Sustain restaurant + bar

Pompous, overpriced and super salty food. Sustain has a really awesome concept with utterly failed execution. Your money, your time and most importantly, your taste buds deserve much better! Your money, time and tastebuds are much better spent at Sugarcane, Mercadito or Metro Organic if you are looking for local/​organic.

Brilliant!!! Eco-​chic, artistic interior, non-​pretentious but trendy, love the concept. Inventive cocktails and even more inspired the FOOD!!!
My friend and I gave patronage to this spot for dinner one Friday earlier this month after some research I did on local foods. We were delectably astounded by the indulgent dishes we thoroughly enjoyed. Everything was spot on!
From the mouth watering calamari appetizer (OMG scrumptious!!!), to my French 75 cocktail (yummy!!!), to the tasty little brownie dessert to end the meal; everything in between was delicious!!!
I had the shrimp and grits for my main course. Being a southerner I love grits and these were fantastic! My friend had the bone in pork chop; which he said was the best pork chop that had ever touched his taste buds!
This district is quickly becoming a favorite location for us. We now have even more reason for us to visit the area with Sustain!

Went for brunch yesterday with the boyfriend. Had a coupon from giltcity, so we ended up getting mimosas and bloody marys, the french toast, the wood-​oven egg and the montecristo sandwich and of course the bread basket.
Overall we thought the food was good, and would go back based on that alone, but the service is what took our experience above and beyond. Typically presenting a coupon results in a lack of service, but our waitress was awesome and checked in on us very frequently. The décor was nice and had a nice feel to it.

It’s all about the Wildfire and Duck Poutine.
The wildfire is a terrific cocktail, one that I order every time and never a single round. It is a mix of Scotch, ginger, honey, lemon and thyme. What an amazing concoction of flavors. So if you love scotch, then give it a try. You won’t be disappointed. Kim and Jose make the bar here fun and enjoyable.
The duck poutine is a classic French-​Canadian dish. Sustain takes it to the next level. French fries bathed in a foie gras demi glaze, topped with duck confit and feta cheese. My friends raved about this dish for days. I embarked a trip to Midtown and headed over to Sustain.
Back to our meal, our first dish was — easy enough — the duck poutine. Once it arrived, it lasted maybe 5 minutes. We devoured it as if it was the last meal we would ever had. The fries together with the foie demi, duck meat and feta… WOW! This became an all-​time favorite for me.
For main course we shared the Wood Oven Steak. The steak was huge so we were not able to finish it between 2 people. The dish was perfectly executed though. Cooked medium rare and flavors were spot on; served on a cast iron skillet with roasted potatoes and a variety of vegetables. I highly recommend this plate, however, be sure to order for a group of 4 or more.

Another painfully hip restaurant on NE 1^st Ave, yet I like this one much better than the one whose name refers to a staple Caribbean cash crop. In fact, I thought Sustain was very impressive, from drinks to food to service. Walking into this sleek, chic restaurant on a whim, jammed with various scenesters from Wynwood hipsters to Midtown yuppies, I felt embarrassingly underdressed, but whatever, my green’s as good as theirs. And, to the service’s credit, even though I looked like a total slacker, I wasn’t treated like one.
I’d constantly heard excellent things about Sustain’s cocktails, and just reading the menu, I could tell I was in for a treat. «By Hook or By Crook» uses a dash of absinthe to its refreshing effect along with rum, grapefruit and cinnamon; very invigorating. Decent varied beer list, too — it’s apparent that whoever is in charge put a little thought into its composition. I was highly impressed by the bar here — the drinks were in perfect balance, fresh ingredients, no overly sweetened BS. To my experience, this might even be the best bar in Miami.
For starters, calabaza soup is awesome, nutty and sweet, but not overbearingly so. And sauteed kale — yeah, I try to avoid ordering things in restaurants that I can make myself at half the cost, but to keep it somewhat healthy, the plate of bitter greens was exactly what I wanted.
Smoked duck breast was my main choice. While pricy at almost $ 30, it did not disappoint. It was perfectly cooked, juicy and flavorful. There was a little layer of fat, but that’s duck for you — and if desired, it was easily sliced off with a knife without compromising the dish. Vanilla-​glazed turnips were a perfect accompaniment, and I’m not even that big a fan of turnips.
Sustain isn’t cheap. If you have a couple cocktails, and order a small handful of plates, the bill will pile up, no doubt about that. However, for the price paid and high quality delivered, I did feel satisfied by my meal, and didn’t have to go home and eat bread to round out my hunger pangs. Inventive dishes and high quality make this one a winner in my book.

