{"id":416509,"date":"2026-10-02T07:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416509\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T07:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:20:11","slug":"michelin-fave-cotoa-is-moving-to-a-bigger-north-miami-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416509\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelin Fave COTOA is Moving to a Bigger North Miami Location"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been meaning to try COTOA<\/a>, you still have time. But wait much longer, and you’ll\u00a0have to follow chef Alejandra Espinoza to a new address.<\/p>\n

The Michelin Bib Gourmand\u2013recognized Ecuadorian restaurant is closing its original North Miami location later this\u00a0month and relocating to a larger space just minutes away. The new COTOA is set to open Thursday, October 22 at 1111 NE 125th St., Suite 200,\u00a0featuring\u00a0more seats, more dishes and, mercifully, more room for anyone who has tried to\u00a0herd a larger dinner party into the current space.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED: Miami Spice extends through Halloween for the first time in 25 years, giving diners a whole extra month of amazing deals<\/a><\/p>\n

COTOA opened its first standalone restaurant in April 2025 and quickly became a destination for Espinoza\u2019s modern take on Ecuadorian cooking. The new 80-seat restaurant is designed to build on that momentum while giving the chef more room to explore\u00a0her home country’s food and culture.<\/p>\n

The new space will include a 60-seat dining room, a 10-seat bar and TOA, an intimate eight-seat private dining room. Ecuadorian artwork will also be incorporated throughout the restaurant, adding a cultural component to the experience alongside Espinoza\u2019s cooking.<\/p>\n

\"Cevichocho
\nPhotograph: Courtesy COTOACevichocho at COTOA <\/p>\n

And yes, there will be more food. The larger kitchen\u00a0lets COTOA add new dishes across the menu while keeping some of the restaurant\u2019s existing signatures. (We’re fans of the Pan de Yuca, the Mahi Mahi Manicero, and the\u00a0Cevichocho (lupini bean ceviche). The beverage program is getting an upgrade, too, with bartender James MacInnes developing a new cocktail menu to go along with the new digs.<\/p>\n

The expansion comes as Espinoza\u2019s profile continues to grow. She appears alongside two other Florida chefs in Season\u00a02 of Apple TV\u2019s Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars,\u00a0about the pursuit of\u00a0Michelin recognition. She\u2019s also working on a forthcoming cookbook focused on Ecuadorian ingredients, recipes, people and culinary traditions, as well as a podcast exploring the country\u2019s food culture.<\/p>\n

The new COTOA will open October 22. Hours will be Wednesdays and Thursdays 5:30pm-10pm; Fridays from 5:30pm to 11pm; Saturdays from 11:30am-3pm and 5:30pm to 11pm; and Sundays from 11:30am-3pm and 5:30pm-10pm.\u00a0For more information and to book a table, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve been meaning to try COTOA, you still have time. But wait much longer, and you’ll\u00a0have to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2019,225,227,226,2020,687],"class_list":["post-416509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-categories-restaurants","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-news-eating","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416509","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=416509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}