Oolite Restaurant & Bar

The décor is relaxing and inviting, but the food was mediocre at best. I’m not surprised it has since closed because it was in a bad location, not one business in the past three years has been able to stay open there, too many people don’t even realize there is a restaurant there with busy, and overwhelming, Lincoln Rd just one block south with tons of restaurants to chose from. My boyfriend and I ate here for spice. My shrimp appetizer was good, his three grain salad was disgusting, like rabbit food. He liked his Hialeah steak, my ropa vieja was cooked in a odd tasting sauce that overwhelmed the taste of meat. The desert was whatever. We never returned, once was enough.

Super delish for Someone who’s gluten free. Def coming back. They have the best desserts

Came here with my family after my daughters graduation happy hour. I asked for the happy hour menu and the waitress was very hesitant with me about that request, she made me feel small about asking for the happy hour menu, when I arrived I had asked if it was happy hour. She had given me the’push’ which I cannot stand when I’m with my family. I really wished that she wasn’t our waitress today…
As far as the drinks, I found them to be mediocre at best today, they were small and flavorless.
My daughter ordered the Palomillo steak, it was the smallest one I’ve ever seen in Miami, $ 23.
Service was fast and humourless today, waitress seemed like she didn’t understand the concept of ordering drinks, waiting, before ordering food. Not very progressive of this place, and I know this place, I remember the owner from the Red Light on Biscayne for years. The waitresses name was, well, I don’t know, but I know that she’s in tight with the owner. Maybe she’s just having her day, but if I see this again, I won’t be returning.
They need to learn that if people are here for hap py hour, don’t push the regular menu and make them ask for the happy hour menu.
Oh yeah I was overcharged by $ 20 on the bill. Cuidado.

So on Saturdays… it’s ONLY brunch. Which is a little disappointing because we heard the vast usual menu was ace. The food was yummy, healthy, fresh, but quite expensive for portion. They were out of turkey sausage and I don’t do pork I was definitely missing some protein with my grain platter. The bottomless drink option was however AWESOME because it’s only a few dollars more than a regular cocktail (which by the way, the green juice mezcal cocktail was A+++++… it’s your kale smoothie + alcohol. WIN.) There’s not really an ambience as the outdoors views. a parking garage but the inside is cute. Also really happy to have a REAL, non-​tourist/​gross restaurant basically on Lincoln Road (Sometimes locals like to eat real food, too). Hoping to return for a «real» menu visit because the healthy food restaurant concepts are few and far between in Miami.

Was here for brunch with a group of 6 girls. We found this place specifically because it was advertise as gluten-​free. It did not disappoint! It was a very nice clean space with some outdoor seating as well. There is a bar and I even spotted some homemade kombucha on it.
We each got a brunch pre-​fix that included a visit to the pastries table as well as an brunch entere. The pastries were amazing, for being gluten-​free anyway. Probably not a good idea to visit the table before your actual entrée arrives. I was full on muffins before I had a taste of my eggs Beinevile. It was basically eggs benedict with 4 very large shrimp instead of the canadian bacon. The sauce was slightly heavy, but overall the dish was delicious. Two of my friends got the duck confit omelette with goat cheese and wild mushrooms. It sounded so good that I had to give it a try after being surprised that neither one of them liked it. I hate to report that it was actually awful. It tasted like old congealed duck fat. Ashame.
Lastly, I’d like to give a shoutout to our waiter who was awesomely patient with all of our requests and last minute changes while being funny and charming all at the same time. He also generously provided us with 3 boxes to take the pastries of the buffet table to go! How cool was that?!
Overall we had a great brunch here and I would recommend.

After leaving my first review of Oolite as a two star, the manager reached out to me in a message. I did not take her up on the offer because I did not want the «special» attention when I went here again last Friday.
For dinner, Oolite is really good. The bartender that they had on staff Friday night was consistent. Our server was very knowledgable of the menu and made a good suggestion for the BBQ Shrimp. My only critique is that the ropa vieja is EXTREMELY spicy. As in there should be a warning on the menu about how spicy that dish is. I honestly can say that I never had a ropa vieja that was this spicy. I did get a stomach ache from it because I can’t eat spicy food. Once again, their should be a warning on the menu about that.
Other than that, I do see myself returning here again in the future for dinner.

