When Roberta’s opened in Bushwick, Brooklyn in 2008, New York City’s iconic pizza scene was firmly on the map, but the restaurant helped to kickstart a new wave of modern pizzerias. The Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant from Brandon Hoy and chef and co-founder Carlo Mirarchi (also of two-Michelin-star Blanca) has since expanded with additional locations in New York and broken into new markets, including Los Angeles, Nashville and Singapore.
The latest Roberta’s restaurant will be located in Miami as the brand recently announced that it’s coming to Miami Beach in the first quarter of 2024. This will be their first restaurant in Florida.
Roberta’s was recently lured to Miami by Lefferts — a real estate development firm that’s building a new luxury condominium called 72 Park. The restaurant will wrap around the 22-story tower’s northwest corner, occupying 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
“We have always loved Miami ever since our first Art Basel pop-up in 2010,” Hoy said. “It is such a vibrant city, rich in culture. In 2017, we popped-up at Jungle Plaza in the Miami Design District and f**ing loved it. So, we have been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to make Miami a permanent home, and Lefferts’ 72 Park felt like home.”
The Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant from Brandon Hoy, pictured, and chef and co-founder Carlo Mirarchi (also of two-Michelin-star Blanca) has since expanded with additional locations in New York and broken into new markets, including Los Angeles, Nashville and Singapore.
The original Roberta’s is housed inside a cinder block warehouse and separates itself from corner slice joints with its bustling dining room, loud music, and a menu that supplemented its Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pizzas with delicate salads, fresh pastas and house-cured meats. Roberta’s full-service locations share the same DNA as its predecessor, but each has a distinct personality. Hoy said the Miami restaurant’s design will be fun and vibrant, playing off the environment inside 72 Park.
The menu will feature Roberta’s classic pizzas, like the famous original with tomato, mozzarella, parmigiano, caciocavallo (an Italian curd cheese), oregano, and chili; and the “Porchettaboutit” pizza with porchetta, taleggio (Italian soft cheese), red onion, garlic, basil, fennel seed, olive oil, and lemon. There will also be housemade pastas and salads, and the menu will showcase locally sourced products from the surrounding area, including from local fishing boats.
“As with all our locations, Miami will offer far more than pizza,” Hoy said. “Chef Carlo is excited to work in a city with such a rich and storied relationship with food. And, of course, it wouldn’t be Roberta’s if we weren’t bringing some exciting programming into the mix.”
Following the opening of the Miami location, Roberta’s will be opening additional restaurants in 2024, including the first full-service Roberta’s in Manhattan, which will feature the concept’s first multi-level restaurant. Hoy explained that it will have rooftop dining, a lounge, an outdoor Tiki bar, and a take-out and delivery area.
Roberta’s restaurants are supplemented by CPG products, including a frozen pizza line, along with a curated selection of housemade food items, cookbooks, and branded merchandise that are available online.
