643 Best Restaurants in Florida, USA

Tucked away in a strip mall across the street from the beach, this bistro and bakery draws tourists and locals alike for eclectic, European-influenced meals. Smoked salmon latkes and warm goat cheese tart are popular brunch items; for dinner, start with escargot or local oysters and then try the schnitzel or fresh catch with white bean cassoulet. The bakery offers monthly flavors of homemade doughnuts, such as pumpkin, peach, or Limoncello Ricotta.

The mood cast in the well-appointed dining room and the romantic Gulf-view patio that spills onto the sand makes a meal here the perfect Florida dining experience. There's only one small problem—lighting is so low at dinner that you can't read the menu, even with its built-in flashlight, which is too bad, because it means you also miss the effect of the beautifully presented dishes. An impressive prix-fixe option includes a starter, entrée, and dessert.  Schedule your dinner outdoors to catch gorgeous views of the sunset.

A mainstay for local boaters who cruise up and down the Intracoastal Waterway, Banana Boat is easily recognizable by the lighthouse on its roof. On weekends casual crowds clad in tank tops, flip-flops, and bikinis dance to live island music while downing frozen drinks (try the Dirty Banana or Hurricane Wilma) and nibbling on bar foods like burgers and ribs. Brunch is served on Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm; it's just lunch and dinner—or should we say liquid lunch and liquid dinner—otherwise.

The wine bar at this popular trattoria has a communal table, crystal chandeliers hung inside birdcages, and a wine dispenser that lets you sample 30 of its more than 100 Italian (of course) wines by the 1-, 3-, or 6-ounce glass. The brick dining room, with 150-year-old recycled flooring, is more casual and open to the kitchen; the central patio is shaded and relaxed. Straight-up and expertly done classic Italian dishes include bruschetta, fried calamari, lasagna, and wood-fired pizza. Save room for the gelato, though.

This eatery re-creates a downtown Los Angeles corner pub, serving California wines and craft beers. Charcuterie boards featuring California cheeses and Bavarian pretzels with fondue are snackable highlights.

Nestled in a hidden expanse of twisted mangrove trees and flowing canals is one of the area's best restaurants for casual fine dining. Restored wooden rowboats and modern chandeliers hang from the ceiling of the main dining room, which is packed almost every night in season. The food is a serious celebration of the sea with Southern accents, like their signature coastal pan roast with fresh Gulf fish. The adjacent Claw Bar at Tierney's Tavern shares the same kitchen but focuses on chilled shellfish and other Southern delights with nightly live music and a more casual vibe.  Saturday lunches are surprisingly quiet and a perfect time to snag one of the coveted tables closest to the windows.

This tiny counter-service restaurant is the best-kept secret in Islamorada, with the tastiest and most affordable ($11) grouper Reuben sandwich in the Keys. It's a small place—with six tables inside, a bar overlooking the kitchen, and an outdoor patio—and most diners are locals. The menu ranges from fresh seafood to excellent pizza. Don't miss the meatballs.

Sleek yet cozy, this hip bistro is popular with all types. The concrete floors and a stainless-steel wine bar provide an interesting backdrop for comfort-food-inspired entrées, but they also create a dining room that is uncommonly loud, especially on weekends. The daily specials are your only real main-course options, but the pizzas, sandwiches, and salads—especially the warm goat-cheese salad—are favorites. Don't miss the display of diet-destroying desserts. Reservations are accepted.

This trendy eatery on equally trendy Beach Drive offers imaginative takes on Italian fare. Ravioli Genovese, stuffed with fresh goat cheese and toasted pine nuts, or lobster mac and cheese with black truffle bread crumbs are some of the more decadent dishes; lighter fare includes colorful salads and flatbreads. Specials often feature local seafood. There's almost always a lengthy wait for a table, even on weeknights, so reservations are really a must. Sitting at the bar, which has an inspired beer, wine, and cocktail menu, is also an option.

Although this SoHo (South Howard Avenue) mainstay earned its wings by offering crowd-pleasing Italian classics, much of its popularity stems from creative takes on such dishes. Carnivores are not slighted here, but it is often more delicious to go meatless, perhaps with the pear sachet (pasta purses packed with pear and three cheeses and topped with a creamy saffron sauce). The grouper alla calabrese (lightly battered and sautéed with red wine, capers, olives, and onions) is another memory maker. Bella's is not too highbrow to ignore pizza and calzones—there are dozens of options. Offerings like these have kept the restaurant popular since 1986. If you're in a rush, there's curbside pickup.

