A note to to Ms Fernandez. How many were in your party? Most establishments that are NOT chains or large capacity places charge 18-19% auto gratuity for parties of 5 or more. This protects the... More

A note to to Ms Fernandez. How many were in your party? Most establishments that are NOT chains or large capacity places charge 18-19% auto gratuity for parties of 5 or more. This protects the server that earns $3/hour from people that are ignorant of tipping protocol, run them ragged, sit for 2 hours or more spend their money on food and skimp on the gratuity which is customarily split between the server, bar, busser & food runners. All said, servers sometimes end up paying out 5% of the gratuity to the support staff. i havent any idea of what the poicy is at this establishment, but i am a restaurant owner in Baltimore and know how my place operates. You also might want to check out what your actual charge was. We occasionally get calls from people that look at their account on an hourly basis. Credit card processors - some - automatically add 20% to the authorized amount to account for gratuity. Restaurants settle their tabs and run batch over night. Banks take a few days to process and then CHARGE the amount you authorized. Most likely you hopped on your computer when you got home and presumed the "pending authorization" was a charge. I bet it settled out correcty. Before bashing an establishment, check your facts. Its people like you that make us restauranteurs pull our hair out. People should be required to get a dining license for dining at places other than drive throughs where you only need to talk to a box and tipping isnt required. Geeze!
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Stopped in for the Winter Spice menu and was actually surprised that the prices were very reasonable even off the spice menu. I had perhaps the best rib-eye I have ever experienced...better than... More

Stopped in for the Winter Spice menu and was actually surprised that the prices were very reasonable even off the spice menu. I had perhaps the best rib-eye I have ever experienced...better than Prime 112 or Smith & Wollensky by miles...and considerably less expensive. Beautiful place, great ambiance, and the best meal I have had in Miami in ages.
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Wonderful food, great drinks, nice ambiance. Then I check my CC bill. On the bill at the end of the night, 18% gratuity was included. Great, fine, it's south beach, i'll pay it. My total... More

Wonderful food, great drinks, nice ambiance. Then I check my CC bill. On the bill at the end of the night, 18% gratuity was included. Great, fine, it's south beach, i'll pay it. My total was $70. When I checked my CC statement, they had charged me $85, a 20% increase on the 18% I had already paid. Stay classy, Table 8.
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Have ben to about 5 Miami Spice dinners so far, and Table 8 is the best! They dont make you feel akward ordering from it...some restaurants turn their nose up at yo, I've noticed (Devitos). At Table... More

Have ben to about 5 Miami Spice dinners so far, and Table 8 is the best! They dont make you feel akward ordering from it...some restaurants turn their nose up at yo, I've noticed (Devitos). At Table 8, the owner came by and said- "just go for the spice menu- its great, don't look any further than that!", and so we did, and he was right! it had a great skirt steak in a generous portion, with a fantastic soup to start. The place had a very nice scene at the bar for the middle of summer, and the service was just great. We hadnt been to Table 8 in quite a while, but will be back soon! Pros: Amazing food, great service, nice owner!
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You dont 'just become a celebrity chef because your're pretty. Unlike actors or models, with whom it seems to be about who you know, or what you did to get there- to some degree, you cant just... More

You dont 'just become a celebrity chef because your're pretty. Unlike actors or models, with whom it seems to be about who you know, or what you did to get there- to some degree, you cant just become as famous as Chef Armstrong for no reason. We came because we've heard the hype and seen the press. We'll return because we had the food, saw the restaurant, and felt the love. The experience was the best we have ever had in Miami. From the flawless service, the knowledge level the staff had achieved (nearly unheard of in SOBE), to the perfectly and masterfully executed cuisine and the hot scene at the place- DONT MISS TABLE 8. I had a totally original Calamari dish served and a huge cast iron serving piece. The flavors were phenom and the dish was a slam dunk. My wife had a beautiful beet salad- couldnt get enough. The entrees ranged from many local fish selections, to plenty for the meat lover. I went with a NY steak that had a flavor so unique, it redefined steak for me. I asked the waiter how this thing tasted so "different", and he explained to me how Chef Armstrong's dishes often take days to prepare with all of the marinading and whatnot. He isn't just pulling a steak from the fridge and tossing it on the grill. Among his techniques, he apparently uses vaccuum sealed bags to marinade some of the meats in for several days, whatever the process it works! Cant say enough about the evening we had. Moderate priced wine list, great deserts, loved the place. The area we sat was a bit dark and we needed a flashlight to read the menu, but I guess south beach seduction might be a way to describe it. Ha. What a place! Pros: atmosphere, cuisine Cons: bit dark
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I helped plan a bachelorett dinner for about 15 women in Miami Beach last week. We we looking for the best dinning experience, which I was under the impression were sorely lacking in Miami, and had... More

