Dr. Joseph Girgis, a medical doctor, aims to bring a taste of Miami Beach – bottle service and VIP area and all – to Westlake when he opens Miami Nights Grill, Bar & Lounge on Friday, November 6.

Described as a hybrid restaurant and nightclub, Miami Nights will transition from a steak-heavy contemporary American eatery to a DJ-driven dance club, complete with cover charge and dress code, following dinner service on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

“I am inspired by the eclectic cuisine and colorful nightlife of Miami and wanted to bring that experience to Northeast Ohio,” Girgis explains. “I am passionate about gourmet food and believe that we are offering something completely new to the Cleveland dining and entertainment scene.”

The core of the menu will be centered on a selection of steaks and chops, mainly Certified Angus Beef Brand Prime cuts of beef, but also veal chops, lamb chops and a lamb porterhouse. Seafood options include shrimp pasta, grilled tuna and whole fried snapper with coconut rice.

A bar menu, served until close, features small plate style items like crab cakes, sliders, shrimp tacos and flatbreads.

Executive chef John Rey has spent much of his career cooking at Firestone Country Club in Akron and as executive chef of Morton’s The Steakhouse in Atlantic City.

Located at 857 Columbia Road, in the former Clubhouse Grill location, the space now features an all new interior with black and white leather banquets, sunset-hued walls and floors, and a light and sound system “beckoning people to dance the night away or simply socialize in a sophisticated, uber cool atmosphere.”

This article appears in Oct 21-27, 2015.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

19 replies on “Miami Nights to Bring the ‘Sizzle of South Beach’ to Westlake”

  1. Just like everything else on Sperry rd and in that location, it will close within a year….Especially trying to push bottle service…in Westlake? C’mon now.

  2. I wish the guy the best of luck, but I have to agree with comment above. It’s Westlake. The only thing that would do well on Sperry road would be an Olive Garden or Apple Bees. Downtown would be a better location. But even than anything with a dress code won’t last long. This is Cleveland, where sports bars and chicken wings rule. God bless wealthy doctors with good intentions.

  4. I wish this guy would’ve hired me as a restaurant consultant.
    I would have cost him $15K, but I would have saved him $400,000.
    1. This concept is DEAD IN THE WATER, my friend. You should keep your memories of Miami Beach in your head, its a lot cheaper.
    2. Bottle service in Westlake? Cover charge? COVER CHARGE??? Are you out of your mind? Read my lips: THIS WILL NOT WORK. People in Westlake, Bay, and River make their dining and entertainment decisions based on the Gold Clipper, Red Plum, and Groupon.
    3. The name of the place might as well be “Cheeseballs”, because that is what you are signaling to the entire world. “Miami Nights” is a name that should only be found on strip clubs or an FX channel original drama series. Horrible, horrible, horrible name. Absolutely devoid of any edge whatsoever.
    4. If I couldn’t have changed your mind about dumping a boatload of cash into a restaurant, I would have at least steered you in the right direction. Gordon Square, Tremont, Ohio City, perhaps even Hingetown or Waterloo. You gotta go to where the peeps are. If you were hellbent on that location, then here’s your play: Krispy Kreme franchise, Winking LIzard, anything at all with the words “wings” in it, Olive Garden, micro brewery. That’s it, buddy. That’s the word.
    5.This guy has never heard the old adage, if you want to make a million dollars in the restaurant business, start with three million.
    6. Don’t quit your day job, Doc.

  5. I saw this on an episode of Bar Rescue: “John Taffer and crew come to Westlake to help the befuddled co-owners and incompetent staff of the Clubhouse Grill lure their clientele back from Dave & Busters or drinking on train tracks to a reimagined upscale hideout with a South Beach slant.”

    I’d gladly pay a cover charge to freeze my balls off on the VIP patio while watching traffic on I-90.

  9. All of these negative comments are great! it makes me laugh because so many people whom reflect negative input are speaking from NON experience. Have you ever lived outside of Cleveland, Have you ever Traveled to Miami or LA>? Cleveland needs to have this, needs to be revamped, needs to EVOLVE with the rest of the amazing cities. If not, then have fun always being just avg, have fun not trying new things, have fun never taking your self out of the “comfort zone”. why be so simple? you should be more exciting you negative cynics, wow! ha! and I have to laugh because this is THE CLEVELAND SCENE! nothing but lower level people really read this site. All the Best!

