MIAMI
Is Cleo South Beach’s Next Hot Mezze Spot? Just Ask the Smoky Eggplant
Written by Eric Barton | June 10, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Just when you thought Miami Beach had enough fancy restaurants serving truffle this and wagyu that, along comes Cleo, where the pita is baked in-house and the olive oil is Greek enough to vacation in Mykonos.
The new spot opened this week in the Balfour Hotel, a 1940 art deco landmark in South of Fifth, now filled with the scent of za’atar and enough marble and linen to make a Cycladic Instagrammer weep.
Tomato carpaccio
At the helm is chef Camila Olarte, whose résumé reads like a food writer’s name-dropping exercise: The French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s Surf Club, Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann. Now she’s in South Beach, shaping lamb köfte like a butcher’s daughter and plating grilled branzino with the kind of restraint that says, “Yes, I trained in Peru and Colombia, but no, I don’t need to tell you that with every dish.”
Cleo’s thing is Eastern Mediterranean—but not the kind where falafel comes wrapped in foil. This is mezze reimagined: smoky moutabel with pomegranate seeds, lamb-stuffed “Spicy Cigars,” and a baklava tower that will likely end up in more group chats than your last birthday dinner.
The main dining room’s olive tree
Even the cocktails try a little harder, like the Basbousa Ramos, which takes the classic Ramos Gin Fizz and dresses it up with saffron, coconut, and something approaching North African nostalgia.
Cleo’s terrace
Fried cauliflower
It’s a bold move to open a Mediterranean concept within blocks of Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen and Motek, two of the best Middle Eastern restaurants in the city. But Cleo isn’t chasing shawarma or trying to out-falafel the competition. It’s after something slower and more theatrical—an atmosphere heavy on natural light, Balearic jazz, and strategically placed olive trees.
Wagyu beef skirt steak kebab
You can linger over Nutella French toast at breakfast or drop in for a $10 cocktail and some half-priced muhammara during happy hour. The vibe is casual, but only if your version of casual includes terrazzo tabletops and waiters who pronounce “sumac” correctly.
Cleo’s open daily at 350 Ocean Drive, serving breakfast from 8:30 a.m., lunch until 3, and dinner into the night. It’s the kind of place where a Mediterranean fantasy plays out, one small plate at a time.
