Review: Red Rooster Overtown

What were your first impressions when you arrived? A vibrant ambience with historic memorabilia of Overtown (one Miami's first Black neighborhoods) and African American history, there's also often live music, a feature Marcus Samuelsson brought with him from Harlem. 

What’s the crowd like? The crowd was ready for a good time. I went on a night where a live DJ had a set, so the bar area was on fire. 

What should we be drinking? The drinks are as high level as the food. The house cocktails have a focus on refreshing vodka concoctions (overlooked on many cocktail lists). On the beer front, a number of local breweries are represented, including J. Wakefield and Biscayne Bay Brewery. There was also a great wine menu with prices that started at $9/glass.

Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss. It was a really harmonious mix of soul food with Latin and Caribbean flavors, like the cornbread with jalapeño honey butter and the Yard Bird that uses less batter than the Harlem location and adds a sour orange hot honey. The appetizer called Mr. T's Uni-Corn is also a standout with its sea urchin custard.

And how did the front-of-house folks treat you? Service was personable and authentic, the servers were familiar with the menu, and the wait between courses was minimal.

What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here? There's just a really fun atmosphere, especially when there's live music, and everyone I saw had a smile plastered on their faces.