Restaurants of the Year: These 10 restaurants top our list of favorites on the Space Coast

Suzy Fleming Leonard, Florida Today
Updated ·7 min read

What elevates a restaurant from good to great?

It's not the price point or the level of formality. A great restaurant is one that excites, surprises and delights us, one we would recommend to friends and family, one that never disappoints. With this criteria in mind, FLORIDA TODAY food editor Suzy Fleming Leonard and food critic Lyn Dowling set out to identify our Restaurants of the Year.

We settled on The Daley Trade in Titusville as our top restaurant.

We also chose 10 other Space Coast restaurants to round out our list. Some are formal, special occasion places. Others are fun, funky counter-service spots. Some are local mainstays. They’re restaurants with staying power for good reason. Others are relative newcomers, though all have been around at least a year. We love them all. We hope you will, too.

Read on to discover our Restaurants of the Year.

Aha! By Ember & Oak

Aha by Ember & Oak in downtown Melbourne is a quirky food truck serving food on the spacious patio at Ember & Oak.
Aha by Ember & Oak in downtown Melbourne is a quirky food truck serving food on the spacious patio at Ember & Oak.

 712 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne, 321-722-6285, facebook.com/AhaByEmberAndOak

Yes, Ember & Oak is a serious steakhouse, with formal décor steakhouse prices. But little sister Aha! knows how to bring the party. Located in the expansive courtyard outside E&O, the rotating menu for Aha! is provided by a food truck and includes the likes of Flamin' Hot Cheetos fried chicken sandwiches, hush puppies and a smash burger inspired by the iconic Big Mac. Chef/owner Kevin Andersen and chef Kyle Hash have a great time coming up with fun twists on classic favorites. The setting features market lights, a wood-fired pizza oven and fire pits. So kick back with a craft cocktail and dinner. — SFL

More about Aha! Chefs at high-end Melbourne steakhouse plan fun new casual eatery

Cafe Margaux

Megan Litras of Café Margaux samples one of the restaurants special “Bar Events” cocktails.
Megan Litras of Café Margaux samples one of the restaurants special “Bar Events” cocktails.

220 Brevard Ave., Cocoa Village, 321-639-8343, margaux.com

Cafe Margaux has earned its spot as the grande dame of Brevard restaurants. For more than 30 years, the elegant continental establishment has set the standard for fine dining on the Space Coast. The setting is beautiful, with stylish chandeliers and chic color schemes. The service is top-notch, with bread plates and water glasses constantly refilled, as if by magic. The menu features steaks, seafood and a tomato basil bisque that's locally famous. Owner Alex Litras keeps things interesting by offering regular multi-course wine dinners and spirit nights in the upscale bar. — SFL

Chez Quan's

1470 Aurora Road, Melbourne, 321-622-6979, facebook.com/lovechezquans

Chez Quan's is definitely where all the cool kids go, with graffiti-inspired art on walls painted in vibrant primary colors. But with Quan Rutirasiri in the kitchen and her son Adam Woodworth at the counter, it's also approachable and fun. While Rutirasiri prepares dishes from her native Thailand, like the spicy minced basil chicken, the menu also includes empanadas, wings and "sammies." This is a super laid-back place. A server takes your order, and your food arrives with a single fork. A roll of paper towels on the table provides your napkin. Grab that fork as soon as the plate lands on the table, dig in and enjoy. — SFL

Cypress Table

Cypress Table's doughnuts gave the eatery a great reputation on the local food scene when they were sold at Rockledge Gardens before the Cocoa Village location opened.
Cypress Table's doughnuts gave the eatery a great reputation on the local food scene when they were sold at Rockledge Gardens before the Cocoa Village location opened.

307 Delannoy Ave., Cocoa Village, cypresstable.com

"I like the idea of doing upscale food in a to-go box,"chef/owner Patricia Rieger said just before opening her adorable pocked-sized restaurant September 2022. She's delivered with Cypress Table, a counter-service place that turns out dishes like ropa vieja Cuban sandwiches with house-braised ropa vieja beef layered with stone-ground mustard, serrano ham, swiss cheese and house pickles pressed between Cuban bread; and a Dirty Bird sandwich buttermilk fried chicken, house bacon, fried green tomato and sofrito cheese sauce. And the doughnuts: We can't forget the ever-changing lineup of doughnuts. Eat inside the compact dining room, out back on the patio or take your meal to go and enjoy it in Riverfront Park. — SFL

Restaurant Review: For fast-casual dining, this Cocoa Village cafe is tops in Brevard

More about Cypress Table: Former food truck Cypress Table finds brick-and-mortar home in Cocoa Village

Luna at Kahuna

Pansotti at Luna at Kahuna in Cocoa Beach are little, cup-like ravioli filled with braised beef served with asparagus, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano and a brown butter and sage sauce.
Pansotti at Luna at Kahuna in Cocoa Beach are little, cup-like ravioli filled with braised beef served with asparagus, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano and a brown butter and sage sauce.