I helped plan a bachelorett dinner for about 15 women in Miami Beach last week. We we looking for the best dinning experience, which I was under the impression were sorely lacking in Miami, and had recently seen Chef Govind on OPRAH, so we wanted to try it. With plenty of advance notice I had made the reservation at Table 8 with a few special requests that they gladly accommodated (food requests, where we sat, etc.) They had several options for set menus with different pricing that they had offered us in advance, but we ended up ordering off the menu. I started with a boucheron, a cheese dish which is gently fried or baked, with which I wasn't previously familiar, and it was absolutely to die for! A slight crispness to the outer layer, enveloping a divine cheese inside. Everyone was over the top with their apps, which ranged from a perfectly prepared tuna tartar dish, to his famous grilled cheese short rib sandwiches. Chef Armstrong was making his rounds through the restaurant while we are getting our entrees. He stopped by to check on us and was so charming and sweet, and truly passionate about explaining several of the dishes to us. The entree menu had a very nice and concise selection of local fish, a "baby chicken" dish that was absolutely amazing, and plenty of meats (lamb, pork, steak...). I had a local snapper that was just fantastic, I though that all of chef's sauces and the types of accoutrements he uses is really what sets his food apart. I sampled dished from the sliced Kobe steak to a Korubuta pork dish that was just perfect. The food is very "comfort-food" oriented, and I think I had expected a bit more fancy-schmansy...a pleasant surprise for a place so touted by the cullinary world. The ambiance was just beautiful, lots of candle light and amber tones. Our staff was fun and service was the best we had anywhere over the 3 days. A fabulous experience by all account! Pros: food, ambiance, staff, all great! Cons: none
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The week of March 10, we brought our annual convention to Miami Beach. I planned a night out with my wife at Table 8. We arrived at 7:30pm and were seated promptly in the empty dining room which... More

The week of March 10, we brought our annual convention to Miami Beach. I planned a night out with my wife at Table 8. We arrived at 7:30pm and were seated promptly in the empty dining room which faces Ocean Drive. For appitizers, we ordered the diced ahi tuna asparagus, marinated radishes, aioli and the warm boucheron balsamic roasted onion, avocado, herb salad. We ordered the salt encrusted porterhouse for two which, is the signature dish at table 8. We ordered Rose by the glass for the appitizers and the Syrah also by the glass for our main course. The appitizers arrived. The boucheron on my plate was tepid and near cold. The only flavor was in the roasted onion which was served on the plate. My wife grimaced when she forked a piece of the radish on her ahi tuna appitizer into her mouth. She quickly took a gulp of water. I asked what was wrong and she offered me a sample. I immediately discharged the piece from my mouth into a napkin. This was the most bitter thing I have ever tasted. We consulted our server who checked with the kitchen. She reported back that they had mistakenly marinated the radish only in vinegar forgetting to add the rest of the marinade. No offer to replace the foul tasting dish or delete it from our tab. Our porterhouse arrived and was presented by a different server who explained the cooking process and the ingredients in the salt crust. Our first impression was that the cut of beef was very small for $125 allowing us each 5 or 6 medium sized slices. We also found an inordinate ammount of gristle and tendon in our portions which was inedible and we had to discharge into our napkins. We received our check which came to $276, which included an 18% gratuity. Today (3 days later), I checked my credit card statement and found that they had added another 20% to that charging me $332. In my 18 years as an event planner and dining at over 1000 restaurants, this experience rates as the worst.
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This restaurant is very classy! The atmosphere is great. The food is also good. I had the smoked salmon ravioli. That was my first time having salmon ravioli and it was great. It is a gourmet... More

This restaurant is very classy! The atmosphere is great. The food is also good. I had the smoked salmon ravioli. That was my first time having salmon ravioli and it was great. It is a gourmet restaurant so the portions are small. Overall its a nice place
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At my wife's insistence, after seeing Chef Armstrong on Oprah, we made a reservation last night. I have dragging myself down to the beach, with all the traffic and expensive parking and general... More

At my wife's insistence, after seeing Chef Armstrong on Oprah, we made a reservation last night. I have dragging myself down to the beach, with all the traffic and expensive parking and general mayhem... However, when we arrived at Table 8 we were told they had underground parking and that it was priced reasonably at $10 (very cheap for South Beach). The parking situation was great, because for those of us who know the beach, it usually takes Valet's 30 minutes to fetch your car from 6 miles away! We arrived early (by Miami times) and were seated with little wait. Apparently Wednesday night is their big "party" night, when the place gets a bit more of a bar scene than other week nights. The selection was pretty impressive and I was urged by a very attentive waitress to go with a sweetbread dish and chef's famous "kobe" style steak for an entree. Of course, we also had to try the grilled cheese that Chef made on Oprah (which is not usually available in the dining room- only the lounge) though I'm sure they will change this since the Oprah show this week. The sweetbreads were wonderful, not like the sinewy onces most of the Argentine restaurants down here love to overcook...but rather a perfect amount of crispness surrounding a delicate and wonderfully rich inside. Like the sweetbreads, my steak was made to perfection and I now get what the hype over "Kobe" and "kobe style" is all about. If American "waygu" is that tender, I can only imagine what its authentic counterpart in Japan is like! By the time we finished a very nice desert, the place was packed with a young and restless crowd. It was so bad that it would have interferred with the people dinning, but it was definately a "scene". The place is my new exception to the rule I have lived by for years of keeping away from the beach in season...Table 8 was a fantastic experience that I look forward to replicating soon! Pros: service and food Cons: crowded
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After seeing Chef Govind on Oprah, my sister and I drove 20 miles from the Grove to have lunch with our visiting Dad. We wanted to take him to Table 8 for dinner, but couldn't get a dinner table on... More

After seeing Chef Govind on Oprah, my sister and I drove 20 miles from the Grove to have lunch with our visiting Dad. We wanted to take him to Table 8 for dinner, but couldn't get a dinner table on Friday until way past dads bed time..so we "settled" for lunch. I can't say enough about how wonderful the chestnut soup that I started with was, and then to move on to this perfection in a sandwich.... wow! Oprah doesn't mess around and its no wonder every book she mentions becomes a best seller! Not that Govind wasnt a huge culinary star already, but Oprah is bringing him to mainstream America for sure. The lunch was so reasonable priced for the beach, the service was very friendly and it was just a great great experience. Pros: The perfect lunch spot Cons: a little touristy
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