George’s Italian Restaurant

George’s Italian Restaurant has served the same stretch of 72nd Street in Miami Beach’s North Beach neighborhood since 2000. The family that opened it still runs the dining room today. The restaurant markets itself around scratch cooking, a busy bar and lounge, and a menu that has barely moved. The original recipes still anchor it. Readers can check each of those claims against the restaurant’s own website and a 2025 anniversary profile from the Tampa Bay Times.

Twenty-five years on 72nd Street

George’s Italian Restaurant opened at 300 72nd Street in 2000, founded by siblings George and Elizabeth Iglesias. The two grew up between Argentina and Los Angeles before settling in Miami to open a restaurant together. Elizabeth runs the kitchen; George handles the business side, from design to concept development for the family’s other restaurants. The Tampa Bay Times marked the restaurant’s 25th anniversary in a September 2025 feature. It reported that roughly seventy percent of the menu has stayed unchanged since opening day. Several members of the kitchen staff have worked the line for close to twenty years. That continuity shows on the plate. Dishes regulars ordered in the early 2000s, like the pear-and-ricotta fiocchi and the lobster ravioli, are still on the current menu.

The restaurant sits a few blocks from the North Beach Bandshell. It’s in the low-rise commercial corridor that anchors Miami Beach’s North Beach neighborhood. The Tampa Bay Times profile describes its core audience as regulars from North Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, and Aventura. It’s not a tourist crowd passing through South Beach.

Scratch-made pasta and the primi menu

George’s serves classic Italian cuisine built around scratch-made pasta, wood-fired pizza, and traditional secondi such as veal parmigiana and pan-seared mahi-mahi piccata. That’s the current lineup on the restaurant’s menu page. The primi section runs from simple preparations like aglio e olio to composed dishes. Options include spinach-ricotta ravioli in pomodoro sauce, fettuccine alla bolognese, and linguine with shrimp. Two pasta dishes are most associated with the restaurant: the fiocchi alla pera, pear-and-ricotta stuffed pasta parcels, and the ravioli di aragosta, lobster ravioli served in a cream sauce. Both have stayed on the menu since 2000. Both also appear by name in the Tampa Bay Times anniversary coverage, as well as on the current online menu.

Any pasta dish at George’s can be prepared gluten-free for a $4 upcharge, or swapped to whole-wheat pasta for $2 more. The menu also flags that the pesto contains nuts and the Caesar dressing contains anchovies, for guests managing allergies.

Secondi: steak, veal and the bistecca

Dinner entrées at George’s range from $17 for a simple pasta like aglio e olio up to $39 for the 12-ounce bistecca, with appetizers generally priced between $15 and $22, per the restaurant’s own posted menu. The secondi list centers on a 12-ounce bistecca, veal prepared either alla parmigiana or alla marsala, and chicken marsala or grilled chicken. It also includes melanzane parmigiana and two fish options, mahi-mahi piccata and grilled salmon. Guests order sides separately. Sautéed spinach, seasonal vegetables, mashed potatoes, and french fries are each listed in the $8 to $10 range. Starters lean toward composed plates rather than bread baskets: beef and salmon carpaccio, calamari and zucchini, tuna tartare, and a house salad named for the restaurant. A wine list built to match the heavier secondi rounds it out.

Weekday lunch specials, noon to five

George’s runs a separate weekday lunch menu, served Monday through Friday from noon until five in the afternoon. It’s priced apart from the dinner list and posted alongside it on the restaurant’s own menu page. Lunch leans toward panini and salads, rather than full secondi. A caprese panino and a grilled chicken milanese panino both run $20, and salads range from a $15 Caesar to a $22 verde topped with steak. Pizzas are available at lunch as well: a margherita, a bianca, and a prosciutto crudo e pomodorini pie, each in the low-$20s. The lunch menu is the more approachable of the two price points at George’s. It’s also the one posted at the door for walk-in visitors deciding whether to sit down midday.

Wine wall, cocktails and the bar at George’s

Alongside the dining room, George’s operates a bar and lounge. It has a floor-to-ceiling diamond-racked wine wall and a full cocktail list. That space is distinct enough from the main dining room. The restaurant built a separate page of its website around it. Guests can order dinner at the bar rather than a table. The lounge doubles as overflow seating on busy nights without a reservation. The brick-walled dining room seats guests in blue velvet booths and white-tablecloth two-tops beneath pendant lighting. The restaurant has kept that look consistent through its various photo updates over the years. The public website posts neither the wine list nor the cocktail menu with prices. Guests should expect to see current pricing only once seated.

Reservations, pickup and ordering ahead

Dine-in tables at George’s can be reserved through the Resy booking link on its official website or by calling the restaurant directly at (305) 864-5586. The restaurant also runs its own online ordering system for pickup and delivery, described on its online ordering page. That page can show ordering as temporarily closed between shifts. Calling ahead is the more reliable way to confirm same-day pickup. Takeout orders go into the restaurant’s own branded bags, printed with the George’s name and its 2000 opening year. That detail is visible in the restaurant’s own photography. Pickup happens from the same 72nd Street entrance used for dine-in guests.

Hours and finding George’s in North Beach

George’s Italian Restaurant is open every day starting at noon, closing at 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, at midnight Friday and Saturday, and at 11 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant’s own website also lists current hours. The address is 300 72nd Street, Miami Beach, FL 33141. It sits on the block between Collins Avenue and the beach in the North Beach neighborhood, a short walk from the North Beach Bandshell. Readers mapping out a broader Miami Beach dining trip can check Miami Beach Drive’s guide to the best restaurants in Miami Beach for options beyond North Beach. The site’s best brunch in Miami Beach roundup covers morning plans elsewhere on the barrier island, since George’s own kitchen does not open before noon. Miami Beach Drive’s Miami Beach neighborhood guides cover North Beach alongside the rest of the island, for more on the surrounding area.