Crazy About You Brickell Friendsgiving Dinner: Free Starters

Crazy About You, at 1155 Brickell Bay Drive in the Mark on Brickell building, has a menu rule that makes a Friendsgiving dinner easy to plan: every entree includes a free appetizer of your choice. Entrees are priced in tiers at $29.99, $33.99, $38.99 and $43.99, so a table of ten ordering one entree each also gets ten starters for the middle of the table. Add a waterfront setting on Biscayne Bay, and the restaurant covers both the view and the budget.

The dinner menu groups entrees by price, and each tier includes a free appetizer. At $29.99, the Mexican Ox Tail Tacos are the lightest choice. At $33.99, the Black Truffle Linguine is the pasta most tables order. At $38.99, the Baby Back Ribs come with shoestring fries and, as the menu promises, a pair of gloves. At $43.99, the Wagyu Churrasco and the Slow Braised Boneless Short Rib are the richest plates and the closest to a holiday roast.

For couples or pairs within a group, the It Takes Two for Tango option is $75.99, serving two and including two appetizers. Extra appetizers can be added at any two for $26.99. For a group of eight, that means the starters take care of themselves, and the money goes into the mains and a round of drinks.

Because the appetizers are free with each entree, the group should coordinate so the table gets a spread rather than eight of the same dish. The Serrano Ham Croquettes carry a wink on the menu, a nod to Dolores But You Can Call Me Lolita, another restaurant in the same group, and The G.O.A.T., goat cheese with focaccia breadsticks, is an easy plate to pass down a long table. Pick a mix of fried, fresh and cheesy starters and the first course feels like a holiday spread.

An honest call: skip ordering two of the $43.99 mains per pair, since the ribs and short rib are both filling, and the $33.99 linguine often makes a better shared plate than a second steak. The value here is in variety, not size, and a table that orders across all four tiers will taste more of the kitchen.

Here is the math for a table of eight. Two orders from each of the four tiers, tacos, linguine, ribs and short rib, come to $293.92 before tax and tip, or $36.74 per person, and the table also receives eight free appetizers. That is a modest per-person total for a sit-down dinner on the water, and it leaves room in the budget for a round of drinks and dessert. Share the plan in the group chat so everyone picks a different appetizer.

For drinks, the Lovers Lane Lemonade on the drinks list makes a festive round that works for anyone skipping alcohol. A Friendsgiving group that arrives during happy hour can start with a cocktail by the water and order dinner as the sun goes down.

Crazy About You is open Monday to Wednesday 11:30 am to 11 pm, Thursday 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, Friday 11:30 am to 12 am, Saturday 10 am to 12 am and Sunday 10 am to 11 pm. The phone number is (305) 377-4442. Happy hour runs from 4 pm to 7 pm every day, and weekend brunch runs from 10:30 am to 4 pm, a good option for a daytime Friendsgiving that ends before family plans.

The setting is the other half of the appeal. The restaurant group describes the dining room as picturesque waterfront dining, and the tables look out over the bay rather than the street. For friends visiting Miami for the holiday, a dinner by the water on a mild November evening is the clearest possible contrast with a cold Thanksgiving back home, and it is a good reason to pick a bayfront table over an indoor steakhouse.

In late November, the sun sets over the city behind the restaurant while the bay in front turns pink, so a 5 pm table catches the last light on the water during happy hour. That timing turns an ordinary dinner into something closer to a celebration, at a price that suits a large group.

The restaurant group's events page offers menu options for every budget, from an elegant dinner to a casual buffet, and event inquiries go to the Brickell events team by email or phone. For a Friendsgiving of 15 or more, contact the team a few weeks ahead and ask about a set menu, which keeps the bill predictable for everyone. For smaller groups, a regular reservation is enough, and the tier system already makes splitting the check simple.

Plan B: if the waterfront tables are taken on your date, weekend brunch is easier to book and has the same view in daylight. A Sunday brunch Friendsgiving starting at 10:30 am also leaves the rest of the day free for the beach or for travel.

The Metromover's Brickell Loop stops a short walk away at Tenth Street/Promenade station, which is the easiest way to arrive without driving. Before dinner, walk the Brickell Bay Drive baywalk, the waterfront path that runs past the towers along the bay, where the group can watch the boats and the light change over Key Biscayne.

After dinner, Brickell City Centre on South Miami Avenue is a 10-minute walk west, with shops, bars and dessert spots. A group that wants to keep the evening going can head there for one more round, or walk back along the bay for a quieter end to the night.

Crazy About You, The Mark on Brickell, 1155 Brickell Bay Drive #101, Miami, FL 33131, in Brickell. Phone (305) 377-4442. Monday to Wednesday 11:30 am to 11 pm, Thursday 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, Friday 11:30 am to 12 am, Saturday 10 am to 12 am, Sunday 10 am to 11 pm. Happy hour daily 4 pm to 7 pm. Entrees $29.99 to $43.99 with a free appetizer each.