International Smoke

Reviews

• Michael S.

  star star star star star 13 November 2026

  International Smoke caught my eye on a trip to Aventura one day and the next visit I decided to make it a meal. So glad I did seeing as how the experience was nothing short of fantastic. In my below review I will go through a process and list reasons why "IS" deserves a huge positive rating and hopefully will continue to provide patrons with great food for years to come.
  
  So upon even entering IS, I saw a menu that captured me. From the drinks to salads, to starters, down the entrees that included salmon and chicken and steak. There was something for everyone and the prices seemed reasonable as well.
  
  My wife and I had heard as well that a Miami Spice menu was in place; something of which she tries to take a part in each year. the day we visited, we did not have intentions of even enjoying Miami Spice goodness, however as you will find out below, we sure did.
  
  As I always do, I checked in promptly to Yelp upon arriving, my wife seems to think I receive preferential treatment and though I never do, I always make a point to tell a worthy service that I am posting a review for the YES. I do not think this at all made a difference in the service, taste of food or portions, as everyone in the place seemed to have the utmost high end of experiences.
  
  We were seated quickly with smiles all around from the host and inside a beautiful dining room facing the bar open area and outside courtyard. As awe as I was in with the décor and ambiance, the service that came to us right away took me away. Our server was prompt and really made us feel at home. He introduced everything with experience and knowledge as if he had done so for years.
  
  Once I settled on a main and a starter, my wife then realized there was indeed a Miami Spice option! All bets were off now - so yes, my wife and I even do love the Miami Spice menu's we see and IS had zero exception, for a lower price, we did each receive a large portion and more food. You cannot go wrong of course. Once again, our server was nice enough to tell us about this option.
  
  The taste of all the foods we ordered was fantastic. I loved the salmon I ordered and my wife with a Churrasco as well-loved the flavors. A salad to start for each and a drink to go along with making the experience oh that much more great.
  
  I take a lot of time dissecting all aspects of a restaurant and when the service, food, and drinks are on point, it really makes everything easy. There could be so much wrong with a  style such as IS; however, they do everything right and with the portions, pricing and service added, all in all, it is fantastic. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy as we did, and oh, by the way, the warm chocolate chip cookies for desert - they do not play! Until next time! SYOY!

• Michele W.

  star star star star star_border 8 November 2026

  From the moment we arrived we were greeted with professional and taken immediately to our table! Krystal our waitress could not have been better! She was awesome..since we've never been here she guided us through their menu with our selections. Ofcourse our drinks were served within 5 minutes btw!  Delicious black tea too.
  
  The country fried chicken with collards greens with a twist of a taste along with delicious mashed potatoes were amazing.
  
  The salad I had with kale avocado and scrumptious chicken( added protein) was great , maybe could have used more avocado but I was happy and highly recommend both... Kystal said next time you must try the ribs and Eddie's eyes kit up! For an upscale restaurant this place is worth it. Thank you To all and to Carolina, the manager who made our dining experience great. A little pricy but it was with it! GO..,, yum

• Jeane N.

  star star star star star_border 7 November 2026

  This was the best Miami Spice I have ever experienced. All three courses were great for me and I can't complain about anything I had. My super cool Mai Tai came in in a Spam can and that was a good convo starter. No salty taste, I promise lol. My fiancé ordered the Cold Smoked Old Fashioned where there actually smoke the bourbon, so it was strong and tasty!
  
  The first course was the Wagyu Shaking beef and I truly had no words because it was just that good! I am not a real beef pro but the way the flavors just melt together and cook itself in the sauce was magnificent. I would go back just for that.
  
  I got the ribs and again, I typically don't order beef or ribs at a restaurant but I wanted to try something new. I mean that's the whole point of Miami Spice. The only reason why I didn't give 5 stars is because my fiancé ordered the corn bread and we never even got it.

• Mark S.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 3 November 2026

  I love Michael Mina's restaurants (Bourbon Steak, Stripsteak), and this one is almost walking distance for me, so I really WANT to love it.  Unfortunately, it needs work.  I came on a school holiday Monday lunch and at 1:15pm there weren't many other guests on a day it should have been hopping.  There is a great patio that almost doubles seating capacity, but given that it's hot and humid in Miami generally, there will only be a 2- or maybe 3-month window when it's an asset.
  
  My group of 4 had:
  To start: TRUFFLED CEASAR SALAD looked great but the flavors weren't there for me, and there was only a hint of truffle.  The WEDGE came chopped (so why call it a 'wedge'?), and was good, but not particularly inventive or something you can't make at home... something this salad had in common with the GREEK SALAD which was heavy with red onion (which is totally fine, if it's marinated to 'tame' it, which this was NOT).
  
  For mains:
  SKIRT STEAK was a pretty boring rendition, and a theme emerged at this point: I can make ALL this stuff better at home!  There was no particular notes that made this special as having been grilled or prepared in some special way other than regular grilling.
  FRIED CHICKEN came with a mound of really good mashed potatoes and some 'smoky greens' which had some orange sauce on them that didn't do anything for me in the aggregate. The chicken itself looked amazing, but also disappointing: very thick crust, with chicken withered under it all (and dry too! where is the evidence of buttermilk brining?!).  The consensus from all 4 of us was "Publix is better".  Yikes.
  
  International Smoke and EMBER (totally different chef/locale) both opened in 2019 with a similar theme (international cuisine with a flame/grill/smoke preparation), but the former disappointed on this visit, which is unfortunate since I could almost walk to it (and would, regularly, if it was worth the walk).  I have yet to try Ember, but this place will also have serious competition from nearby 800-degrees, which also has a similar focus.
  
  The $55 "Fuego menu" might be an option for a future visit (if I dare to try again), because it has items more unique than the set I tried at lunch (things like Hawaiian style snapper, wagyu shaking beef, corn bread, jerk chicken, etc.), but I can't understand why the lunch offerings would be so boring and uninspired.  When I go out to eat, I don't want home cooking.

• Michael B.

  star star star star_border star_border 20 October 2026

  Really inviting restaurant, seeing that we smelled the food/BBQ from the mall that it's located within. Definitely didn't have a hard time finding the location with that being said.
  
  So I was invited here to celebrate a birthday party with a group of about 20 people that filtered in at different times. The staff was pretty accommodating and patient with us which was very nice to experience. I know how difficult parties can get.
  
  Anyhow the food menu was pretty simple with variety of different cuisines. Mostly American BBQ cuisines with a couple of twists to it....I think I noticed Falafel and Mexican choice on there. I chose the St.Louis Cut Pork Ribs with the Golden Garlic Sweet & Sour Sauce. To be honest it was a decent meal, didn't impress me , and from what i overheard from the group I was with they think I had the best entree. Couple of complaints about their entrees(Mexican Chicken, Fried Chicken, Red Snapper). They also gave milk and cookies for dessert which was really nice.
  
  Once again I'll the say the service I received from my server was prompt, very nice and accommodating but the couple of critiques about my experience was that my meal came out a solid 10-15mins after everyone else's on top of the wrong meal being delivered to me originally. I figured for the price point of the meal things of that nature wouldn't happen.
  
  If I were to come back it would be for the appetizers, which were pretty good, and The wine selection which was intriguing.