The 42 Best Places in Fort Lauderdale

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

Eight seats face an open kitchen inside the Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, which is about as good a view as a tasting menu gets. The chef's team works through a contemporary New American menu that pulls from French technique and Japanese ingredients, with Florida slipping in where it belongs. A Michelin star keeps it honest. Dress accordingly, and maybe clear the next morning.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Star

The curved white tower was designed to echo the superyachts that idle offshore, which sets the tone for what you're getting: a sleek beachfront Four Seasons where the nautical theme runs from the navy-striped rugs to the spa's water-based treatments. Rooms face either the Atlantic or the Intracoastal. The beach concierge handles loungers, umbrellas, and watersports, and complimentary bikes are there for when the sand loses you.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels
3. The 50 2025 · Most Admired Hotel Group Award

Sitting inside the Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, this modern Mediterranean restaurant earns its own reason to show up, with a menu that pulls from Levantine cooking and slips in Floridian touches along the way. The room faces the pool and the Atlantic beyond it, which is either inspiring or distracting depending on your dining companion. The kitchen leans into spreads, skewers, and the kind of food that makes a long dinner feel easy.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
2. Miami New Times 2023 · Best New Restaurant (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times
3. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

Every room has a balcony facing the Atlantic, which is a strong opening move for a Forbes Four Star hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The Ritz-Carlton here runs the full playbook: Frette linens, a sprawling spa, and an on-site seafood restaurant with a wine room staffed by a sommelier who actually wants to talk. The crowd skews toward people who packed nicer luggage than you did, but the ocean view is the same for everyone.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star

All 290 rooms are suites, which sets the tone before you've even unpacked. This all-suite condo resort rises 24 stories above the A1A oceanfront stretch between Sunrise and Las Olas boulevards, putting the beach a short walk away and the cruise terminal not far behind it. The nautical theme runs throughout, and the scale skews toward people who prefer their hotel stays to feel less like a hotel stay.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended

A pizza shop in Flagler Village that's serious enough about pies to make squash blossom and burrata toppings feel obvious rather than showy. The menu leans New York-style, with a few pastas and salads rounding things out, but the crust is the point. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and regulars tend to negotiate hard over whether to save room for the olive oil cake. They should.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Restaurant (Fort Lauderdale) · Best of Miami New Times

Dark wood, banquette seating, and lighting low enough that everyone looks like they're closing a deal. Daniel's is a steakhouse on Federal Highway that plays the genre completely straight, which turns out to be exactly what Fort Lauderdale wanted. The menu is built for sharing, so bring people. A Floridian spin on oysters Rockefeller gets things moving, the steaks are cooked with care, and the corn pudding is not optional.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Miami New Times Best New Restaurants

A beachfront boutique hotel that's been around forever, now running under the Kimpton flag after a thorough refresh. The building sits close enough to the Atlantic that "forgot sunscreen" is a genuine emergency, and the vibe lands somewhere between low-key resort and design-forward hotel. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels. Staff will sort you out with a bike or a beach chair before you've finished your coffee.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A tuk tuk parked in the back of a Fort Lauderdale strip mall sets the tone at this no-reservations Isan Thai restaurant, where the menu runs well past the usual curry-and-pad-thai circuit. The kitchen leans into the northeastern Thai repertoire, and when they ask how spicy you want it, they mean it as a real question. The Michelin Guide has taken notice, and the crowd filing in on a weeknight suggests word has been around for a while.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Thai Restaurant · Best of Miami New Times

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Eater Best Reason to Visit Broward County

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Timon Balloo

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Brewery (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Restaurant (Fort Lauderdale) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Restaurant to Come Back From the Dead · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best New Restaurant (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Coffeehouse (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

Forty-three courts spread across ten lakeside acres make The FORT one of the larger pickleball complexes in South Florida, and it also serves as the official home of the Association of Pickleball Players. Open play, skill-rated matches, private rentals, and tournaments all run here, and the après-match bar and kitchen give everyone a reason to linger. The crowd runs from first-timers fumbling their dinks to people who travel for this.

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Pickleball Courts · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 100 Best Bars in Miami

1. Miami New Times 100 Best Bars in Miami

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Bar (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times
2. Miami New Times 100 Best Bars in Miami

1. Miami New Times 100 Best Bars in Miami

1. Miami New Times 100 Best Bars in Miami

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Restaurant (Fort Lauderdale) · Best of Miami New Times
2. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Restaurant to Come Back From the Dead · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Desserts · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best German Restaurant · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Gay Bar · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Beer Selection · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Brewery (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Late-Night Dining · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2025 · Best Waterfront Bar · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best New Restaurant (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Coffeehouse (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Coffeehouse (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Sports Bar · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Bar (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Brewery (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Bagels (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times
2. Miami New Times 2024 · Best Bagels (Broward) · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Ice Cream · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Asian Market · Best of Miami New Times

1. Miami New Times 2023 · Best Late-Night Dining · Best of Miami New Times