Exceptional and special food. I was delighted with my course of roasted vegetables, along with the perfectly seasoned and tender kale. I also chose a serving of the quinoa which was perfect as well.
Service, in comparison with the meal, is disappointing.
The ambiance is relaxing and casual, and I really appreciated the tunes in this place – heavy on the MJ, Prince, and Lenny Kravitz.
Cheers!

I don’t know if it’s because their menu is seasonal, or because you make bad choices, like those shoes you’re wearing and that eye shadow color… or because half of the one/​two star reviews are just plain ignorant, but, this is, by far, in my top 3 for dining choices in Miami.
I had walked past this place a couple of times while it was still under construction on our way to Sugarcane, I knew I wanted to try it, but it wasn’t until I was encouraged by a fellow Unilocaler for a goodbye dinner that we decided to make it a night.
Sustain is not pretentious, the décor is simple, elegant and modern, much like their food. They offer a seasonal menu, which can get some of us to cry if our favorite dish suddenly disappears, but don’t fret, I’m sure they’ll have more delicious things to try.
The staff is very friendly, every single waiter had a giant smile on their face, and their kindness and warmth was a shocking change. The manager even came up to us and greeted us, asked us how our meal was and even chatted for a bit.
I had a lovely date with fellow Unilocaler Stephanie G., We began our meal with the Calabaza (squash or pumpkin, depending on which spanish-​speaking country you’re from) soup. When I read the menu, I thought it was odd they put candied pecans in the soup but it works incredibly well.
We had a few beers, I had the Sawtooth ale which was smooth and not-​hoppy. I’m sure I’ll steal more info on the beers from her and edit my review later…
Next came the piece de resistance…
We were torn between the bone marrow gravy Wet Fries and the Foie Gras Toast, which we finally settled on, and I’m glad we did. It was served on seared toast with vanilla pineapple. It looked simple enough and seemed like something we just had to try. The flavors and textures were so complex and worked wonderfully, The foie melted in your mouth as the toast provided a crunch and pineapple added sweetness. The only bad-​ish thing I have to say about this, is that I wish the portion was bigger because it’s going to be a dish you will NOT want to share!
Next we had Antelope, a very filet-​mignon like cut and taste of meat, it is cooked medium-​rare and it’s very tender, served with chickpeas.
For Dessert Stephanie had the «S’more-nut» as I like to call it. It’s pretty much a donut topped with marshmallow and chocolate with chocolate ice cream on the side. I wasn’t a big fan but only because I don’t like cinnamon, it wasn’t dunked in the stuff, but she seemed to really enjoy it.
I however, wasn’t satisfied with the taste of cinnamon in my mouth so Steph treated me to the gravy fries, «You can’t leave Miami and keep wondering what they taste like…» she told me. It was the best decision of the night. I slurped those suckers down like if they were pasta. It was soooooo goooood, we licked our fingers, our forks, and almost licked the plate.
The server told us he’d never seen someone order the Wet Fries after dessert and we had a laugh over it.
I love this place, It’s going right up there with Scarpetta, Michy’s, Le Bouchon, and Michael’s Genuine.