I waited until I’ve visited oolite 4 times before writing this review. I was initially suggested this restaurant by a celiac friend because I have celiac and must eat gluten free for health reasons.
First off, the positives: AMAZING concept. As someone who eats gluten free on the regular and worries about eating out, this restaurant gives me peace of mind. It is also a great location buffered from the loudness of Lincoln road but still within walking distance. I’ve eaten here for brunch and dinner and most of the time, the food is way above average; I went with non-​gluten free friends and they were as impressed as I was. The homemade breads are to-​die-​for and the dinner menu is full of great choices. I went for brunch today and I was disappointed in the quality (all 4 of us at the table were).
Now, the negatives: there is something off about the service and training of staff at the place, and it wasn’t just because of an «off day», as I said I’ve visited this restaurant 4 times in the span since it’s open. First off, staff are not fully educated on the ingredients and preparation of the food. Second, the quality of drinks made by the bar staff varies greatly! Some days a really great drink is just not as good. One visit I had the same drink twice made by two different bartenders and they could have been different drinks! Another is the in attentiveness of waitstaff in combination with the very long wait times for food, even when the restaurant is not crowded. I understand gluten free takes time, buy something must be done!
Overall, great concept but poorly executed! I don’t know if I’ll ever plan on a trip to come back, but if I’m in the area, I’d likely stop by.

Everything on the menu is GLUTEN FREE!
They use ORGANIC ingredients.
The QUALITY is tops:
_​everything is made fresh in house, including sandwich buns!
_​décor is modern, including bathrooms. Love the antique coffee grinder, toy farm truck, and local painting amongst other nice touches.
_​service is good.
+ It was cool to see Chef KRIS WESSEL, Oolite’s Food Director, at the Farmer’s Market in the Botanical Garden earlier in the day.
On to the FOOD:
_​VEGGIE BURGER ($ 11) on Brioche Bun w/​salad
= delicious, loved that they added avocado, and that the bun is fresh.
Looked a bit like a corn muffin-​brioche hybrid.
_​TURKEY BURGER ($ 11) on Roti Flatbread w/​boniato (sweet potato) chips.
Served as a wrap when you get it on roti.
= All of it was tasty!
_​FRESH FISH SANDWICH ($ 14) on Roti Flatbread w/​salad.
= Friend said it was good!
_​side of Really Cheesy MAC & CHEESE ($ 7)
= was a little small but DELICIOUS!
So tasty, perfect cheesy flavor! Would love it as an entrée.
_​side of Coconut milk, salt roasted POTATOES ($ 5)
= tasty + coconutty.
Highly recommended and would definitely return!

Absolutely delicious! Best key lime pie that I have ever had! So excited to find a normal restaurant that’s gluten free. You won’t even know that everything is gluten free, it tastes that good!!! You won’t regret visiting Oolite.
Key lime pie was delicious. The buttermilk biscuits were very moist. The masa tart was delicious as well.
We enjoyed our lunch here very much and will definitely be back! Can’t rave enough about this place.

Great set up location and food. Went to have Sunday brunch with a group of friends and had a good time.
Price is right for the unlimited mimosas/​bloody Mary’s plus the food. Service was good, the main reason i liked it was because our server was super friendly.
Tips is included on the total which was cool.
Organic, range free food with flair and very creative ingredients. I heard the chef comes from FLorida Cookery which i always liked.
Good spot to relax and have a nice brunch.

This place was surprising to me. I heard mixed reviews but I was pleasantly surprised. It very easy to get to if you live on the beach and it is also great if you drive because it is right below a parking garage which makes it super convenient. I really like the décor, very eclectic yet traditional in the sense that the music had an Ibiza Spain sound to it. I went with a group of friends for Sunday Brunch.
It was very reasonably priced and the bottomless mimosas were included in the deal (always a winner for me). We had a rather large group so we got the whole back room to ourselves which was a big bonus. We had two servers and both were very nice and knowledgeable about the menu. I had something that was like a eggs benedict but it was made with shrimp instead of ham (sorry don’t remember the name) but it was fantastic. The waiter at one point just brought us bottles of prosecco and orange juice so we could make or own drinks. We like that, that’s how we roll. lol Very accommodating.
Overall, I really enjoyed this place. Great place to hang and chat with friends and suitable for big groups. I would def go back.

