Rent is one of the biggest expenses for restaurateurs, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween your rent and the CAM [common area maintenance], you have to be very careful before you sign a lease,\u201d Perez Miranda said, declining to disclose how much his restaurants pay. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to work just to pay rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being an early entrant to Little River in 2023 helped him land favorable lease terms compared to pricier nearby areas like the Design District and Wynwood, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Restaurants operate on razor-thin margins, which are squeezed by rising food costs, labor expenses and rental rates.<\/p>\n
Felix Bendersky<\/a>, founder of Miami-based F+B Hospitality Brokerage, said the average restaurant operates on a 3 percent net profit margin. A common industry benchmark is for rent to account for no more than 10 percent of projected sales, he said.<\/p>\n Bendersky expects more closures this summer, a period he refers to as the \u201cghost summer.\u201d<\/p>\n The term refers to restaurants that quietly disappear without publicly announcing their closure.<\/p>\n He said rather than issuing formal statements, some operators suddenly stop service, reduce operating hours or claim they are temporarily closed before ultimately shutting down for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brickell has seen some of these closures recently.<\/p>\n Mediterranean-Asian fusion restaurant Kaori abruptly closed after earning a coveted star from the Michelin Guide in May for a third consecutive year.<\/p>\n The neighborhood also lost Dirty French in the same month, the Major Food Group steakhouse from the New York hospitality giant behind Carbone and ZZ\u2019s.<\/p>\n Baby Jane publicly announced its closure<\/a> at 500 Brickell Avenue in an Instagram post, citing unsuccessful lease renewal negotiations after a decade in business, closing on May 31.<\/p>\n Representatives from the restaurants did not immediately respond to The Real Deal\u2019s requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The trend unveils a reality often overlooked by diners.<\/p>\n Culinary accolades, media buzz or local fandom may elevate a restaurant\u2019s profile, but it doesn\u2019t keep them open for business.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a rough time because the rents are out of control,\u201d Bendersky said. \u201cMichelin, James Beard \u2014 none of that means anything when summer\u2019s coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n Some restaurateurs are heading north to Orlando and Tampa, or all the way to North Carolina, because they can afford to make money there, he said.<\/p>\n Restaurant rents in South Florida that once hovered around $60 per square foot have climbed above $100 per square foot, while asking rents in premier locations can exceed $200 per square foot, Bendersky said. Most restaurant lease agreements are for 10 years and typically jump at least 3 percent annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those spikes can quickly upend a restaurant\u2019s business model.<\/p>\n \u201cAll a landlord needs is one comp to take rent from $60 to $130 and that\u2019s it. Now your math is completely upside down. A lot of these guys are just working to pay the landlords,\u201d Bendersky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The operators that have weathered the market typically secured favorable leases before or during the pandemic, are backed by deep-pocketed investors,\u00a0 and attract customers beyond seasonal visitors or generate revenue through multiple channels, such as supper clubs, he said.<\/p>\n A bad real estate decision can sink a restaurant long before the first meal is served, he said.<\/p>\n Lengthy permitting timelines and construction delays can strain operators before opening day, leaving some owners with substantial rent and carrying costs long before their first customer arrives.<\/p>\n For restaurants inside luxury hotels, the model can look different.<\/p>\n Hive Hospitality owner and chef Ryan Ratino\u2019s 6,000-square-foot Chef\u2019s Counter at MAASS at the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale earned Broward County\u2019s only Michelin star this year. He said residential- and hotel-affiliated restaurants benefit from a built-in customer base that standalone concepts often lack.<\/p>\n The hotel-backed Michelin crowd includes The Surf Club Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club in Surfside and Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort in North Beach.<\/p>\n Ratino declined to discuss MAASS\u2019s lease terms at the Four Seasons, but he also owns Michelin-starred \u00d4mo by J\u00f4nt in Winter Park, where CommercialCafe reported retail rents average $37 per square foot, a fraction of what restaurateurs can face in some South Florida submarkets.<\/p>\n But not all restaurateurs find hotel leases sustainable.<\/p>\n Michael Beltran, executive chef and owner of Ariete Hospitality Group, which operates Michelin-starred Ariete in Coconut Grove<\/a>, said on a podcast that many hotel restaurants have come and gone, and chefs around the world are taking notice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hotel treats it like they treat the pool. It\u2019s an amenity, it\u2019s not a focus,\u201d he said. \u201cGood food doesn\u2019t really matter to hotels. All they really care about is what name is on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Beltran did not immediately respond to The Real Deal\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent hotel restaurant closures include Stephen Starr\u2019s Mexican eatery El Vez at the W Fort Lauderdale, which will be replaced by Motek\u2019s first Broward outpost<\/a>, and Cipresso, the Italian fine-dining restaurant at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, which is set to close July 18 to make way for a Major Food Group concept.<\/p>\n Representatives from El Vez and the Hard Rock did not immediately respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dacra founder and CEO Craig Robins said the Miami Design District<\/a>, home to South Florida\u2019s highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Le Jardinier, L\u2019Atelier de Jo\u00ebl Robuchon Miami and Cote Miami, is fully occupied and has a waiting list of prospective tenants.<\/p>\n Robins declined to discuss rental rates or lease structures in the Design District, though the area\u2019s supply-and-demand dynamics offer an explanation for its asking rents in the range of $200 per square foot, according to an online listing.<\/p>\n While high-income earners keep the design district cooking, wealth migration to South Florida expanded the pool of diners willing to spend on high-end meals, helping support upscale restaurants in a broader mix of neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the Design District is unaffordable. It\u2019s very expensive to operate,\u201d Perez Miranda said. \u201cI have learned one thing over the years: People like to eat good food. They travel wherever.\u201d<\/p>\n \tRead more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Motek to make Broward debut at W Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Here\u2019s what some tenants are paying in the Miami Design District<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t As retail rents rise, so does the cost of dining out in Miami<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Rendering](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Motek-to-make-Broward-debut-at-W-Fort-Lauderdale2-200x133.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Brookfield](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/493-Heres-what-tenants-are-paying-in-the-Miami-Design-District-v-250x178.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Mila](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_Top-Restaurants-200x133.jpg\")
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