By Jay Webber, publisher of CFE News
Sometimes a change of scene doesn’t require a passport—just a reservation.
Recently Sara and I took the Brightline train from Palm Beach County to Miami—hands-down the easiest way to travel through congested South Florida. A short walk north of the Miami station brought us to Red Rooster Overtown, the sister restaurant to Marcus Samuelsson’s famed Harlem original.
The night unfolded the way the best Travel Table stops do: one part menu exploration, one part local storytelling, and one part “did that just come out with sparklers?”
Red Rooster Overtown isn’t shy about connecting food to place. The building’s legacy is part of the draw—tied to Overtown’s heritage as a hub for Black culture and entertainment. Housed in a former pool hall that once hosted such legends as Muhammad Ali and Aretha Franklin, the restaurant’s décor adds to the appeal. Rich colors, vintage details and lush tropical accents set the stage for a swanky night out.
The menu honors its legacy by featuring an array of Afro-Caribbean and soul food options, with everything from sauces to bread made entirely in house. The menu changes based on Executive Chef Charles Page’s vision.
We started with the Boogie Down Tower, a $45 showstopper that arrives with actual sparklers. This shareable feast, a Thursday-night special, is a greatest-hits sampler, with cornbread waffles, breaded fried chicken drumsticks, chicken salad in crisp lettuce cups (as a chicken-salad connoisseur, this may have been my favorite ever), honey butter biscuits, and deviled eggs topped with truffle chive vinaigrette, caviar and crispy chicken skin. Friday nights feature a fish fry tower.
While that could be a shared dinner in itself, we had to try M’s Fried Yardbird—“definitely what we’re known for, a house staple since we opened seven years ago,” said manager Tanganyika Smith. The twice-fried dark meat chicken, drizzled with hot honey, is served over the creamiest sweet potatoes I’ve ever tasted and vinegar-based collard greens.
We also couldn’t resist the excellent Tuna Crudo with Cuban coffee, ponzu and burnt orange—one of the menu items created by former executive chef Tristen Epps-Long, who won Top Chef season 22—and the mouthwatering Smokestack Ribs, with two barbecue sauces and spicy pickles (we were warned).
Tuna Crudo and Smokestack Ribs are two standouts on the Afro-Caribbean menu.
For a flaming finish, we indulged in the tableside-flambeed S’mores Bread Pudding studded with chocolate chips—because, as Smith put it, “We don’t believe in diets here.” (A motto well worth adopting.)
What sets Red Rooster apart isn’t just the food—although that alone is worth the trip—it’s the connection to place and history. “When I think about what this neighborhood was before,” Smith reflected, “and what Red Rooster has brought—not just jobs, but inspiration—it means so much. Overtown was the safe haven for Black Americans during segregation. This was the Harlem of the South.” She shared how the restaurant employs many Overtown residents, partners with local schools for art projects, hosts Easter egg hunts and Halloween haunted houses for neighborhood kids, and offers summer hospitality programs for teens.
If you go, be sure to venture to the Pool Hall before you leave, up a staircase lined with historic fliers advertising performances from, among many others, Sam Cooke, Miles Davis and Nina Simone. There’s live music on Thursday nights. Although we had a train to catch so couldn’t stay, we left with a song in our hearts, and a deeper understanding of this Miami neighborhood’s rich legacy.
Red Rooster Overtown
920 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136
305.640.9880
