#ThankYouMiami for Brunch - Beach Bar at Newport Pier

For a city surrounded by water, Miami is really lacking in waterfront eateries. There is a fair selection, ranging from casual (i.e., Monty's, Garcia's, Shuckers, Lido Bayside Grill) to more upscale options (i.e., Zuma, Verde, Rusty Pelican). However, there is a huge disparity between available miles of coastline to restaurants by the water. To be clear, we're not advocating for converting our coastlines into a waterfront food court—after all, they provide critical ecological and real estate value. What we are advocating for is more opportunities to enjoy a meal overlooking the water.

In the last two years, we visited coastal cities in North Carolina, New York, and California. One of the concepts that we really enjoyed and of which we took full advantage during our travels to these locations were pier restaurants. We have piers in Miami-Dade County but, unlike their counterparts elsewhere, they are limited to fishing and passive recreation, not eating or entertainment. Our only exception is the Newport Pier in Sunny Isles Beach, which is home to casual surf n' turf eatery Beach Bar at the Newport Pier. Starved for a good on-water meal, we decided to stop by last Sunday for their newly launched brunch.

We can't understand why we'd never heard about this spot before. Everyone who's been here should be shouting about it from the rooftops (which we may or may not be doing simultaneously as we write this post). Besides their predictably amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean, their customer service is on point and their food is delicious. More importantly, the food is fresh, not that pre-frozen mierda that some restaurants try to disguise as real food and that we too often settle for. It spoke volumes to its local street cred that we spotted one of three Sunny Isles residents we know eating there during our first visit.

The brunch menu is comprised primarily of egg dishes. We're talking smoked salmon omelette, egg white and spinach benedict and, our favorite dish from our visit, crab cakes benedict with a side of hash browns. (We're suckers for a big plate of perfectly crispy, perfectly soft hash browns.) If you're not in the mood for eggs, worry not—the brunch menu also offers chicken and waffles or you can order off the expansive full menu. And, of course, the view, the ambiance, and the food are made all the sweeter by unlimited mimosas and bloody marys (or, if you're feeling cheeky, a particularly strong passion fruit margarita that you can sleep off at the beach post-brunch).

Cheers to living in paradise! There's no better way to relish our good fortune than with a delicious meal on the water, like at Beach Bar at Newport Pier. We really need more places like it. Have you been? What other waterfront restaurants in Miami do you love and recommend? What should we get there? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!