These Are the Fort Lauderdale Restaurants That the Michelin Inspectors Missed
By Eric Barton | July 25, 2025
Calusso
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.
Michelin finally made it to Fort Lauderdale, and they didn’t entirely blow it. MAASS earned a star, a first for the city. Heritage snagged a Bib Gourmand, which feels both expected and also not quite enough. Three restaurants made the guide as recommended spots: Larb Thai, Daniel’s, and Evelyn’s at the Four Seasons.
But just five places?
If you’ve spent any time eating around Fort Lauderdale—and I spent two decades doing exactly that—you’ll know the inspectors missed more than they got right. This is a city that’s always punched above its weight, whether it’s a Japanese omakase behind a sliding door or house-made pasta that seems straight from Tuscany.
So I’ve assembled this list below of the restaurants in Fort Lauderdale that very much deserve Michelin attention.
Calusso
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What is it: Calusso is the first of several restaurants within Pier Sixty-Six, which reopened after a billion-dollar remodel and expansion. It's immediately Fort Lauderdale's most ambitious fine-dining restaurant, with South Florida native and former MAASS executive chef Jonathan Kaiser at the helm.
Why it should be in the guide: Kaiser is creating delicately plated, entirely original dishes reminiscent of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. This isn’t your typical tourist-friendly waterfront menu of miso cod and swordfish steaks. Calusso is a playground for a chef given the freedom to be creative.
What it deserves: If it were up to me, it’d join Sorekara in Orlando and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon as Florida’s only two-star restaurants.
Daniel's, A Florida Steakhouse
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What is it: Daniel’s moved into the former Valentino/Canyon space in Rio Vista and wasted no time becoming Fort Lauderdale’s buzziest dining room. The reborn space has fancy supper-club vibes, plus a kitchen led by Daniel Ganem, the chef also behind Fiola in Coral Gables. While steak is the focus, the menu leans Florida-first, featuring locally sourced seafood, pasta, and a Key lime pie topped with a polished swirl of Italian meringue.
Why it should get a star: Daniel’s is the complete package of good food, good service, and a nice ambiance. There’s a great cocktail program and wine, which can be important to Michelin. It’s a good start to see them get recommended status, but now they need that coveted star.
Gran Forno Bakery
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What is it: The smell of fresh bread wafts down Las Olas from this longtime bakery, where you can watch dough being stretched behind the sidewalk window. Inside, communal tables and simple Tuscan-style pastries and sandwiches make Gran Forno feel more like an Italian village bakery than a tourist strip staple. The fruit tarts are gorgeous, but it’s the crusty sourdoughs and old-school precision that set this place apart.
What it deserves: Michelin recommended
The Katherine
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What is it: After earning a reputation—and plenty of accolades—at Sugarcane in Miami, chef Timon Balloo shifted gears, opening this intimate neighborhood restaurant named for his wife, Marissa Katherine. The menu is a deeply personal mix of influences, drawing from his Chinese upbringing and his wife’s Colombian roots. That means dishes like heirloom tomatoes brightened with coconut vinaigrette and slow-braised Trini oxtail served with a fiery Haitian pikliz.
Why it should be in the guide: Michelin seems to love, for good reason, restaurants that tell a story about the chef’s background. At The Katherine, every plate feels like a page from Balloo’s food diary, a mix of bold flavors that somehow taste both nostalgic and entirely new.
What it deserves: One star
Larb Thai-Isan
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What is it: There’s a good reason this strip mall spot is always downright packed with people. The food is authentic Thai that you just don’t find anywhere else in South Florida, dishes that are bright and flavorful. The move here is to come hungry and bring reinforcements, so you can cover the table with plates: larb (pork or chicken, you can’t go wrong), deeply savory fried rib meat, papaya salad with salted crab, and ground pork that brings the heat with chili and garlic. But the real standout? The duck salad, a perfect mix of sweet, spicy, and crispy, thanks to shards of fried duck skin.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Oku by Takato
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What is it: Takato relaunched this luxe 10-seat omakase counter on Fort Lauderdale Beach since after Michelin added Fort Lauderdale, and it seems like a surefire addition when the guide is updated. Oku delivers a hushed, precision-driven experience from chef Taka Lee, who spent time at Zuma and Makoto. He delivers a thoughtful $250 tasting with A5 Wagyu, toro crowned with caviar, lobster bisque palate cleansers, and top-tier Ora King salmon. The dim-blue, reverent setting and single Friday/Saturday seating make it feel like an exclusive, private concert.
What it deserves: Michelin star
Pasta And
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What is it: This charming and also downright elegant West Broward restaurant makes its pasta in house and sticks to a northern Italian menu that feels straight from the Old Country. The wine menu is no joke, with 500 on offer. Chefs Luigi and Esperanza Marenco make Pasta And feel more like dining in someone’s nicely decorated home than a restaurant in the ‘burbs.
What it deserves: Michelin recommended
Al Salam
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What is it: West Broward is a veritable United Nations of food, where, drive a mile in any direction, and strip malls reveal what might be your new favorite Indian or Vietnamese spot. Al Salam Halal Mediterranean Restaurant and Market isn’t just a great Mediterranean restaurant—it’s also charming and welcoming, a spot that’s just as full of families enjoying tables packed with a feast on a Tuesday as it is a Saturday.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Cafe Martorano
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What is it: I took a friend who was visiting from out of town here years ago, and the next day he said: “It’s like they put crack in that pasta, because I can’t stop thinking about it.” Straight up, Martorano’s makes the best spaghetti and clams of my life. And also meatballs. And just about everything else. Yes, it’s expensive, and yes the DJ music can be way too loud late night. But seriously, I think there might be crack in the pasta.
What it deserves: One star
Kaizen Sushi Bar
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What is it: Kaizen delivers the kind of meticulously crafted sushi that feels like a quiet luxury—without the eye-watering price tag. The fish is pristine, the service unhurried, and the whole experience suggests a chef more interested in perfecting his craft than chasing trends.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