2^nd Saturday was wrapping up and being that it was my birthday as well, my permanent plus one insisted on treating me to one more surprise; a night cap and dessert at Sugarcane… well, apparently Sugarcane is popular enough to have a 45 minute wait at 11:30 at night (WOW). A couple doors down is a similar rustic, wood fence. We took a look and since it wasn’t completely dead, we figured this will do.
The décor draws you in and the overly friendly host cheerfully welcomes you in (remember this is almost midnight at this point). The walls have bent wood (like tree trunks) and the ceiling has umbrella like décor creating a modern forest canopy, but nothing like tacky rainforest café.
Broncos just had their superbowl dreams get crushed (sorry Timmy), so decided to sit at the bar to catch any post game commentary on the large screen. Our waitress/​bartender was bubbly and upbeat and quite entertaining for such a late hour.
We shared a dulce de leche brownie (too pretty to eat but we did) and a mixed berry cobbler with ice cream (cooked and served in the cast iron skillet, so cool)… a one word description of our desserts: awesome
We passed on the sambuca and limoncello tonight and went for coffee & cappuccino; very good.
Not holding it against them, but they need to get rid of the bathroom garbage can because it’s metal, it got wet and began to rust, but as much as I hate to say it, the rust looks like poo on the can.
Overall very pleased and look forward to eventually returning for lunch or dinner

The setting is very nice, the waitstaff was great, maybe a little inexperienced but they make up for it with being so friendly. I only went for wine and an appetizer so I don’t have toooo much to go on but this was my overall feeling: meh
We sat and chatted for a bit then ordered a bottle of Sauv. Blanc YUM
Then we ordered the Butchers Board, the selection of meats were pretty good & differed from other antipastos — although I must say I was a little sad not to have some cheese or oil & vinegar. but it was good. After that we were pretty full and nothing else really called my name so we asked for the dessert menu.
Again, blah, so we skipped that too, ordered a glass of Prosecco instead and left.
Again, Maybe I’ll be back, but I’m in no hurry

Sometimes places deserve a second chance, such a place is Sustain. We ate here during Miami Spice and the service was not so good. However, what a difference a second visit makes!
While it is true that service is hit or miss, what I found is that your best bet for eating here is the bar which insures really good service from bartenderess Kim, and quick access to their awesome drink menu. I happen to love Scotch and there are plenty of single malts to select from. $ 3 appetizers, such as fried chickpeas or gravy fries make the experience worth the stop. Try the poutine with duck confit… absolutely delicious.

Service was horrible.
Prices were high for what you got, although I could see potential.
It would be nice to see a professional manager overseeing the operation.
I will certainly give it another shot, just in case aliens took over the service the night we went.

I love the concept of this restaurant, local seasonal ingredients leading to an ever changing menu.
We came early and until it got busy our service was fine. We had a drink at the bar and our bartender was quite nice, jovial and helpful in guiding us to the right beer.
We sat, ordered from the Miami Spice Menu very excited because we had heard such great things about Sustain. As always we all tried each others dishes, appetizers and desserts. Aside from the Spice menu, we ordered the Chick Peas to start and honestly, it was my favorite all night. I had tuna tartar appetizer, it was sliced paper thin, with a sprinkle of Wasabi and Melon, quite good. My pasta with short ribs was a bit salty, I can’t say I was too excited about it. My husbands fish however, was delicious! The fried chicken my friend ordered was good. My hubby’s appetizer was a pork appetizer that was OK. The inconsistency disappointed me, they should have all been amazing.
Our desserts were fine, but again, nothing to write home about.
However no matter how good the concept is, there is something very important about service and making a client feel taken care of. It just ended up falling short here, as the place got full, our service took a nose dive. I am sure it wasn’t for lack of desire, but they are quite understaffed when it gets busy.
We had ordered coffee with our desserts and we were done with all when my husband had to flag down the server to request his espresso which had been forgotten.
The most disappointing part was when the bill came, we asked it to be split and gave our cards. When the receipts were thrown on the table we realized one card (mine) had been charged for everything with the exception of a few cents. The other receipts had those cents. Seems that when charging it is total divided by amount of cards but this just subtracted the number of cards.
So I was charged with the whole bill. We had to ask two different people to please get our server because once the bill was given to us to sign that was the last we were to see of him. We tried getting his attention to no avail, he looked like the only person waiting (the ones we asked were food runners).
Finally he came and fixed the problem, the only thing was that I was charged for the whole meal and then charged again for my portion. This is my credit/​debit card. I tried to get our server again, no luck. I got up, found the manager and asked for receipts showing the reversal. Why? Because it over drafted my account, I had checked on my phone. I will be charged for their mistake. I explained this to the manager who gave me some explanation of how it took a few days, etc, etc. I didn’t understand what he was saying but point is, I checked again today and have both charges, no credit. He offered a weak apology, he kind of blew it off. I was very disappointed, it was their mistake. I have to pay for it now.
Food was too inconsistent, the mistake unforgivable. For the prices they charge regularly its not worth it for me.

