An Argentinian Restaurant on a Brickell Terrace: Novecento

For anyone in Brickell searching for an Argentinian restaurant near me, Novecento is the long-running neighborhood answer. Novecento, at 900 S Miami Ave, Suite 260, sits on the second level of Mary Brickell Village, the open-air block of shops and restaurants between South Miami Avenue and the Metromover line. It serves the Buenos Aires bistro canon, from empanadas and provoleta to grilled entraña and a shared parrillada, plus a weekend brunch that fills the terrace with office crowds off duty.

Novecento did not begin in Miami. It grew out of an ice cream shop in SoHo, New York, in 1991, founded by Hector Rolotti, who had left the Argentine province of Córdoba the year before. He named it after Bernardo Bertolucci's film Novecento and wanted a room where Argentines abroad could gather. The brand reached Miami Beach in 2002 and later spread to Brickell, Key Biscayne, Doral and Aventura.

Rolotti died suddenly in 2014, and SuViche Hospitality Group acquired Novecento in 2018. The Brickell restaurant used to stand on Brickell Avenue itself; it relocated to Mary Brickell Village and opened there on September 29, 2023, with a staff of more than 90. The move added a terrace above the village walkway and a hidden bar at the back of the dining room, which regulars now use for after-dinner drinks.

The restaurant is upstairs, so look for the stairs and elevator inside the village rather than a street-level door on South Miami Avenue. The Metromover's Tenth Street Promenade station stops right beside the complex, which makes Novecento an easy lunch from the Brickell Avenue office towers or from downtown. Valet parking runs in front of Mary Brickell Village, and there is street parking plus paid lots on the surrounding blocks.

Start with the empanadas at $6 each, the most Argentine thing on the menu and a fair test of any kitchen. The provoleta, a disk of grilled provolone, costs $18, and the camarones al ajillo with garlic run $16. For the grill, the lomo, or beef tenderloin, is $46, the Wagyu Denver is $48 and the Wagyu ojo de bife, a rib eye, is $72. Chimichurri comes to the table for every cut.

Groups should look at the sharing boards. The parrillita for two to three people costs $96, and the full parrillada for three to four costs $157, loaded with mixed cuts from the grill. If you want a sandwich instead, the choripán is $15, the lomito steak sandwich is $25 and the Hamburguesa Novecento is $24, all good options for a midweek lunch that does not run long.

The grill list uses Argentine names, and knowing them saves a round of questions. Entraña is skirt steak, the thin, beefy cut most Argentines order first; bife de chorizo is the strip loin, not a sausage; ojo de bife is the rib eye; lomo is the tenderloin. The actual sausage is chorizo, served in the choripán on bread with chimichurri. Both the entraña and the bife de chorizo come in two sizes, so ask your server which portion suits your table before you order.

Buenos Aires cooking owes as much to Italian immigrants as to the gauchos, and Novecento's menu reflects that. The risotto de carne costs $32, the Bolognese $24, and there is salmon at $29 and a whole branzino at $35 for anyone not eating beef. The octopus, pulpo a la brasa, is $23 and comes off the same grill as the steaks, while the salmon crudo starter at $18 gives the table something light to share.

Weekend brunch is the busiest service. It is served Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm, and the terrace tables go first, so book ahead or arrive at 11am. Between 3pm and 7pm, seven days a week, select spirits, beer and wine are half off at the bar, which makes the late afternoon a good time to try a glass of Malbec with an empanada or two.

Through October 31, Novecento is part of Miami Spice, the city's annual prix-fixe promotion, with brunch and lunch menus at $40 and dinner at $50. Those set menus are a cheaper way to try a steak course than ordering à la carte. Reservations are taken through OpenTable from the restaurant's site, and the Brickell phone line is (305) 403-0900 for larger groups or questions about the terrace.

Novecento keeps long hours: Monday to Thursday 11am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to midnight, and Sunday 11am to 10pm. Weekday lunch is quick and full of suits from the towers nearby; the room turns livelier after 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. As in Buenos Aires, steaks are cut to order and arrive with little garnish, so add fries, salad or grilled vegetables if you want a complete plate.

Mary Brickell Village is a good base for a short evening walk. Head north along South Miami Avenue to Brickell City Centre, where the covered walkways link shops and food halls, or walk east to Brickell Avenue and continue to the bayfront for views across Biscayne Bay to Key Biscayne. On the way back, the Tenth Street Promenade station puts you on the Metromover loop for a free ride downtown. If you are visiting from the beaches instead, note that Novecento also runs dining rooms in Key Biscayne, Doral, Aventura and Delray Beach, but the Brickell terrace is the one most locals pick for a weekday steak.

Address: Novecento, 900 S Miami Ave, Suite 260, Miami, FL 33130, upstairs in Mary Brickell Village. Phone: (305) 403-0900. Schedule: Monday to Thursday 11am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to midnight, Sunday 11am to 10pm, with brunch Saturday and Sunday until 4pm. Prices to expect: empanadas $6, choripán $15, lomo $46, parrillita for two to three $96. Valet is available in front of the village, and Metromover stops at Tenth Street Promenade. When you reserve, ask for a terrace table if you want the open-air seats above the village walkway, and allow extra time on Friday nights when the whole complex fills.