its $45 Miami Spice menu. Begin with dal makhani, a colorful dish of pureed black lentils and cardamon, followed by aromatic lamb kerala curry blended with coconut and turmeric. Conclude with warm sticky date cake with ginger ice cream. (Year-round a la carte price: $61). This dinner-only deal is offered daily.
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink
120 NE 40th St., Miami; 305-676-0894, MichaelsGenuine.com
Michael Schwartz’s mainstay has been slinging oysters in the Design District long before Prada, Louis Vuitton and Cartier ever shuffled into the neighborhood. And the restaurant, turning 20 next year, still touts an impressive Spice deal: $35 for lunch and $45 for dinner. For lunch, start with shrimp and chorizo arancini with smoked chile aioli, followed by a main of pan-seared cobia with fennel, orange, Castelvetrano olives, arugula and smoked paprika aioli, and finish with a summer-y pavlova with mango, peach and mascarpone cream. For dinner, kick off with coconut fried snapper and mango remoulade, an entree of wagyu bistro filet with marinated zucchini, lemon and pine nuts and a dessert of toasted polenta cake with fresh citrus and cream cheese ice cream. Lunch is offered Monday-Friday while dinner is offered Monday-Saturday only.
Beauty and the Butcher
6915 Red Road, Coral Gables; 305-885-4008, BeautyandtheButcherMiami.com
This year-old hub of dry-aged meats and fish comes from a chef whose name carries the weight of SoFlo greatness: Jeremy Ford (Stubborn Seed, ex-”Top Chef”). Ford, who sources the restaurant’s produce from his own organic farm in the Redlands, offers a $35 lunch and $60 dinner: Begin with a silky French onion soup with gruyere gratin, continue with cacio e pepe with housemade mafalda pasta with truffle butter and finish with brown-butter chocolate-chunk cookie with vanilla ice cream. For dinner, snag an appetizer of manchego and serrano ham croquettes with piquillo pepper emulsion and truffle. Next, slice into a 15-day dry-aged pork chop with Moroccan spices and summer vegetables (or splurge on steak frites with an eight-ounce Australian wagyu sirloin for $15 extra), and finish with refreshing lemon-blueberry cheesecake with pistachio ice cream. The lunch deal is offered Fridays only, while dinner is offered Sunday-Thursday.