8 Minutemen Causeway, Cocoa Beach, 321-613-5796, lunafoodandwine.com

“Hmm,” went restaurant-goers throughout the area last year after Chef Luca Filadi merged the menus of Italian-flavored Luna with newly departed, tropical-themed Fat Kahuna, steps from the beach. It's the third stop for Filadi after closing his highly respected Mango Tree in 2016. Now he seems to have found the perfect formula. The merger worked beautifully, with laid-back, immaculate surroundings, quite a respectable wine list and good mixed drinks. Entrée-wise, the coconut shrimp from the Fat Kahuna remains, but added to bill of fare is the likes of pansotti, little, cup-like ravioli filled with braised beef served with asparagus, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano and a brown butter and sage sauce. — LD

Restaurant review: This Cocoa Beach restaurant does wonderfully inventive food and drink

Milpa Tacos y Tortillas

The mushroom tacos at Milpa in Cocoa Village were delicious, piled with big, earthy sauteed wild mushrooms over the slightest amount of melted cheese.
The mushroom tacos at Milpa in Cocoa Village were delicious, piled with big, earthy sauteed wild mushrooms over the slightest amount of melted cheese.

207 Brevard Ave., Cocoa Village, 321-631-1133, milpataco.com

For years, people said that Cocoa Village needed a dressy Mexican restaurant, light on sloppy beans, filler and sombreros, and heavy on authentic, higher-end Mexican ambience and food. In the relatively new Milpa, they have it: a menu that includes the mandatory tacos but wrapped around fillings more likely to be found in better restaurants: wild mushrooms, cachete (beef cheek), chicharon and birria that includes goat, ox tail and pork, as it should. Main plates are excellent too, and Milpa makes some of the best mole you’ll find. — LD

Scott’s on Fifth

Chef Scott Earick of Scott's on Fifth often creates dishes with an Asian touch, such as these wontons with baby shrimp with a chili garlic aioli and tuna with a soy ginger glaze.
Chef Scott Earick of Scott's on Fifth often creates dishes with an Asian touch, such as these wontons with baby shrimp with a chili garlic aioli and tuna with a soy ginger glaze.

141 Fifth Ave., Indialantic, 321-729-9779. scottsonfifth.com

Sometimes it’s difficult to determine which is more entertaining at Scott Earick’s colorful little restaurant. On some nights, the menu may feature Asian flavors and on another, Italian or Mexican, but it always has classic American fare. And then there is the irrepressible Earick himself, who has been known to emerge from his kitchen to do videos of his customers. The former actor is serious about his food, though, and has cooked every meal served there over 17 years. The house specialty is Steak Diane, not long ago featured in the Washington Post. — LD

Tely’s Chinese Restaurant

Lemon chicken is a favorite at Tely's Chinese Restaurant in Suntree.
Lemon chicken is a favorite at Tely's Chinese Restaurant in Suntree.

6450 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne, telychineserestaurant.com

Do not expect to find crispy noodles or soy sauce on the table or chow mein on the menu at Tely’s, where tuxedo-shirted servers deliver offerings that are, if not directly the products of Hong Kong, close to it, with touches of creativity. One of its signature dishes, Snow White Prawn, is a little Chinese, a little American: prawns in creamy, sweet-tart mayonnaise sauce. It's a favorite diners begged owner Telly Tse to add to the Suntree restaurant's menu after he closed Yen Yen, his longtime Cocoa Beach establishment. On the other hand, Hong Kong Duck comes straight from China, complete with skin, bones and fat. If you want a whole Peking duck, call a day or two in advance. — LD

Umami Restaurant & Sushi Bar

3042 W. New Haven Ave. West Melbourne, 321-676-5159, myumamisushi.com

Boba Fett at Umami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Melbourne was a whimsical take on the California roll, a round mound of krabby, scallopy goodness surrounded by rolls, some of which included shrimp. Avodaco was prominent too, as were masago, a little eel sauce, scallions and tobiko
Boba Fett at Umami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Melbourne was a whimsical take on the California roll, a round mound of krabby, scallopy goodness surrounded by rolls, some of which included shrimp. Avodaco was prominent too, as were masago, a little eel sauce, scallions and tobiko

In some respects, chef Chris Chern is a purist among local owners of Japanese restaurants, with modern techniques applied to traditional dishes. At Umami, located in an unprepossessing plaza where Wickham Road intersects West New Haven Avenue, some seafood is flown in from Japan, and Chern prepares the likes of Wagyu Ishiyaki, thinly sliced A-5 Wagyu beef, tableside on a hot stone, to be served with vegetables. A favorite among sushi lovers is Boba Fett: blue crab surimi salad, cucumber, avocado and baked scallop surimi with eel sauce, tobiko and scallions. — LD

Yellow Dog Cafe

905 U.S. 1, Malabar, 321-956-3334, yellowdogcafe.com

There’s a long-held belief in Brevard County: You can find a restaurant with a view or you can find a great meal, but you can’t find them at the same place. While we don’t think that’s true, Yellow Dog definitely disproves the theory. Guests are treated to all the splendor the Indian River has to offer, from frolicking dolphins to soaring seabirds. All the dining rooms have huge windows to take advantage of the scenery, and there’s also an expansive covered patio. Chef/owner Stuart Borton specializes in comfort food with flair. Dishes include shrimp and grits and potato-crusted salmon. And don’t leave without indulging in a signature dog bone brownie. Want to recreate some of Borton’s specialties? He recently released a new cookbook, “Comfort Food with a Flair.”   — SFL

Suzy Fleming Leonard is a features journalist with more than three decades of experience. Reach her at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Find her on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard. 

Lyn Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne and FLORIDA TODAY's longtime restaurant critic. Join the conversation at facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 10 best restaurants in Brevard County that we can't stop craving