MIAMI
Hai Hospitality to Open Uchibā in Brickell With Booze, Buns, and a Whole Lot of Mood
Written by Eric Barton | May 30, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who splits his time between Asheville and Miami. He has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
When Hai Hospitality first landed in Miami with Uchi in Wynwood back in 2021, it felt like someone had finally figured out how to do serious Japanese food without also making you feel like you had to whisper during dinner.
Uchiko followed earlier this year in Miami Beach with even more flair and a menu that made Sunset Harbour residents start throwing around the term “Japanese brunch” like it was something they’d always known.
Now comes Uchibā, Hai’s izakaya-inspired concept, which the Austin-based group announced will open in Mary Brickell Village in spring 2026. It’ll be the first Florida location of the casual, cocktail-forward sibling to Uchi—the “bar” to its “home,” as the name loosely translates. No QR codes or candlelit omakase temples here. Just grilled skewers, house cocktails, Japanese whisky, and the kind of moody interior that whispers, “You’re not going back to your office after this.”
Hot fried chicken bun
Hai’s Chief Development Officer Todd Reppert says the company couldn’t ignore the welcome Miami had already given them. “The timing seemed right,” he said in the press release. “We cannot wait to bring something new, yet familiar, to the area.”
The new Uchibā will span 3,500 square feet, with room for 56 diners inside, 40 more on a covered patio, and a layout that includes a sushi bar, cocktail bar, lounge, and every other permutation of drink-within-reach seating. The design—moody woods, velvets, and what sounds like a tasteful explosion of vintage Miami meets Tokyo back-alley—comes from FormGroup and Hai’s in-house senior interior designer Kelly Walsh.
Nigiri
Of course, none of this would exist without chef Tyson Cole, the James Beard Award-winning mastermind behind Uchi and the entire Hai empire. Cole’s approach—blending Japanese precision with Texas swagger—gave Uchi its cult following and made izakaya-style dining seem like something we all should have been doing all along.
Makimono
Fried milk
While Uchi may have trained you to start with hamachi and end with desserts loved by none other than Beyoncé, Uchibā wants you to settle in for drinks and maybe accidentally spend your whole paycheck on small plates. Expect yakitori, buns, daily sashimi specials, and a vegetarian menu that isn’t just an afterthought. The bar’s center stage, with cocktails like the mezcal-pineapple-habanero Island Heat and the hibiscus-lime Subarashi already teasing their arrival.
With this, Hai Hospitality is making a bold move into Brickell—the land of bottle service and $26 martinis. But if anyone can pull off casual excellence in a neighborhood obsessed with status dining, it’s them.
