Playa Miami — Restaurant in Miami Beach

Hubby and I decided to vacation in Miami this year. We like vibrant atmospheres and good food. We had been to Miami 4-5 years ago with a few other couples to celebrate a friend's birthday and had a great time and have always said we wanted to come back. I spent hours researching restaurants on TikTok to make reservations in advance of our arrival because I like to curate our vacation experiences with an agenda to make the most of our time. Ambiance is important to me so that's why I lke visual reviews and did my due diligence on IG and TikTok before making reservations. As we were pulling up I was like "OK!" The restaurant is located in a nice area that has a lot of shopping. Kind of a bougie vibe. I was excited as we were being led to our seat. The food we saw on TikTok and IG looked absolutely amazing and we couldn't wait to indulge. It was a cute spot. It was smaller than I imagined though, and the music was a vibe. The nice young lady led us to a booth and that's when our whole perception changed. I was videoing a small clip before I really paid attention to our seating and sat down. I heard my husband say something was raggedy. When I turned around he was still standing and I saw what he was talking about. The booth seats were vinly-like material it looked like and it was torn up really bad. It looked like someone took a knife and cut it up or slashed it all over. I was shocked. I was thinking, "You actuallly seat your guests at seats like this?" I was going to ask if we could be seated in another location but when I looked around the other sections were the exactly same......tore up! Hubby was not happy at all and I was very disappointed. I convinced hubby to stay and at least have a drink since we got dressed for a nice dinner date and were already there. The drink menu had very visible food stains on it and was given to us anyway. That's nasty. We still ordered one drink each. Hubby usually orders an Old Fashion but they didn't have any whiskey so I just asked for two lemon drops. Hubby was already checked out and ready to go and just agreed to have what I was having....he was done. First impressions really matter to some people..While waiting I made reservations at another spot I had on my list but chose Playa instead. When the drinks came they were nicely made and cute. Our server asked if we had decided what we wanted for dinner. We politely told her we wouldn't be ordering dinner and asked for the check. She came back with a $68 check for 2 drinks. I never asked the price of the lemon drops. As I said, the drink menu had food stains all over it so we didn't look at it thoroughly. I just ordered something I normally drink. My husband was like WHAT???? The young lady started explaining that they automatically charge a 20% service charge, plus taxes, plus some other fee. She mentioned something about it was because it was located in the Miami Beach area. Hubby had his card out ready to pay but was asking questions in disbelief so I just whipped my card out and tapped the screen to pay to get it over so we could slurp the drink down and get out of there quickly and head to our other reservation. We were hungry! I said all of that to say this....It was not about the money. We chose Miami to vacation because we can afford to. We stayed in Miami Beach the last time we were here. It's about quality of overall experience for us. Food, ambiance, service, all of that matters to us. We don't mind paying premium prices for premium experiences because we like nice stuff. We had just paid a $250 bill the night before at a beautiful hotel restsurant in Miami Beach not far from Playa.The way that restaurant furniture was tore up was appalling. Instead of the nice, grown and sexy vibe date night we were expecting felt like a hole in the wall night out, just based on how bad all of the seating was slashed up and tore up on the side we were sitting on. That definetly took away from the experience. I hope the owner invests in replacing or a least re-upholstering the booth seating for patrons who ALL the...

A group of us (4 ladies) went there on a Friday night. We had a reservation and they seated us quickly. However, the table they tried to sit us at was on the other side of the front door, literally tucked away int a corner by the bar. It felt isolated and like they just put the table there to maximize the space, in an already small restaurant. We knew if we sat there, patrons waiting for their tables would impede our already limited view of the restaurant. We brought our concerns to the host who at first said this was the only 4-person table to accommodate but then was able to find us a booth… on the opposite end of the restaurant. We looked at the booth before making our decision and to be honest, I don’t know which table was worse. This booth was right outside of the kitchen door, in a very narrow hallway leading to bathrooms. Again, it felt like they just threw tables and booths into spaces to try to fit more patrons. We opted to sit at the booth since there was more room. As we started sliding into the  booth, we noticed one large section of the booth had several burnt holes in the cushions from hookah coals/cigar stains! Also, because of the position of where the booth was in the hallway, it sat behind a wall so our view of the main dining area was obscured. In the back we did not get access to the vibes, we also could not hear the music.

We ordered the Playa Playa drink, which was described to us by the waitress that it’s basically a mojito with passion fruit. Terrible. It was very, very sweet and tasted like straight syrup. I tried to wait for the ice to melt to water down the drinks bit but it did not work. When we informed the waitress she shrugged and said it’s usually not that sweet. She did not offer to replace the bad drink. My friend was charged a whopping $24 for a drink she did not even drink! The Caesar salad I ordered wasn’t great. I split the French Ribeye steak with a other lady in our party. We ordered medium well and the steak came out well done, and very dry. $80 for an overcooked steak! The lobster Mac n cheese we split was dry as well. I expected a $40 lobster Mac to be creamy. It also did not have lobster baked in like I’ve always had when I order it at other establishments. I wasn’t impressed with the dining. The food was subpar, basic.

The ambiance and the vibes, from what we are able to experience was great! The music was great, the scenery was nice, very Instagram-worthy, if you’re able to sit in the main dining area, which we were NOT. Overall, I will...

Playa Restaurant: Overhyped, Overpriced, and Poorly Managed

I cannot express how disappointed I am after my recent visit to Playa in South Beach. This wasn’t my first time coming here, but every visit has been riddled with issues. Despite giving it multiple chances, Playa managed to ruin what should have been a memorable celebration for my best friend’s 35th birthday.

We had a reservation, but the front desk host, Izzy, was incredibly rude and dismissive. They refused to honor our reservation, made no effort to accommodate us, and didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience. The attitude from the staff was beyond unprofessional, and it set a terrible tone for the evening.

Once we were finally seated, the service was just as bad. We had to hunt down our waitress multiple times for basic necessities like silverware and plates. It was frustrating and completely unacceptable, especially given the premium prices this restaurant charges. Only one staff member was accommodating, frequently checking in on us, but even that couldn’t salvage the experience.

The management, however, was the most disappointing. The manager never once came over to acknowledge us, apologize, or try to make up for the terrible start to the night. Considering the unhappy experience we were having, you’d think they would make some effort to make things right, perhaps by doing something special for my friend’s birthday—but no. Their lack of concern left a sour taste in our mouths.

As for the atmosphere, the restaurant was dead, there weren’t that many tables being occupied with people actually having dinner (the music was good) when we left around 12:30 AM. The only tables being prioritized seemed to belong to promoters or celebrities, making it clear that unless you have clout, you won’t receive decent treatment.

To top it all off, Playa is grossly overpriced, charging $2500 for a bottle of Don Julio, which is ridiculous even for South Beach. I wanted to support this Black-owned business, but the lack of professionalism and genuine hospitality makes it impossible.

Playa is nothing but overhyped. If you’re looking for a place to celebrate or enjoy a night out, do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Playa doesn’t value its customers, and it’s not worth your time, money, or energy. I will not be...