Good food, nice minimalist atmosphere, great ideas.
Sustain follows the ‘farm to table’ approach and features a rotating menu that changes with in-​season foods. Great if you’re a frequent diner and enjoy trying new dishes. ‘I’ve been here twice now, once with a group of 4 and once with a date sitting in bar area.
–The 5 mile salad: just OK and came with a high price tag for the amount of salad. My friend and I were going to split it as a starter, but was just too small.
–Roasted chicken was nice portion nothing special and came with a quinoa side dish which nice to have instead of a super starch potato or bread. I liked it, but my friend’s who tried it said it had no flavor, probably because there was little salt (plus in my book).
–The pizzas are all VERY good and nice portion, easy to split on the table or as an app. I’m a sucker for thin crust and they were great. Prosciutto and goat cheese was my favorite.
I used a Gilt City voucher for drinks and ‘light bite’ menu items here before dinner at another Midtown establishment. This was my best experience as staff were super friendly and bartenders were happy to share insight on their specialty cocktails. You can sit at the bar or stand at high top tables. We just pulled up some chairs to the tables and were a bit more comfortable. A cozy and trendy atmosphere, a great time.
Due to the low lighting and modern décor, I’d suggest this more as a date night, or start to your evening with some of their creative signature cocktails and ‘light bites’. I’ll give it a go again once their dinner menu changes over.

I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU, Sustain!
Décor: From the natural wood furniture to the metal sculptured lighting fixtures, to the zero-​scape planters to the simple, one-​page, well-​edited menu, absolutely everything is clean, practical, and attractive. It’s earthy, without being dirty, and sophisticated, without being flashy.
The service: Granted, we dined on a Monday night when the crowd was sparse, we could not have been made to feel more welcome. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with smiles. Our server gave recommendations and patiently answered questions. They let us select our own table, share a salad, and dine at our own pace.
The menu: Thoughtful and respectfully crafted, this menu grabbed me right away and made me want to read the whole thing. Clearly written by someone who cares about and knows about food, this menu teaches while it tempts.
The food: We shared the 50 mile salad, my companion had the gnocchi, and I had creamed kale, roasted veggies and french fries. I was dying to try the squash blossom entrée, but it has a breaded stuffing which is off limits for me. There was one significant disappointment about our meal: the fries are normally served with bone marrow gravy, which I asked them to hold because I’m a vegetarian. They provided a cup of ketchup on the side, and I eagerly tried it assuming it would be made from local tomatoes. Not so! It was (yuck) Heinz corn syrup slop. WTF?! I appreciate that the chef obviously cares deeply about humanely-​sourced meats, and it probably irritates him/​her when people ask to modify menu items that s/he’s thoughtfully assembled, but just ’cause I don’t eat meat doesn’t make me a ketchup slurping knuckle-​dragger. I was a little insulted.
I would definitely go back to Sustain. It’s a wonderful concept, and a comfortable place with great food and excellent service.

How can a 2 star restaurant change to a 5?
Easy really, just fix everything wrong which is what Sustain has done since my previous visit.
We were introduced this time by a really cute looking hostess with thick chunky glasses and a little fro with a smile that shined. Ambience was fantastic, still playing great music perfectly fitted with its décor of branches/​roots and upside-​down mangroves.
Our waiter Marco, was so vastly better in everything than last time’s waitress whose answer to everything was «I dunno»… Marco was very polite, extremely patient, honest about everything, knowledgeable on every item on the menu while explaining the concepts behind the restaurant and the food. For example — Sustain does not serve bottled water (a trend I’d like to see more and more) and everything is made in house except for mustard and vinegar.
We started with a refreshing cocktail called The Elixir — vodka, st. germain, chartreuse, strawberry, black pepper — a perfect start to what was to become a great meal.
The food was completely different in a good way. Everything came out perfectly cooked, beautifully presented (check out the pics I uploaded) and tasted great. We had the fried chickpeas in herb oil, grilled octopus w/​cannellini beans and pickled onions and radish, home-​made pretzel bites w/​whole grain mustard, their very popular 50 mile salad which as the name suggests — everything is local, the «still» amazing corn bisque, the unique boniato (think sweet potato) gnocchi was too die for, fried chicken w/​mac n cheese and one of the most amazing pieces of grilled yellow eye snapper I’ve ever had served on two grilled beefsteak tomato slices in an ocean broth.
Wether it was a rough beginning or cleaned up their act, Sustain has turned this frown upside down and I could not recommend it more.

