Introducing Sunny’s Steakhouse (Sunny’s); the highly anticipated restaurant and bar from the team behind Miami’s award-winning Jaguar Sun and Bon Appetit “Best Restaurant in America” honoree Sunny’s Someday Steakhouse residency at Lot 6. After swiftly becoming one of Miami's hottest reservations, Sunny’s Someday Steakhouse ended its residency in May 2022. Co-owners Will Thompson and Carey Hynes were able to retain the residency’s beloved outdoor brick courtyard anchored by its majestic banyan tree and broke ground to build a new, modern white-tableclothed indoor and outdoor restaurant around it to create the new Sunny’s Steakhouse - affectionately known as Sunny’s - which is poised to deliver a nightly dinner party that needs to be felt to be believed.
Sunny’s food menu will boast raw bar selections that draw from both Florida waters and afar, wood-fired proteins and steakhouse classics from the team’s in-house dry-aging program, alongside Jaguar Sun’s famous hand-made pastas, salads, and small and large plates. Sunny’s Tales of the Cocktail “Spirited Award” Regional Honoree-named beverage team has developed a high-caliber cocktail program touting impeccably-made classic and house cocktails, a pick-your-path martini menu, a no- and low-ABV cocktail selection, and a robust wine list.
Ethos - A Contemporary Miami Steakhouse
Sunny’s is rooted as a steakhouse, executed through a contemporary lens reflective of its Miami locale. Across the entire concept, from the design to the food and beverage menus, guests will find elevated versions of classics, with an emphasis on product sourcing, quality, and handling.
“Sunny’s is a dinner party, one that’s predicated on world-class food, beverage, and service, but it’s got to be about more than just what is on a plate or in your glass,” says Sunny’s Owner Will Thompson. “It feels like much of what makes restaurants special has gotten lost. Sunny’s is our attempt to bring some of that magic back, in a space that’s as easy to drop into for french fries and a martini as it is for a 50th wedding anniversary.”
Food
Chef-Partner Carey Hynes and Executive Chef Aaron Brooks lead the Sunny’s kitchen, offering a contemporary steakhouse menu that echoes the restaurant’s intent to present the best versions of classics that are uniquely memorable and singularly Sunny’s.
Seafood is a main play at Sunny’s, where a robust raw bar boasts a selection of the finest fish and shellfish available in Miami, with a nod to Sunny’s tropical location and the kitchen team’s background in some of the world’s best kitchens. The raw bar will heavily emphasize utilizing local Florida seafood, including Treasure Coast Oysters, Royal Red Shrimp, Yellowjacks, Grouper, and Stone Crabs from Jay Bruns.
Wood-fired proteins and steakhouse classics take center stage at Sunny’s. Harkening back to residency days all steak cuts will be prepared over a live oak fire visible to dining room patrons. The residency’s famous USDA prime hanger steak will make a comeback, and a selection of both American and Australian wagyu cuts will be dry-aged on the premises. Steakhouse sauces will span from the more traditional like Béarnaise, Périgourdine, and Potato Butter to lighter and brighter offerings like Pineapple Hot Sauce, XO, and a Rosé Vinegar-Spiked Bone Marrow Vinaigrette.
In perhaps the biggest evolution from the residency days Sunny’s menu will now include a pasta section, with many of Miami’s favorites from Jaguar Sun making the trip up to Sunny’s. Rigatoni with Spicy Pork Sugo and Corn Agnolotti will anchor the pasta section, with new pastas rounding out the menu including a Duck Lasagna and Chitarra with Mushroom and Sherry.
Signature dinner items include:
Beverage
As a restaurant conceived and helmed by lauded beverage industry alum Will Thompson, it is no surprise that cocktails are at the forefront of Sunny’s, where guests can find impeccably crafted classic and house cocktails, a “pick-your-path” martini menu, reminiscent of Sunny’s original residency days, and large format cocktail options. A handful of cocktail favorites from Jaguar Sun made the move to Sunny’s, including the iconic Green Ghoul.
Signature cocktails include:
In addition to the thoughtfully curated cocktail menu, Director of Operations Matt Whitney flexes his sommelier expertise across a substantial wine list that spans classic regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Napa Valley to more adventurous and obscure regions like Baden, Swartland, and the Canary Islands, offering an approachable, balanced, and inviting program.
A generous no- and low-ABV cocktail selection, coffee and tea service, and a notable dessert wine list beautifully round out Sunny’s extensive beverage program.
Design
In many ways the 13,000 square foot, 220-seat Sunny’s designed itself. In an effort to preserve the magic of its original iteration, owner Will Thompson and New York-based interior designer Amy Butchko of The Springs Collective endeavored to retain the industrial character of the courtyard, which now boasts an approachable outdoor bar with casual seating, designed to encourage connection. The 3,000-square-foot outdoor dining area, situated beneath a beloved banyan tree, remains simple yet ever so slightly updated through the use of plush upholstery and still-white tablecloths.
Moving into Sunny’s indoor dining room, a nod to Palm Beach Regency and mid-century modernism greets guests, with Murano glass lighting fixtures and an homage to Vivai del Sud’s iconic mirrored screens creating a spaced layered with subtly recognizable design elements spanning the entirety of the twentieth century. Interior walls have been roughly plastered in keeping with the original factory finishes, sheltering a substantial U-shaped dining bar with a highly decorative marble floor and extensive millwork.
Sunny’s 50-seat, private dining space echoes the same Palm Beach Regency sentiment with a Hermann Herzog-inspired mural and fosters an even greater connection to the Banyan tree-covered courtyard via bifold doors that fully open to the bustling vibes outside.
Throughout the entirety of the restaurant, antique light fixtures glitter, hand-carved woodwork quietly broadcasts integrity, and stone floors solidly ground the experience of gathering in a space that prioritizes quality over affectation, and conviviality over condescension.
Reservations and Hours
Reservations are now available via Resy. Dinner will be served Wednesday - Saturday from 5PM-12AM, and on Sundays from 4-10PM.
Image credit: Michael Pisarri