I am glad, I had a really good experience! Service was great! We walked by this place and It was kind of empty we decided to give it a try anyway. We walked in since it wasn’t busy they gave us a choice of where we want to sit. We decided to sit outside, ambiance is nice, calm and clean. We ordered the arepas and brussel sprouts, amazing! I also ordered the beef tenderloin which was also a pleasant treat! I loved it!
Anyway I am definitely going back because there are also other things I would like to try. We didn’t even get to dessert because we were full. However I am happy we stumbled into this place! delicious!!!

I can go Three Stars on Oolite, but barely, because the skirt steak and eggs and the conch chowder soup I had was pretty good though rather puny and somewhat skimpy in portion size. At least the steak which I ordered eventually came, after a rather excessively long wait, rare as ordered with a tasty sauce, the poached eggs done correctly and the conch chowder of good flavor.
But there are some things I really don’t like about this place. First off, I asked for a glass of water. Then after a long wait asked again but was told that they purify their water and would have to wait for the purification process to complete. Huh? This is something I’ve never encountered before. When my water finally arrived it was in one of the bottles, the waiter poured it in my glass but when I tasted it, it was more than room temperature warm and came with no ice, hence I had to get up, wonder around and find myself some ice.
When my meal finally arrived, after a considerable wait, I discovered no salt or pepper on the table. When I tried to get some, I found out that the restaurant didn’t have any individual salt or pepper shakers. So then another wait for the waiter to get me a little metal bowl of salt from the kitchen and then a further wait for him to locate the restaurants «salad pepper grinder.» In the meantime I had to endure the worst, most disgusting to my ears selection of crap horrid background music I’ve ever experienced. Indeed, though not Mexican, something I could acquaint as being similar in sound to that of what I last heard in a low life backroom bootleg barrio shop in Tijuana

Went back to Oolite for brunch. While the food is still pretty amazing, they are unorganized. The food runners never know where the orders go. Then they forgot to bring us the potato hash that was part of our entrees, we had to ask for it twice, as well as for salt and pepper. By the time the salt and pepper arrived, the BF’s poached egg was cold.
That said, the $ 26.99 beach brunch is an awesome deal. You get full access to the pastry buffet, any entrée of your choosing, plus bottomless coffee, juice or tea. We never did get refills on our coffee or juice, however.
The pastry buffet is an assortment of gluten-​free home made muffins, breads, pies, scones and cookies. They also have a simple fruit salad and chia pudding. You will never be able to try all of the pastries, because the muffins are full size, unless you can share them with someone. My favorites were the apple crisp, walnut cookie and the bourbon soaked pecan pie. The flourless chocolate mini cakes had a bitter aftertaste.
As for my entrée, the catch of the day, was a generous mahi mahi steak, crispy sautéed in butter to a perfect medium, served on a pile of spinach, zucchini, asparagus and cauliflower. Add to that a side of potato and squash hash, plus your choice of bacon, sausage or fruit salad, very filling.
A few issues they must address besides forgetting part of our orders… The spot seems to be popular with families that allow their small children to touch stuff on the buffet. Unappetizing and also unsafe, as we can only imagine where those little hands have been.
Additionally, random people walk in off the street to use the bathrooms. We saw a chick roll into the restaurant on rollerblades, use the bathroom and roll right back out. WTF? That explains why the state of the bathrooms wasn’t great. I’ve seen worse, but still. As a paying customer, I like clean facilities that aren’t shared with street riff raff.
Bottom line, great food but they need to get their s&%t together organizationally.

Ridiculous service. Empty space away from Lincoln.
Lukewarm and cold dishes that were supposed to be served hot. All four dishes (oyster pie, green tomatoes, BBQ shrimp and fish dip) were served at the same time leaving no space at the table for drinks, utensils or plates. Again, the space was empty. Not like they were crazy busy and had to dump everything at once and forget us for the next 30 minutes.
Only great thing is the well drink — tequila sunrise. The fish dip reeks like old fish.

I had this place on my list for a while, and I kept meaning to come by. The concept looked interesting, but different. Gluten free, but I like gluten… I came here for a work dinner and sat outside. We had great service, and the waiter was engaged and loved working there.
I was very impressed with the simplicity, quality, and lightness of the food here. This is a very unique place with local food cooked well. I would highly recommend coming here and trying something different, have a light dinner!
Swordfish was superb, all locally sourced!