We decided to try this place out one night as the wait for Sugarcane was too long. On the menu it says «It is our mission to provide consumers with the purest and finest local ingredients and to support farmers who take such great pride and passion in their work». We were definitely excited at the concept since we try to eat organically when possible, and would love to see sustainable items on the menu.
We had the meatballs to start with and ordered two special items not on the menu — The Atlantic Halibut, and the pork belly. The meatballs were pretty good, although I think that without the cheese topping they would be average. The pork belly would have been excellent if it was not overcooked. It was pretty tasty just a little dry. The Halibut was very good.
I think the biggest disappointment was there really was not any description next to the menu items as to the quality or source of the ingredients. I would have liked to see that the chicken was free-​range, the fish was wild, the meat was USDA Organic, or that the produce was sourced locally. Our server Fabian was very knowledgeable once I asked him about the menu items, but if I would definitely put this info on the menu since this is what would set this place apart from other restaurants in Miami.
I would give it another shot, especially because I love the concept — we’ll see if the execution is a little better next visit.

Was going to another restaurant in the area and they had a line out the door so we chose to come here instead. The outside terrace has tables, soft candle lighting, and tropical plants. Very pretty and peaceful. I did want to sit outside but it was fairly chilly this particular evening. The hostess was very accommodating and took us inside to a nice table.
The inside is so unique and different. Earthy décor, yet classy. The bar is situated in the far left corner with no distractions from the main dining area. The placement is perfect. The wine menu was decent with a good mix of both red and white from different regions, while also having some organic wines available. It was OK but nothing sparked my interest. Prices were typical. They also had a cocktail menu with some cool looking drinks. I ordered a cocktail with flavored vodka and blueberries. Forgot the name. It was very good but so small, for $ 10, when the server brought it over it was almost laughable. I felt like a child being punished.
Our waitress was so knowledgeable with the menu and the restaurant concept with all the organic dishes, grass fed meats, healthy options, etc… she was excellent. During our visit the manager had a very close eye on the dining area with only a handful of guest dining. He seemed to be friendly but he never once came over to our table, yet kept a close eye on us. When a restaurant is new and just getting started it is always a good idea to stop by a table, say «hello», maybe thanks for coming in, or better yet «how is everything so far».
Hubby had a very bad headache and was not feeling well. He was not that hungry so after searching the small menu not to many dishes sparked my interest. We started with a bowl of corn chowder soup for hubby and I chose the Spinach salad. The soup was OK, not much flavor. My salad was so fresh, every ingredient you could just taste the freshness, it was excellent. The bread for the table was cold, would have been much better heated.
The dinner menu is very small with the main entrée’s IMO expensive for American comfort food. OK, yes grass fed, blah blah I heard this several times throughout the night. I ordered «Wood Oven Roasted Half Chicken» with cumin, honey glazed squash, maple-​vinegar sauce. And a side of the mac & cheese. We shared the entrée as hubby was not that hungry.
The chicken was moist, good size portion, the squash was heavenly. Our dish was good, the cumin flavor did give it a very strange taste which took some getting use to. The quality of the vegetables and meat are noticeable.
Mac & cheese was a huge hit, baked to perfection with a crunchy topping. Really enjoyed it. The menu was healthy good quality but it does come with a hefty price tag, most entrée’s above $ 20 and up, and very limited menu.
If you are looking for organic, grass fed, healthy very unique American comfort food check this place out.
Décor– five stars
Service– four stars
Food– three stars
Prices– two stars
Round it all up, three at best for me!

