"Bar Bella, a new Spanish tapas restaurant from veteran restaurateur Jorgie Ramos, has opened in the former Tacocraft space in South Miami. The restaurant’s name and concept were inspired by Ramos’s daughter Isabella, whose heritage bridges his Cuban background and her mother’s Midwestern roots. The menu reflects this cultural blend, combining Spanish tapas with American barbecue techniques. “Our goal is to marry the heritage,” said Ramos, who also leads Cebeda Rooftop in Coral Gables. “We’re doing smoked paellas, we’re doing barbacoa, we got oysters, we got crudos — we have a little bit of everything.” The menu ranges from raw bar offerings like East and West Coast oysters with piquillo pepper escabeche to a variety of small plates including bacon-wrapped dates with chorizo and blue cheese, paprika-dusted corn ribs, and both ham and garlic soup croquetas. For heartier options, the “Rancho” section features a pork belly jam-topped smash burger, smoked pork butt with cafecito-tallow caramel, and rabo encendido empanadas. The restaurant’s specialties include a rotating smoked paella — currently featuring crispy chicken oyster and foie gras — and a daily barbacoa preparation that might showcase wagyu picanha with roasted bone marrow and smoked sopa de hueso. The beverage program highlights Spanish wines and cocktails with playful names nodding to local spots, like the “Banned from Boogies” frozen cocktail made with peach puree, cranberry, peach liquor, and Jägermeister. The restaurant also features two distinct bar spaces — a front tapas bar and a more lively back bar called Abi Maria, a revival of Ramos’s previous Kendall bar that will debut its own menu in the coming weeks. “Of all the places we’ve had, this one feels really good. If you walk in, it feels very homey, it feels like us,” says Ramos. The restaurant aims to be both a destination and a neighborhood mainstay in South Miami, an area Ramos grew up in and feels passionate about revitalizing. “It’s an amazing neighborhood that’s just not tapped yet.”" - Olee Fowler
