Neighborhood Italian beloved by locals and chefs alike. Hand-rolled pastas, market-driven specials, and zero pretension. The anti-SoBe restaurant in the best way. It is run by siblings, Michael Pirolo in the kitchen and Jacqueline Pirolo on the wine. Wine Spectator calls them "leaders in the city's boutique wine scene." Her list is entirely Italian and travels the length of the country, Franciacorta through skin-contact Liguria to Piedmont and Umbria. The plates stay traditional: insalata tricolore and gnocco fritto to open, veal Milanese or a bone-in pork chop after.
Only you see this. What you ordered, what you'd order again, the table to ask for.
Macchialina opened in June 2012 on Alton Road in South Beach, built by chef Michael Pirolo alongside his wife and business partner Jennifer Chaefsky and his sister Jacqueline Pirolo, who runs the wine program. The three set out to do rustic, ingredient-driven Italian cooking centered on handmade pasta rather than a red-sauce playbook.
Handmade pasta anchors the menu, especially the Cavatelli Macchialina with baby meatballs, porchetta and pecorino, and the Tagliolini ai Funghi with abalone mushrooms and parmigiano. The restaurant also runs Fluke, an on-site martini and crudo bar, and Jacqueline Pirolo's all-Italian wine list is a program in its own right.
Macchialina is listed in the Michelin Guide but has not received a Bib Gourmand or star. Jacqueline Pirolo won the Michelin Guide Florida 2025 Sommelier Award, presented with Franciacorta, for her all-Italian wine program.
Reservations go through Resy and weekend nights fill fast, so book ahead even for a bar seat. Parking is genuinely tight: it's street spots or a garage about two blocks away, and the empty lot next door is private and will tow. Seating spans an indoor dining room and a sidewalk cafe on a stretch of Alton Road that gets busy and loud after dark.
3 deals at Macchialina
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Small, warm, unpretentious. If you live in SoBe, this is your weekly spot.
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