Palm Beach ladies who lunch leave the island for an afternoon at Belle and Maxwell's, while young professionals loosen up after work at the wine bar, part of the bistro's expanded dining area. Tucked along Antique Row, it looks like a storybook tea party at lunch, with eclectic furnishings and decor and a charming garden. Expect colorful luncheonette dresses and great soups, salads, and sandwiches at affordable prices midday; at night, it becomes a fun, twinkling bistro, offering creative comfort fare such as homemade orecchiette with squid and sausage and classic chicken marsala, along with fillets and a risotto of the day. Dessert lovers know the sweets are all made in-house; call ahead to get whole cakes, pies, and tarts to take to grateful hosts.

Named for the 17th-century Italian baroque sculptor, this trendy restaurant is something of a gallery for copies of his works. In the former Bank of Ybor City building, it has a classy look and creative takes on Italian classics. The menu includes such fare as penne Sicilia (veal meatballs, homemade sausage, and hard-boiled eggs tossed with pasta and tomato sauce); cioppino à la Cinzano (a stew with fish medallions, clams, sautéed mussels, and shrimp over polenta); and pistachio-crusted grouper.

Loyal fans flock to bustling 5th Avenue South year in and year out to indulge in this restaurant's chic Persian atmosphere and cuisine. Favorite dishes include plum lamb with tomato-pomegranate sauce, ginger apricot shrimp (which was featured in Bon Appétit), and spicy beef in saffron sauce—all made on-site and completely from scratch.

The bougainvillea-laden trellises set the scene at the main entrance on Peruvian Way, off posh Worth Avenue. Even though it's a chain, this is a favorite of Palm Beach society, and both the restaurant and the bar become packed and noisy during high season. Weather permitting, many patrons prefer to dine on the outdoor terrace on the narrow pedestrian walkway, where "walking models" showcase jewelry and apparel from nearby boutiques. The aroma of basil, chives, and oregano fills the air as waiters carry out home-baked pizzaccia (a pizzalike bread) to accompany delectable dishes such as seafood risotto and veal Marsala. 

"Bice" (pronounced beach-ay) is an Italian nickname for Beatrice, as in Beatrice Ruggeri, who founded the original Milan location of this upscale Italian chain in 1926. At the Orlando branch, starched linens, frescoed ceilings, marble floors, and bay-view picture windows set the stage for sophisticated (and pricey) dishes such as pan-seared wild halibut with Swiss chard or veal scaloppine with lemon-caper sauce. Although prices start at around $30 for pasta dishes and peak at $70 for a rib-eye steak, pastas and salads are available in half portions upon request. The Amaretto cheesecake is a splendid dessert.

Oktoberfest runs 365 days a year at this restaurant, where cheerful crowds and an oompah band set the stage for a buffet of German specialties. The menu and level of frivolity are the same at lunch and dinner. Mountains of sauerbraten, bratwurst, chicken or pork schnitzel, sausages, spaetzle, apple strudel, Bavarian cheesecake, and Black Forest cake await at the all-you-can-eat buffet, overlooking a three-level dining room and entertainment stage. Patrons pound pitchers of all kinds of beer and wine on the long communal tables—even when the yodelers, singers, and dancers aren't egging them on. Prices change seasonally.  The massive buffets and raucous music make this a surprisingly fun place for kids.

A must-visit Las Olas landmark, Big City Tavern mingles Asian entrées like shrimp pad Thai with Italian four-cheese ravioli and an American grilled-chicken Cobb salad. The crispy flatbread changes every day.

Big City is open late for drinks, with a special late-night food menu.

Strange but good brews—Rocket Red Ale, Southern Flyer Light Lager, Steamboat Pale Ale, Gadzooks Pilsner—abound at this microbrewery, where you can sip your suds inside amid giant stainless-steel tanks or outside on a lake-view patio. The menu emphasizes meat and fish, with baby back ribs dry-rubbed and topped with honey chipotle barbecue sauce, elaborate hamburgers, or blackened fish tacos. Wine and cocktails are available for the nonbeer-drinking crowd.

Inspired by camping trips and cooking over an open flame, this restaurant features a menu that brings back memories. Among the entrées are fire-grilled steaks, Colorado lamb shanks, beer-glazed scallops, barbecue shrimp, skillet-roasted half chicken, and the Heathstone Seafood Bake, which includes wood oven–baked northern whitefish, shrimp, cold-water mussels, andouille sausage, fresh corn, red potatoes, and lemon butter. Specialty salads and hamburgers are also featured, along with side dishes that include Southern-style potato salad, coleslaw, cornbread, fire-grilled vegetables, and smashed potatoes. Still hungry? Sample the s'mores. It's like dining in a lakeside summer house.