  11. We were lucky enough to be invited to the Soft Open tonight – the place is gorgeous with beautiful round ceiling circle lights that change colors – very cool. There are HUGE LARGE SCREENS that play videos & music that makes it feel like a fun nightclub too.
    The food was amazingly delicious! I ordered a bone in filet / IT WAS BETTER THAN MORTONS, STRIP, PARKERS & HYDE PARK STEAKHOUSE! –
    This was ONE OF THE BEST STEAKS I EVER TASTED! Cooked to perfection – it cut like butter!
    The appetizers of stuffed peppers & crab cakes were gourmet spiced & couldn’t have been tastier.
    The Miami Vice Cocktail was superb.
    This restaurant is EXCELLENT – GIVE IT A TRY. Nothing like it in Crocker Park or West Side. Kudos to owners – for putting their best efforts to bring a new COOL restaurant to Cleveland!

  13. My husband and I were also privileged to attend the soft opening of Miami Nights. This place is stunning, the music was amazing and the food was Superb!! Thanks to the owners and we wish you all the best of luck.
    P.S. I highly recommend the Shrimp Cocktail and the Kansas City Strip

  15. I was hired in, and coming from a farm to table restaurant I was excited to see what this place had to offer. I have been in the hospitality business for over 20+years and enjoy it. I declined the job offering due to the fact they are very unprofessional. After being hired it was brought to my attention the add on Craig’s list for them. MODELS WANTED FOR FINE DINING, VIP, BOTTLE SERVICE. He showed me a black curtain that will separate the VIP and he was still trying for some permits. Classless for fine DINING, sounds like a strip bar or a wanna be strip club. With an add like that(yes I have picture of add) I chose not to work for a pig.

  16. I like the idea of an upscale South Florida steak house vibe, I’m into it, but oh my…I always cringe when I hear about bottle service in Cleveland. And then it’s a nightclub with a cover too? And in Westlake no less? Sighs.

    Also, the name is bugging me. If the menu is influenced by Miami, there are so many wonderful references or slight nods to the city that one could think of after a healthy brainstorm session, and yet they went with a very obvious one. Miami Nights. It sounds like a bad 80s TV show and therefore I associate it with being cheesy and lacking in substance. A little marketing research really would’ve helped here. I noticed someone else commented on this above- I think we’re onto something.

    To the commenter who said Cleveland needs to do what other cities are doing and evolve- agreed to a certain extent, but you also need to take into account local demographics, values and needs of consumers and not just cut and paste something you experienced in another city.

    Hope I’m wrong and it becomes a huge success though! I wish them good luck.

  17. I was lucky enough to be invited to the soft open and I am so excited to go back. the food was unlike anything I have had anywhere in the area. the atmosphere was so much fun, we watched the Cavs win on huge screens and had great wine and the best crème brule!!! to all those who think it was too much for the area I would suggest a fun night out with friends where you can enjoy music and amazing food. and where the talented wait staff will not rush you away to turn a table. It was definitely and experience, that I cannot wait to have again. also I am sure all those newly employed are thankful for such a awesome place to work everyday.

  18. Food is not bad, atmosphere is odd. Owner is arrogant and sexist.
    I could be wrong, but I really don’t think this place stands a chance…. But, just my opinion.

  19. Here’s your diagnosis, doc: WESTLAKE AIN’T CLEVELAND…AND NE OHIO AIN’T S. FLORIDA.

    Deal with it…and put your money into the stock market or something else. Stop dreaming.

    I lived in Miami for a while…and spent mucj of my life in my native Chicago. We are neither…for good and for ill. Just fucking deal with it.

    You’re HERE…do as the Clevelanders do. Or go to a “cooler” place” and see how far your big bucks go…not nearly as far as they stretch here. It’s actually cheaper to live in a poor hick town. But you’re a rich doctor, so somebody actually needs to tell you that.

    Yeah, wait until mid-winter and “MIAMI NIGHTS” and 70s and ocean breezes…IN YOUR MIND…become “CLEVELAND REALITY…teens and twenties and zero wind-chill and squalls off the lake. And NOBODY showing up…especially on weeknights.

    IF you MUST piss your money away, then try your luck in one of the happening city hoods. Or just blow it all at the Horseshoe. I recommend the video poker machines. You went with WESTLAKE? SERIOUSLY? Who is your advisor and what is he smoking? Pass that pipe over to me, bro!

    Again…Cleveland ain’t Miami…anymore than Miami is Cleveland…would a Midwestern-themed dump work down there? Then why should an “Eighties-themed Miami Vice” concept work up here? It is what it is, like it or leave it. Shit, man, ya gotta use your fucking noodle, doc…how did you ever make it through med school?

    Like my beatnik uncle told me when I was a young punk…”You can say a sheep has five legs all you like, but calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”

    WISE UP!

    Chuckles the Clown

Comments are closed.