Sugar — Restaurant in Miami

I don’t normally leave Google reviews for restaurants, but the experience here was so disappointing that I feel obligated to discourage others from going. My date chose this place on our first night in Miami (we’re both from out of town) and made a reservation in advance. It was a Tuesday evening. The location seemed really nice and I liked the vibe/lighting, but the trouble started almost as soon as we made our way to the hostess. There were no other parties waiting to be seated after us, and the security guard made a big deal about where my date was standing/made it a point to ask him to move while we were waiting. That was the first offense that made me raise my eyebrows a bit. Then, the hostess told my date about the $100 minimum per person and asked to hold his card/requested that he sign a document agreeing to the policy. I’ve never been to a place where the hostess requested to hold someone’s card while they dined (second offense). I thought that seemed a bit much and wasn’t sure if I was hungry enough to justify that but we proceeded (I later learned that reservations might be a cash grab because you may be able to take a chance and walk in to avoid the $100/person minimum but I’m not entirely sure).

Once we were seated, the waitress was nice and made a good recommendation for a drink that my date liked. We also had a pretty view of the bay! On the whole though, most of the food did not justify the price in my opinion/was underwhelming. The wagyu short rib was severely fatty, and the bao buns were disproportionate to the filling. The crispy octopus and lobster crispy rice were okay. I thought the tuna tartare was a fun bite, but my date thought the fish could have been fresher. The drinks were good. The waitress did get less attentive as the night progressed and also gave conflicting information about how long we had remaining at the table (the hostess told us not to worry about a time limit, but the waitress came by at some point to say we had 15 minutes). All of that constitutes a third offense to me because if you are going to make guests feel uncomfortable immediately upon entry and have Byzantine policies for dining, then the food, drinks, and service have no room for error. None of that was the case at Sugar. I wouldn’t recommend anyone—especially Black people—dine here because the way that they treat guests is so bizarre and a bit hostile. It was very hard to tell if they were being racist or are equally awful to everyone that comes in (though I think it’s a mix of both after reading others’ reviews). I’m sure there’s better to be found in Miami/am a bit sad that I experienced this...

A premium, upscale and unbeatable experience.

Myself, my wife and a friend arrived around 5:30 in the evening. It was in mid-January, so the sun was just starting to set.

Atmosphere - Atmosphere - Atmosphere.

Frankly, this place would be worth it for that alone. But then...

The flavors. Amazing, Outstanding, Incredible.

I'd actually been here before on business years ago, and then more recently on another personal trip. Both times just to grab a few drinks and enjoy the experience.

This last trip was the first time I'd had the chance to try food - and my God. There wasn't a single thing we'd tried that wasn't phenomenal. It was the first time I'd genuinely enjoyed salmon, and I'm normally fish-averse. But this salmon was just, unbelievably good. No fishy taste whatsoever. Just garlic notes, butter, light herbs. The seared skin. Awesome.

We tried several other dishes and cocktails as well. All were on-point:

The short rib dumplings? Texture and taste killer.

Lobster rice? Can't beat it.

Crunchy Salmon Roll....!? Out of this world.

Even the edamame (simple, I know) was among the best I've had.

The hostess, Lauren (or Laura), and our server Ellie (Elise) were lovely, and a joy to have. Everyone was friendly.

One note, as other have mentioned - if you're at a table, be aware that there's a $100 min-spend. Gratuity is not included in that, either.

(And it's not hard to hit that total. Two cocktails, and 2-3 plates and you're there).

If you're more about the drinks scene, and maybe a snack or two, note that the bar does not have a min-spend and all menu items are available. It's just first come-first serve for seating.

Our total came to around $450 with tax & gratuity for three of us.

However, regrettably due to a family emergency involving our children we had to very quickly cut our dinner short. It hurt to leave mid-way, (and we paid the whole tab of course but family comes before all else.

The whole staff was fantastic for getting us out of there as fast as possible. A special shout out to Lauren (Laura) to making that happen. We only ended up eating 1/3 or so of the meal, and had a bunch left on order.

(Hopefully someone else enjoyed the food, as I'm sure the items we didn't try were also fantastic. I've since joked to a few people that this was the tastiest, and most expensive meal we've ever eaten less than half of.)

We will absolutely be back one day. Every staff member, server, bartender or busser were wonderful.

Fingers crossed that the next time we go, we can enjoy our entire evening with...

Vibe? 5 stars. It’s a shame because out of all the spots in Miami, Sugar has the atmosphere and a killer vibe. Not a good place if you’re hungry as it’s more or less a sushi place (so don’t go here for dinner) but great place for drinks and bites. Bar staff is amazing too, seasoned and always friendly.

My experience: Took my CEO out for drinks/food for his Birthday here. $500 minimum for a table for 4, no problem. Food & drinks came out slow, waited almost 25 minutes for some plates, not a big deal. What killed the night was the fact that we were informed after 1.5hrs that we will need to vacate the table soon because there was a 2hr maximum on the tables. Not only will they hide that detail from you online, they will make you sign a credit card slip at the hostess stand and NOT tell you about it. So you essentially will get 2hrs to send $500 and if you don’t, well off to the bar you go. It took 4 separate individuals and 7 interactions with the staff to explain that we are not satisfied as it is not our control how fast the food/drinks come out, and that it was my CEO’s Birthday. They never said a word until the very end of the dinner after completely killing our mood with the situation. I was extremely disappointed, and will not recommend this spot ever again for anything more than drinks. The manager at the hostess stand was extremely unhelpful, stating the obvious and challenging my concerns rather than listening and providing much more of a solution outside us “we will provide you with another 30 minutes” to wrap up our night.

I’ve scaled 2 restaurants so I am not like..Gordon Ramsey per-say, but it’s extremely sad to see this place have so much potential but have such stupid policies and poor staff taking away from it. Waitress felt horrible and was very kind. I was disappointed they put a mandatory 20% tip on the tab after all of this, i would have tipped her for trying to apologize (8 times) and make our night better, but wow…overall cannot express my disappointment any more. Establishment quality this low in Off-season is a poor sign for Brickell, a place people come to pay 1000’s for...