Co-owners Michael Simkins and Derek Fleming on the stairs leading up to the pool hall, a photo-worthy spot, at Red Rooster Overtown, which is closing for renovations.
Pedro Portal
pportal@miamiherald.com
Red Rooster is taking a break — and it’s not a short summer pause.
The famous Miami restaurant, known for its celebration of Overtown history and culture, announced that it will be closing for renovations this fall.
The closing is temporary, according to the restaurant’s statement in an email, which stressed the need to make “new investments in the restaurant.”
The renovation will include “necessary repairs, renovations and updates designed to enhance the guest experience while preserving the unique character, history and deep connection of the Clyde Killens Pool Hall and its connection to Miami’s historic Overtown community,” the email reported.
The statement acknowledged Red Rooster’s commitment to paying tribute to Overtown’s unique history, including its Caribbean and Bahamian influence and its musical past, during which the town hosted stars like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
Charles Page Jr. Executive Chef gets ready to prepare a whole Snapper fish in the kitchen at the Red Rooster restaurant located in the heart of Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, on Friday, March 13, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
“We have always been more than a restaurant. It was created as a gathering place that celebrates Overtown’s extraordinary cultural legacy through food, music, art and community,” the statement continued. “Our investment represents our continued commitment to that vision and to the neighborhood we are proud to call home.”
Chef Marcus Samuelsson, a James Beard Award winner, opened the original Red Rooster Harlem in 2010. Located at 920 NW Second Ave., Red Rooster Overtown followed in 2020, with a menu designed by Samuelsson and chef Tristan Epps making magic happen in the kitchen. Highlights included fire-roasted wagyu oxtail, served whole with maduros; fried chicken with local sour orange hot honey and amberjack tiradito and griot fried pork chunks with papaya pikliz.
“For me, Red Rooster has always been about more than a restaurant,” Samuelsson told the Miami Herald earlier this year. “It’s about honoring neighborhoods that have shaped culture, music and food in America.”
Recently, the restaurant teamed up with University of Miami defensive lineman Justin Scott to name a limited-edition burger after the player.
Red Rooster will reopen, the statement said, in early December, just before the onslaught of tourists arriving for Art Basel, which runs Dec. 4-6. The last day of service is Sept. 6
Co-owners Michael Simkins (left) and Derek Fleming at Red Rooster in Miami’s historic Overtown neighborhood, which is closing for renovations. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Connie Ogle loves wine, books and the Miami Heat. Please don’t make her eat a mango.