Just around the first of April, Lobster Bar Sea Grille opened in the spot on Washington Avenue and 5th Street that will forever be known by locals as “the old China Grill spot.”

The seafood restaurant is the newest concept from the national award-winning Buckhead Life Restaurant Group of Atlanta, Georgia, and owners of the popular Chops Lobster Bar and City Fish Market in Boca Raton and sister restaurant Lobster Bar Sea Grille in Fort Lauderdale.

Guests are meant to enjoy a sophisticated atmosphere complete with modern-contemporary nautical touches. Management says they really want it to be all about the service and would love to be considered a fancier version of Cheers!, for locals to have a regular dining spot where "everyone knows your name".

The menu is fairly well rounded and highlights four signature categories that are considered Experiences for diners to have:

• Live Lobster Experience - featuring superior Canadian hard shell lobsters from the deep, icy waters of Nova Scotia - considered to be the Rolls Royce of Lobsters. These succulent lobsters are offered with several exciting preparations. The purest live lobsters, available up to 4 pounds, are steamed consistently to 145 degrees then fully cracked and served with traditional drawn butter and lemon.

• Whole Fish Experience - featuring whole European and local fish. Expertly prepared in the Mediterranean technique of grilling and basting with lemon, oregano and Greek E.V. olive oil, the fish is served filleted by our staff for the guest's enjoyment. Composed individual fish entrees round out the fresh fish selections.
• USDA Prime Signature Steaks - A full line of USDA Prime signature steaks from Chops Lobster Bar hand selected and custom aged by Halpern's - Black Diamond USDA Prime Steaks. Legendary at both the Chops Lobster Bar in Atlanta and Boca Raton, these steaks are the hallmark of our company.
• Unique Seafood Specialties & Appetizers - An array of sharable appetizers kick-off the dining experience and includes a variety shellfish on ice, crudo of pristine fish, sashimi, ceviche, tartares, as well as buttery French tartes with house-cured salmon, and other appetizer specialties.

On my visit we opted for the Lobster Experience and the Unique Seafood Specialties. It’s not the kind of restaurant where two people can eat the entire menu, so we will have to come back for more. We ordered the Chili Lobster, shell off in mild-spicy chili butter sauce served on toast with a full pound of lobster meat as an appetizer and the Lobster Pasta “Americaine” with 1lb of lobster morsels, tomato lobster sauce, served over fresh tagliatelli pasta. Both were full of flavor and there was plenty of lobster to go around. As far as the Unique Seafood, we went for the Octopus Ceviche with pickled pineapple, papaya, and cilantro appetizer and the Chilean Sea Bass served with Bangkok sushi rice cake, tomato jam, and BKK sauce. No idea what BKK sauce is, but it was delicious!

Their dessert menu was a difficult decision to make because we were too full to order more than one dessert and the long list was very tempting. The Warm Chocolate Cake was the winner. It’s made with 62% Peruvian chocolate served with a hazelnut praline filled with the freshest vanilla bean ice cream I’ve ever had. Overall it was a wonderful experience with top notch service.

This is the kind of white linen fancy dining that would best be enjoyed for date night, celebrations, friends or family in town, and even a delightful "treat yourself" kinda night – really any night can be turned into one of those!

Lobster Bar Sea Grille

404 Washington Ave. 

Miami Beach, FL

305 377 2675