"Bar Shishi is meant to feel discovered rather than introduced," Brian Toll, co-founder and president of The h.wood Group, said when the lounge opened. The line fits the bar, which sits on a third floor above Michigan Avenue with a guardian lion sculpture marking the entrance. It also describes the larger change happening a few blocks around Lincoln Road this fall.
Three Japanese-inspired openings are landing near the promenade, and none of them is a standard sushi counter. One is a Tokyo listening bar. One makes Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza. One is a kaiten sushi restaurant built around a conveyor belt. Each brings a different Tokyo format for running a room, and each comes with its own rule about who gets through the door and when. That rule matters more for a weeknight plan than the menu does.
The One That's Already Open Keeps Two Sets of Hours
Bar Shishi opened to the public on September 19, inside Class X by Rivani at 1691 Michigan Ave. The operator is the Los Angeles company behind Delilah, The Nice Guy, Bird Streets and Harriet's. The lounge covers roughly 2,000 square feet. Its 12-seat bar is the center of the room, with a custom vinyl DJ booth and 108 private spirits cabinets.
The schedule is what separates it from a typical South Beach bar opening. From Monday to Friday, noon to 5 p.m., Bar Shishi is open only to Rivani members and their guests. The public can come in Wednesday through Saturday, from 7 p.m. until close. The spirits cabinets belong to annual Rivani members, who get personalized plaques and priority reservations. Robert Rivani, founder of the $125 million Rivani office redevelopment, said the partnership completes his plan for a building where "work, wellness and leisure live under one roof." So a neighbor without a membership has four evenings a week to visit, and Sunday through Tuesday nights are not among them.
The bar's program is built on technique. Senior bar manager Kevin Lee, a Japanese ice master, runs a menu of house-made bitters, tinctures, infusions and hand-carved ice. The Guava Kakigōri turns Japanese shaved ice into a drink with rum, guava, yuzu and shiso. The Hakushu 12 Old Fashioned costs $100 and comes over a hand-carved ice diamond. A Lychee Martini is made with lychee, bergamot and shochu. The music follows Tokyo's listening rooms. Eddie McDonald, musical director and record curator for Anderson .Paak's DJ Pee .Wee project, assembled more than 100 records for the bar, ranging from deep house to Latin. The staff follows kikubari, the Japanese hospitality practice of anticipating what a guest needs before they ask.
The Pizzeria Takes the Opposite Approach
Royale Pizza Napoletana, announced for October at 1680 Meridian Ave., will take no reservations at all. It has 65 seats around one large communal table, and walk-ins are seated first-come, first-served. Guests order at a counter from a short menu of antipasti, seven pizzas, two pastas and two mains. Of the seven pizzas, four are traditional and three are specials. Takeout and delivery are planned from the first day.
Longtime residents will know the address. Michael Schwartz's Harry's Pizzeria used to operate there, near Lincoln Road. The new pizza comes from chef Bun, whose full name is Bungo Kaneko. He is a pizzaiolo at Savoy in Tokyo, the restaurant where Susumu Kakinuma started the Tokyo style in 1995 after a year studying in Naples. Owner Jess Varughese, who is also behind Haiku, the members-only restaurant in Wynwood, called bringing Bun aboard "like having Jack Nicklaus join your foursome or Miles Davis join your quartet."
You can tell the style by the crust. The edge, or cornicione, puffs up thick and airy with charred blisters, while the bottom stays thin and the center holds together without going soupy. The team's effort in Miami included softening the local water to match Japan's. The dough ferments for more than 30 hours and bakes in an 800-degree oven. Executive chef Albert Diaz runs Haiku's kitchen and previously cooked at Zuma London and Zuma Miami. Pizzaiola Dalila Sabatino trained under Bun and later worked at Pizzeria Sei in Los Angeles.
Varughese runs a members-only room in Wynwood, yet he has set up his Miami Beach restaurant so that anyone who walks in can eat. As of October 5, coverage still lists Royale for October without a specific day, and no hours have been announced.