A friend was in from Toronto and wanted to see what was new with Miami. As we were driving around admiring all of the latest (amazing) graffiti art on the outskirts of MidTown, I happened to see the word SUSTAIN out of the corner of my eye and remembered a few write-​ups about the place. Since we were both a little hungry, we stopped in.
Unfortunately they do not have their liquor license yet, which really was the only downfall. Our waiter (who also unfortunately did not give us his name) was extremely accommodating of our desire for wine, not pushy in the least when it came to the menu, and was very observant of my discrete summoning… I have to believe this man is used to serving in the finer of restaurants. If not, he should be.
Since we only wanted a little something to tide us over, we ordered the charcuterie and cheese plates and the corn dogs… more of a joke about being a kid again than anything else. Surprisingly, the corn dogs were really well done, not like momma used to make! The charcuterie and cheese plates worked perfectly together and allowed for numerous tasty combinations. The house-​made pork rillette, local cured ham, and pickled veggies were the stand-​outs of the one plate, but the pâté was a bit dry for my taste. On the cheese plate, the locally made ricotta was the star… light, fluffy, and oh-​so yummy. Perfect with the local raw honeycomb and what I believe was candied/​gingered orange peel. I have to agree with the other poster in that there wasn’t enough ciabatta for the plate.
Had we come for dinner I would have ordered the BBQ Quail, and was very pleased to hear from the couple sitting next to us that they had ordered it on a previous visit and it was superb.
Décor was industrial but soft and extremely tasteful… Hard woods warped and curved, aluminum «umbrellas» hanging from the ceiling and spherical lighting above the tables. Seating was quite comfortable. And I always appreciate seeing the kitchen.

I went here for brunch. It was good, but nothing special. I ordered the romaine salad, and the eggs with sausage and potatoes. My colleague had the French toast with apples.
What I liked:
1) Ingredients seemed to be good. You are definitely eating quality product.
2) The potatoes and the French toast were very good.
3) The dining room is quite nice — they did a good job to create a friendly but sophisticated atmosphere.
4) I like the location
What they could do better
1) Service — waitress was a bit air-​headed. Explained my order 3 times. Also service was very slow which I can only attribute to delay in submitting the order since the kitchen was not that busy.
2) Scrambled eggs were overdone and pretty plain. Same as what you get for breakfast at the Sheraton, except organic and free-​range. These guys should watch Gordon Ramsey’s youtube video on how to make scrambled eggs.
3) Selection of dishes on menu are generally all staples, but there is nothing special.

I was at Sustain the second day after their official opening to celebrate the holidays with my Cheap Tuesday Night Dinner Club (no, this wasn’t a Tuesday night and our meal did not fit the guidelines of being «cheap» but we splurged for the occasion). The concept is based on the use of locally grown and sustainable ingredients. The décor was very interesting, an industrial style with a lot of metal sculpture and hardwoods, crafted into organic shapes.
The menu consists of small plates, larger appetizers and salads, and main courses. The restaurant hasn’t received their liquor license yet, so we were able to bring wine (5 bottles!). We sampled all four small plates, all which were very tasty. The meatballs with mushroom and cheese were the standout for me… small but rich with savory, earthy mushroom sauce and creamy cheese. Perfect size to taste but not fill you up.
I wanted to sample the menu, so I ordered the «50 mile» salad, squash soup, and spinach and chile pizza. The salad was very simple, a mixture of fresh herbs and greens, avocado, beet, pickled onion, and a soft local cheese. The simpleness highlighted the quality and complex flavors of all the components. The squash soup was very flavorful, both sweet and savory and was topped with spicy peanuts, which added to the richness of the soup. The pizza was good, but a little bit spicy for my taste, the heat from the chiles drowned out the spinach, ricotta, and garlic flavors a bit.
The rest of my group sampled the menu as well, the burger was a hit, as were the fries with bone marrow. The fried chicken was tender, crispy, and juicy, but the macaroni and cheese side was only OK. We sampled the desserts which were also good, my favorite being the chocolate and bourbon pecan pie with hazelnut ice cream. Very tasty with a rich, shortbread style crust.
Service was very helpful and friendly but the kitchen seemed a tad slow. As it was the second day open, I imagine those minor kinks will be worked out. I will gladly be back to Sustain to try more of the menu, and its a great addition to the Midtown Miami area.