Join the throng of locals who really know their seafood, roll up your sleeves, and dig into some of the Gulf's finest blue crabs or shrimp—all seasoned to perfection. Gumbo, crawfish, fish tacos, sandwiches, and burgers are also on the menu. Don’t be in a hurry, though; this is a beach experience to savor, and service is strictly first come, first served.

Seasonal, locally sourced ingredients work equally well in both the surf and the turf columns at Birch & Vine, which has turned The Birchwood hotel into a Downtown destination for hungry diners. The setting is a reimagined 1920s property, but the dishes are contemporary. Things can be loud on weekends, when patrons pack the interior dining room's tables and curvaceous banquettes; for a quieter dinner, reserve on Monday or Tuesday, or opt for an umbrella-covered table on the patio, where the people-watching along and Beach Drive is good, and the view takes in North Straub Park.

Named after the French city (pronounced simply "X"), this sophisticated bistro-bar's leather booths, 1940s brickwork, and intricate marbled globes provide the perfect setting for well-prepared French food. Regulars can't get enough of classic bistro dishes like French onion soup, escargot, and steak frites. There's also a variety of wood-fired pizzas and delectable desserts. Don't miss trying the popular blue-cheese chips.

Authentic French food is on the menu at this supercasual eatery run by chef-owner Michel Bitton. The gelatos and homemade French pastries might be famous, but don't miss the opportunity to savor his daily quiches, fresh salads with Dijon vinaigrette, rustic soups, and French baguette sandwiches. French-press coffee? Just say, "Oui!" You will not be disappointed.

This simple beach shack near the bridge serves solid, if predictable, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and appetizers, but the pizza is the star of the menu. Try a specialty pie like Shrimp Pesto Pizza, or choose from 16 toppings to build-your-own personal pie. There's beer on tap, and wine is available, too. 

The smell of coffee and freshly baked bread fills the air at this café, where breakfast and lunch menus are built around healthful, seasonal produce and naturally leavened bread. Dine in and linger over coffee, or be on your way with pastries and other to-go items that are a cut above. Black Bear has two other locations on the Emerald Coast in Seaside and Grand Boulevard near Sandestin.

Vegetarian or vegan small plates meant for sharing and a wine list that tilts toward organic, sustainable, and biodynamic labels are among the highlights here. Graze on miso grit cakes and harissa honey-fried cauliflower, or opt for larger steak, chicken, and other dishes. Although there are a few traditional tables, most of the seating is out on a patio or at a food bar, including one where you can watch the chefs at work. Expect a wait. 

Yes, this pub was actually shipped from England, where it had stood for 150 years in London's historic Chancery Lane. There it was a watering hole for famed English residents, including Winston Churchill; here you may hear stories of lingering ghosts told over some suds. Chow down on a ploughman's lunch (a chunk of Stilton cheese, a piece of bread, a slice of English pork pie, and pickled onions), fish-and-chips, and bangers and mash (sausages with mashed potatoes). This is a pub's pub—nothing fancy, very hearty. English beers and ales are on tap and by the bottle. It's also a late-night place and has live music on weekends.

Ask any resident where to go for local flavor, and they'll send you to the bright-yellow building with a big dog in boots painted on the side. Even before entering the part-restaurant, part–community watering hole, you might catch a whiff of whatever the chef is slow cooking on the smoker. In addition to the set menu, the far-reaching spectrum of daily specials includes dishes like she-crab soup and stone crab claws.

The outdoor dining area here is often referred to as "the quintessential Keys experience," and it's hard to argue. There's much to like about this historic Caribbean-style restaurant where Hemingway refereed boxing matches and customers cheered for cockfights. Although these events are no more, the free-roaming chickens and cats add that "what-a-hoot" factor. Nightly specials include black bean soup, Caribbean barbecue shrimp, and jerk chicken. Desserts and breads are baked on the premises.

At the island's only restaurant on the beach, you'll feel as if you're sneaking in the back door as you climb the side stairs leading to an outdoor deck overlooking the Gulf. The food is hard to beat if you're looking for fresh seafood and a casual atmosphere. Baskets of shrimp, oysters, and crab cakes—fried or char-grilled and served with fries—are more than one person can handle. The place is packed during the summer high season, so service may be a little slow. And if you're in the mood for fun in the sun, Jet Ski rentals are available onsite.