The Sushi Belt Is Built for Late Nights
UKIYO is due in mid-October at 818 Lincoln Road. It is a 7,431-square-foot indoor-outdoor kaiten sushi restaurant from NOAH Hospitality Group. A custom conveyor belt runs through the middle of the room, carrying nigiri, sashimi and specialty rolls past live culinary performances. Chef Nono Shigetomi sources seafood from Japan, including Tokyo's Toyosu and Tsukiji markets. The signature Ukiyo Roll combines tuna, salmon, hiramasa and Hokkaido scallop with soy-glazed wagyu and umami crunch.
The rest of the menu is ordered off the belt. It includes tableside kamameshi topped with skirt steak and Jidori egg, robata cooked over fire, paitan ramen, seafood fried rice, and a House Dumpling Cart that brings handmade dumplings around the dining room. The room is finished in emerald-toned marble, Rosso Lepanto stone and aged brass. A flowing water feature refers to the "floating world" behind the restaurant's name.
UKIYO's published schedule is the latest of the three. It will be open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 6 p.m. to midnight, stay open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and close on Mondays. The launch coverage does not mention a reservation policy, and no exact opening date had been published as of October 5.
How the Three Doors Compare
| Bar Shishi | Royale Pizza Napoletana | UKIYO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address | 1691 Michigan Ave., third floor | 1680 Meridian Ave. | 818 Lincoln Road |
| Status as of Oct. 5 | Open since Sept. 19 | Announced for October, no date | Announced for mid-October, no date |
| Tokyo format | Hidden cocktail bar and listening room | Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza | Kaiten conveyor-belt sushi |
| Getting in | Members only weekday afternoons; public Wed–Sat evenings | Walk-ins only, no reservations | Policy not yet published |
| Hours | Public from 7 p.m. to close, Wed–Sat | Not yet announced | 6 p.m. to midnight; until 2 a.m. Fri–Sat; closed Mondays |
The table shows how the week divides up. Sunday dinner is possible only at UKIYO, and only once it opens. Royale will be the easiest place to go without planning ahead. On Friday and Saturday, the public can be at Bar Shishi from 7 p.m. and at UKIYO until 2 a.m.
The Meridian Block Under Construction
Getting to Royale means walking through the City of Miami Beach's Lincoln Road Phase II project. Crews are working on Meridian Avenue between Lincoln Road and 17th Street. The City's September 10 update gave the conditions on the ground:
- The east sidewalk from Lincoln Road to Lincoln Lane North had reopened, including the stretch beside Macy's at 1675 Meridian, and work had started on part of the west sidewalk.
- A temporary pedestrian crossing links the two sides of Meridian, and a pedestrian detour is in place on the east side at Lincoln Lane North, where part of the road is closed for underground utility work.
- The contractor works weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and sometimes on weekends.
- Business entrances stay open, the city parking lots stay accessible, and valet and ride-share continue at Meridian Avenue and Lincoln Lane South.
That update said the second stage of sidewalk and paver work would start in mid-September and take about four weeks, which would put the end close to Royale's announced opening month. The City's project page expects completion "before year end." The finished block is planned to include widened paver sidewalks, new outdoor café areas, a new crosswalk at Lincoln Lane North, a raised median, reinstalled bike lanes, new lighting and signals, repaving, trees and landscaping. The City had not published a newer progress report as of early October. For questions about specific access points, the City lists Public Information Liaison Veronica Briceno at 954.548.2754.
If the schedules hold, a counter-service pizzeria with no reservations will open on a stretch of Meridian that the City is rebuilding around wider sidewalks and new outdoor café space. The streetscape work and the restaurant are on similar timelines.
The Rest of October Near the Road
Select restaurants are extending their Miami Spice menus through October 31, 2026. Brunch and lunch menus are $40, dinner menus are $50 or $65, and a Miami Spice Reserve tier starts at $95. Lincoln Road's calendar lists a Halloween Block Party on October 31 from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., and the calendar notes that weather and other factors can affect events. Royale and UKIYO opening dates are expected to come out over the next few weeks. Until they do, Bar Shishi is the only one of the three that is open, and its public evenings run Wednesday through Saturday from 7 p.m.
The blocks around Lincoln Road are changing quickly, in their restaurants and in the street itself. At Brosda and Bentley Realtors, our advisors follow these openings and the Phase II streetscape as closely as we follow sales. If you own near Lincoln Road or are considering South Beach, Schedule a Private Luxury Consultation and we'll go through what the next few months mean for your blocks.
