China Grill, the Restaurant That Built South Beach, Is Back in Miami

Some restaurants define a city. China Grill, the legendary Asian-inspired dining institution founded by restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, belongs firmly in that category — and after more than a decade away, it has returned to Miami. The iconic restaurant reopened on June 9, 2026, at the entrance of Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Avenue, Bal Harbour, FL 33154, claiming one of the most coveted dining addresses in South Florida.

Photo Credit: World Red Eye

The return of China Grill is not just a reopening. It is a reclamation. When Chodorow first brought the concept to Miami Beach on September 27, 1995 — betting on the then-unproven southern edge of South Beach at the corner of Fifth Street and Washington Avenue — he helped catalyze the rise of South of Fifth as the neighborhood it is today. The original China Grill, with interiors by the late Jeffrey Beers, earned four stars from the Miami Herald, attracted a global clientele, and ran as one of the city’s most influential dining rooms for more than fifteen years. Its spirit lived on through concepts like Komodo, which carried the globally inspired culinary philosophy forward. Now the original is back.

Its new home at Bal Harbour Shops is fitting in every sense. Positioned alongside Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Makoto, and Carpaccio, China Grill at Bal Harbour places itself squarely among the Magic City’s most international, luxury-driven dining and retail addresses — the kind of room that draws editors, executives, and regulars from Sunny Isles Beach to São Paulo in equal measure.

Photo Credit: World Red Eye

“China Grill was always about creating a shared experience, something people remembered long after the meal ended,” said Chodorow. “There’s been a real demand to bring it back, and Bal Harbour feels like the right place to do it in a way that honors what it was while moving it forward.”

Photo Credit: World Red Eye

The menu honors that promise. The signatures that built China Grill’s reputation return in full: Lobster Pancakes, Lamb Spare Ribs with their deep caramelized glaze, Tempura Sashimi, Spicy Beef Dumplings, and the cult-favorite sides — Crispy Spinach and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes — that never really left the city’s collective dining memory. The Confucius Chicken Salad, Crackling Calamari Salad, and Peking Duck Salad are back, each built for the kind of communal, shareable dining that China Grill perfected before the word “shareable” became a menu category. Dessert closes with Banana’s in a Box, the playful, indulgent finale that became one of the restaurant’s most talked-about finales, alongside a lineup of Asian-inspired soufflés.

New additions expand the conversation without overwriting it. A signature black and gold black cod dumpling joins the dumpling program. Octopus with fresh lychee and Asian-spiced coffee-crusted tuna signal where the kitchen is heading. A simply grilled section — meats, fish, chicken, and vegetables served with a selection of Asian sauces — appears for the first time, with a bento-style lunch format bringing the concept to midday. The signature Peking Duck, which China Broadcasting called the best they had experienced outside of China, rounds out a menu that is as much about memory as it is about discovery.

Photo Credit: World Red Eye

“We’re introducing some new dishes that feel right for where dining is today, but the heart of the menu is unchanged,” Chodorow said. “Most of what people remember is coming back exactly as it should.”

The new space echoes the original while reading as distinctly current. Excerpts from Marco Polo’s journals are embedded throughout the floors — a signature detail carried forward — alongside the brand’s recognizable floating lighting, updated materials, and a refined contemporary layout suited to Bal Harbour’s scale and audience. The room seats 160. The energy, by design, remains high-touch and in motion.

THE HAUTE READ

China Grill, the Asian-inspired dining institution founded by Jeffrey Chodorow, has reopened in Miami at Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Ave, Bal Harbour, FL 33154, as of June 9, 2026.