"Opening Lucky Cat in 2024 showed me that this city doesn't always want a concept designed somewhere else; it deserves a restaurant created specifically for Miami." Gordon Ramsay said that in a statement Miami New Times published on October 14.
The restaurant he built for Miami is called Lucky Cat Steak. It is scheduled to open on Wednesday, November 25, at 119 Washington Avenue, in the room Lucky Cat Miami left dark in August 2025. New Times took a jab at the idea that a Miami-specific restaurant turned out to be another steakhouse.
For this address, though, steak is a return. The beef-first menu takes 119 Washington back to what it served from 2008 to 2020.
A steakhouse address that took an 18-month detour
Red the Steakhouse opened at 119 Washington Avenue in 2008. By then the concept already had a following in Cleveland, and the Miami Beach location was the second Red in the country. Miami New Times recalled that it opened to quick praise in the middle of a recession.
In August 2020 Red moved a few blocks to 801 South Pointe Drive, into the former Mira Five Stars space, and New Times reported the move at the time. Red stayed in South of Fifth until it closed in May 2025, after 17 years in the neighborhood. New Times had named it Miami's best steakhouse in 2024.
Here is the address's timeline, using dates from published reports:
| Date | What happened at or around 119 Washington Ave |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Red the Steakhouse opens at 119 Washington |
| August 2020 | Red moves to 801 South Pointe Drive |
| February 2024 | Lucky Cat Miami opens with Asian small plates, robata, sushi and sashimi |
| May 17, 2025 | Red announces its closure on South Pointe Drive |
| August 4, 2025 | Lucky Cat announces a "seasonal pause" |
| August 11, 2025 | Lucky Cat goes dark |
| November 25, 2026 | Lucky Cat Steak is scheduled to open |
Lucky Cat arrived in early 2024 as a Tokyo-inspired room. Miami New Times' opening coverage listed small plates, robata, sushi and sashimi. The Miami Herald mentioned duck bao, tempura, Korean-spiced black cod and wagyu. Beef was on the menu, but the restaurant was built around a pan-Asian mix of dishes.
In August 2025 Lucky Cat called its closing "a moment to breathe" and "a moment to reset," and said the future was still "to be reimagined." New Times' August closings roundup noted that the restaurant gave no reopening date. Fourteen months later, the reimagined version is a steakhouse.
What the new menu puts first
According to the announcement, Ramsay developed the menu with Lucky Cat executive head chef Michael Howells. Four beef programs anchor it, all finished over the open-flame robata grill:
- USDA Prime, including dry-aged cuts
- Texas Akaushi
- Japanese A5 Miyazaki
- Australian Blackmore Wagyu
Sushi stays on the menu, now as the second act. The announcement lists wagyu maki, scallop sashimi and tuna and jalapeño crispy rice, plus snapper ceviche and wagyu gyoza. The team points to black cod croquettes and wagyu bulgogi tacos as the Miami influences, and Korean-inspired sides like kimbap, yukhoe and crispy tofu bibimbap round it out. One carryover from the original menu shows up in a new form. Gordon's Fried Chicken, known as the "GFC," becomes the "GFP," made with prawns.
The bar has its own announced lineup. There's an Okinawa margarita with kumquat, Thai basil and salted shiso air, and a spicy passion fruit and mango margarita. The Lucky Negroni has the guest roll dice across six gins, six bitters and six vermouths.
Seven nights a week before, four now
The biggest change from the first Lucky Cat is the calendar. When it opened in 2024, the Herald listed dinner hours of 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. That's seven nights a week.
Lucky Cat Steak will serve dinner Wednesday through Saturday in a 152-seat room with a late-night lounge. Time Out Miami reported the same seat count and four-night schedule on October 20.
| Lucky Cat Miami, 2024 | Lucky Cat Steak, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead concept | Asian small plates, robata, sushi | Steak program over the robata, sushi second |
| Dinner nights | Seven | Wednesday through Saturday |
| Opening timing | February 2024 | November 25, 2026 |
| Reservations | Through Gordon Ramsay Restaurants | OpenTable and Resy, starting November 25 |
The opening date puts the first service on the night before Thanksgiving. The four-night schedule also lines up with Art Week. Art Basel Miami Beach runs December 4 through 6, 2026, at the Convention Center, so the Friday and Saturday fall on Lucky Cat Steak service nights and the Sunday does not. The fair is staying put for years. On October 15, the city approved a new agreement that keeps Art Basel at the Convention Center through 2031, with an option to extend through 2033.
The block it rejoins
A steakhouse at 119 Washington joins two others within a few blocks. Smith & Wollensky sits at 1 Washington Avenue, at the foot of the street by the water. Prime 112 is around the corner at 112 Ocean Drive. Between them is Joe's Stone Crab at 11 Washington Avenue, whose season is about claws, not cuts.
With Lucky Cat Steak open, the first two blocks of Washington and the corner of Ocean Drive will have three steakhouses. It also puts steak back at the address where Red started, a year and a half after Red closed its later home at 801 South Pointe Drive in May 2025.
The three won't be the same room, though. Smith & Wollensky and Prime 112 are classic steakhouses. Lucky Cat Steak pairs its Wagyu with sushi, Korean sides and a lounge, and the press materials describe it as "built for long dinners and late nights." In the announcement published by Community Newspapers, Ramsay puts it this way: "And this time, we're bringing the steak."
The two weeks before the doors open
On Miami Beach, Art Week starts showing up in hotel windows almost two weeks before the reservation books open on Washington. The city's No Vacancy exhibition runs November 12 through December 19, 2026. Twelve local artists are each installing a site-specific work in a different Miami Beach hotel. Among the participating hotels are these two:
- Balfour Hotel Miami Beach. Luján Candria is covering the hotel's windows with translucent photo-based textiles showing native South Florida plants.
- Marriott Stanton South Beach. Marlon Portales is showing two monumental paintings about identity, displacement and an imagined Cuban landscape.
The City of Miami Beach announcement says the competition drew a record 228 applications this year. Each artist gets a $10,000 honorarium. Two prizes totaling $35,000 will be awarded: a $10,000 public prize and a $25,000 juried prize.
After that comes November 25 at 119 Washington. That day Lucky Cat Steak opens its reservations on OpenTable and Resy, and details are posted at luckycatsteak.com. The opening is still a scheduled date, and as of New Times' October report, the restaurant's website still listed the Miami location as closed.
Each change of tenant at 119 Washington shifts the feel of the walk from South Pointe Drive to Joe's. If you own in South of Fifth and want to know how new openings like Lucky Cat Steak affect your building, Adrian Burke can walk you through those few blocks over a private consultation. Book a Private Consultation.
