MEET MIA, located at 620 Ocean Drive, in Miami Beach, is the latest addition to the INK ENTERTAINMENT portfolio, and is fashioned as an Italian restaurant.
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“Canada’s leading lifestyle and entertainment company,” INK is the parent to such restaurants as Byblos (Toronto & Miami), Pink Sky, FIGO, Patria, Sofia Yorkville, Amal, Akira Back, Kost and STORYS Building (among other ventures). And given that pedigree we had high hopes for their latest joint.
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But the first red flag should have been this sentence we spotted on the restaurant’s website: “Set in a Navigate-designed space, Mia swiftly transports you with its Italian flare while celebrating its Miami Beach location with an unobstructed ocean-side panorama.” While we’re not really sure what that means, let’s just say the adjoining Ocean Drive sidewalk is often extremely unpleasant. You’ll likely find it noisy, odoriferous (cannabis, car fumes, etc.), and filled with (non-stop) passing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. We also thought the establishment’s price structure was way too high. With appetizers ranging from $16-26, salads from $16-20, pastas $22-48, and mains from $32-64 — all BEFORE beverages, tax and tip — we decided to go easy (and only ordered a few items) to avoid going bankrupt.
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First off, I must confess that I despise paying for bread. The deviation from the centuries-old custom of providing it to diners for free, is not a welcomed development. So, I have some bias here. But we thought we’d start with the “Focaccia – cherry tomatoes, rosemary, olive trio tapenade” ($6 pre-tax/tip), particularly since it was the cheapest thing on the menu. But can you imagine our surprise when only two, small, cake-like slices arrived at our table? It was an insult.
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While we get that everyone must earn their daily bread, since this isn’t the way to do it, we rated this offering an “F.”
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