Stopped in for their happy hour specials. Some good half priced bar bites and cheap drinks. Got a $ 3 wynwood draft and tried the tostones, oyster pie, fried green tomato arepa, and fish dip. All were very tasty but the fried green tomato arepa really just tasted like cheese. Delicious cheese, but most of the other flavors didn’t come through. The oyster pie says spicy spinach on the menu but I didn’t taste any heat so if you are worried about it being spicy, don’t be. You can definitely handle it and it’s worth it.
The restaurant has pretty good ambiance and the best part was out bartender John, who was amazing with giving us guidance as to what to eat and drink and if the restaurant didn’t serve it he told us where else in Miami we could get it. He recommended the quinoa whiskey sour and it was a great whiskey sour with a lot of local flare and they use egg whites which really take the cocktail to the next level.
For full price this might be more of a four star restaurant but their happy hour specials are worthy of the five stars.

Oolite is my new go-​to spot for drinks and eats before shows at the Fillmore. This little spot was recommended as a meet-​up spot by Eve before a show and I just loved it. It’s got a classy look to it inside and each server or bartender we’ve had has been super friendly. Also, the drinks do not disappoint.
There’s a full restaurant and I have yet to try the food. So my review is just based on the bar area. On your first trip, it was a Monday night, so there were just a few folks in the bar. During my most recent visit, the bar was kind of jumping as it was a Friday night. But it wasn’t overly packed and loud. There’s plenty of seats at the bar and several bar tables with waitress service. With Happy Hour deals every day from 5 – 7 (yes, weekends too) it’s not hard to see how this place could fill up on a weekend. One bartender also informed us of a bottomless Bloody Mary brunch on Sundays, which I’m looking forward to trying. I haven’t managed to make it to a Happy hour yet, but the regular drink prices are quite reasonable. I am definitely a fan!

Let’s imagine you’re sick and tired of Lincoln Road chaotic mess on a Friday night. Let’s imagine a total stranger from a newly acquired group of friends, suggest Oolite restaurant after an event at the Bass Museum.
Then you can imagined my surprise when this restaurant off Lincoln Road was indeed a good find. They have a couple of vegan options, that make our group of 8 vegans & vegetarians very happy. The food was excellent and the service superb. The highlight of the night was indeed the vegan dessert, made with avocado and yummy stuff.

I went for a weekend Miami Spice lunch this weekend. Cris Wessel was in the house, so I think everything was a representative of the regular menu.
There were some alterations from the menu posted on the Miami Spice website and the one we had to choose from, which is not unusual. On the Spice website, the BBQ shrimp is listed as a main course, but on my visit it was an appetizer — too bad, because it was the highlight, and I wish I had more of it. The sauce is the star, and I’m surprised there’s no bread or anything else to sop it up with — it was a shame to send the bowl of sauce back to the kitchen.
I also tried the «coconut-​Conch, Salsify & corn chowder». The soup looked and tasted like a mexican tortilla soup (or a manhattan-​chowder, not a creamy new-​england style). There were no conch pieces to be found (maybe blended?), and no coconut taste at all, so I almost wonder in retrospect if I got the wrong soup. Verdict: disappointed.
For the entrée, I had the Palomilla Steak «Hialeah» Style (regular menu $ 22, so on a $ 23 spice menu I thought it would be the best value). There wasn’t much art in the presentation. There was a lot of meat here, but it wasn’t much done with it, and the tostones were pretty bland too. The last bite I took was undercooked, and because of this I was chewing it like bubblegum for a few minutes.
Other choices were the «ropa vieja», a chicken sandwich, and a fish of the day, which was grouper over salad greens. I tried this grouper dish also, and again it wasn’t really particularly memorable.
There were 2 dessert options on the Miami Spice menu. Being a mango lover I tried the «summer mango pie» ($ 7 regular menu). It looks like a key lime pie, and came with a nice mango drizzle, but as a whole I was again unimpressed. Publix makes a mango key lime pie that I’d actually prefer in taste, and you’d get the entire pie for the price of a slice on the regular menu at Oolite. I tried a little of the chocolate dessert also. Very rich chocolate flavors, and probably the option I would choose if I went back in time.
I’m certainly supportive of local talent, but I think the food needs some tweaks to distinguish Oolite from the competition. I think the «niche» being filled by Oolite is the gluten-​free aspect, but that means nothing to me personally, so for me it’s middle of the road.