![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MER-Bar-View-scaled.png\")
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\nWhen the history of Miami\u2019s restaurant and nightlife scene gets written, Nicola Siervo\u2019s name will be all over it. The restaurateur and nightclub impresario has been a formative presence in South Florida hospitality since the original South Beach renaissance of the 1990s. Close to 35 years after his start in Miami Beach nightlife, Siervo is preparing to open his newest project: Mercante, a restaurant and piano bar inspired by the Italian Riviera, debuting on the Miami River this fall.<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\n
At a Glance<\/p>\n
Nicola Siervo, the hospitality veteran behind some of Miami Beach’s most influential restaurants and nightclubs since the 1990s, is opening Mercante, an Italian Riviera-inspired restaurant and piano bar on the Miami River, in late 2026. The project is a partnership with Roman Jones and House Kiki, the group behind Kiki on the River and Habibi, and will seat 175 guests across an indoor dining room and a waterfront terrazza.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Siervo has partnered with Roman Jones of House Kiki, the hospitality group behind Kiki on the River and Habibi, to bring Mercante to life. \u201cThe buzz around the Miami River reminds me of how it felt back when Miami Beach was on the rise and we were transforming it into the American Riviera,\u201d Siervo said. In developing the concept, he kept returning to his favorite spots along the Italian coast, places built around light, openness, and comfort, and found the Miami River\u2019s waterfront setting, and its Venice-like character, an ideal match.<\/p>\n
![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-2-copy-1-e1790096244332.png\")
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\n
Mercante\u2019s menu centers on freshly made pastas, salads, vibrant house-made sauces, and a wide range of seafood, raw, grilled, and otherwise. Siervo is building out a full Italian street food bar menu, house-made breads, desserts, and gelato, alongside a dedicated crudo program and what promises to be a standout: a menu of meatball and beverage pairings. An all-Italian wine list rounds out a drink program built around Italian-inspired craft cocktails and classics. \u201cMercante will deliver glamour,\u201d Siervo said, \u201cbut mostly it is a celebration of life spent with loved ones at the table and a journey through coastal Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-2-2-e1790097522378.png\")
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\n
Mercante\u2019s interiors come from Miami\u2019s Nikolai Design, led by House Kiki Chief Design Officer Mark Lehmkuhl, built around a palette of turquoise, citrus tones, and vibrant greens. The exterior sets the tone immediately, a whitewashed, ivy-covered fa\u00e7ade, striped awnings, and a vintage turquoise Fiat 500 parked out front. Guests enter via hand-glazed Zellige Italian tile stairs into a bar and lounge finished in polished brass and marble, before reaching a Main Dining Room built to evoke a Venetian palazzo, high ceilings, crystal chandeliers, vintage touches, and live piano music throughout the night.<\/p>\n
![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-2-copy-2-e1790097434405.png\")
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\n
The restaurant\u2019s terrazza, framed by a vine-covered pergola and overlooking the river, is Siervo\u2019s own Florida interpretation of a cliffside Amalfi coast terrace, with floor-to-ceiling doors that fold away entirely in good weather. Mercante will seat 175 guests total between its indoor dining room and waterfront terrazza, with a private dockside table for up to 20 and a 150-foot dock for guests arriving by boat.<\/p>\n
![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-2-3-e1790097965964.png\")
Nicola Siervo<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: Mercante<\/p>\n
Mercante is located at 404 NW North River Drive on the Miami River, and will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with brunch service Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
For more of Haute Living\u2019s Miami coverage, see The Best Coffee in Miami Right Now, From Historical Icons to Jimmy Butler\u2019s Miami Design District Flagship<\/a> and The 8 Negronis Redefining Miami\u2019s Cocktail Scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Haute Read<\/p>\n Nicola Siervo built his reputation transforming South Beach into what he calls the American Riviera decades ago. With Mercante, he’s betting that same instinct works again, this time on the Miami River, a waterway he sees carrying the same energy Miami Beach had before anyone else noticed. Whether Mercante becomes the Miami River’s own defining address the way Siervo’s earlier projects defined South Beach is still ahead of it. But between the Venetian palazzo dining room, the Amalfi-inspired terrazza, and a partner in House Kiki who’s already reshaping the same stretch of river, Mercante is arriving with exactly the kind of pedigree that’s hard to ignore.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Haute Black \u00a0\u00b7\u00a0 By Haute Living<\/p>\n Book any of these stays Haute Living access. Two decades inside the world\u2019s best hotels.<\/p>\n Virtuoso partner. Upgrades & VIP arrival at 1,200+ properties.<\/p>\n One advisor. Who knows you by name.<\/p>\n Frequently Asked QuestionsWhen does Mercante open?<\/p>\n Mercante is set to open in late 2026 on the Miami River.<\/p>\n Can guests arrive at Mercante by boat?<\/p>\n Yes, Mercante has a 150-foot dock available for boat access along the Miami River.<\/p>\n How many guests can Mercante seat?<\/p>\n Mercante seats 175 guests between its indoor dining room and waterfront terrazza, with an additional private dockside table for up to 20 guests.<\/p>\n Who is behind Mercante?<\/p>\n Mercante comes from hospitality veteran Nicola Siervo, in partnership with Roman Jones and House Kiki, the group behind Kiki on the River, Habibi, and several other Miami River concepts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the history of Miami\u2019s restaurant and nightlife scene gets written, Nicola Siervo\u2019s name will be all over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[105821,225,227,226,161855,161856,137214,161857,161858,161859,161860,161861],"class_list":["post-407556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-habibi-miami","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-italian-restaurants-in-miami","tag-kiki-on-the-river","tag-little-river-miami","tag-mercante","tag-miami-river-restaurants","tag-new-miami-restaurants","tag-nicola-siervo","tag-waterfront-dining-in-miami"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
through Haute Black.<\/p>\n