Inside Bad Bunny’s Restaurant, Gekko, in Miami: What I Got for $164 | Invesloan.com

In August 2022, Bad Bunny partnered with Grutman to open a Japanese-inspired steakhouse and lounge in the city’s lively Brickell neighborhood.

Gekko, run by Grutman’s Groot Hospitality, merges high-end dining with the vibrancy of a nightclub and features a bar lounge suited to the party-seeking Miami crowd.

Since its opening, the restaurant has become a celebrity hot spot, attracting the Kardashians and Beckhams, as well as stars like Lionel Messi, DJ Khaled, and Joe Jonas, who are frequent patrons.

Grutman has a reputation for launching popular Miami spots. In 2008, he opened the LIV nightclub in Miami Beach, and it quickly became one of the highest-grossing nightclubs in the US, Forbes reported, and a flagship establishment in the city.

He also partnered with musician Pharrell to open the Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach and the restaurant Swan and its sister lounge, Bar Bevy, in Miami’s lavish Design District in 2018.

I was surprised by the restaurant’s location, which is far from the exclusive, low-profile celebrity enclave I’d expected.

Instead, it’s located across from Brickell City Centre, a buzzy, crowded mall with a wide range of retailers, from mass consumer brands like Bath & Body Works, H&M, and Apple to more high-end retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Richard Mille, and Porsche Design.

It is also next to a gas station, and traffic makes the intersection loud and chaotic.

Making the reservation online was easier than I expected, especially for a Friday night during Miami’s peak tourist season.

When I booked it — only a couple of days before I went — nearly all dining times were available for inside, outside, and bar seating, suggesting that either the restaurant wasn’t a highly popular choice or that reservations weren’t always needed.

When booking my reservation online, I had to agree to a dress code that forbade athletic wear, shorts, tank tops, cutoff sleeves, and flip flops, as well as “athletic- or beverage-branded baseball hats.”

I didn’t find the dress code restrictive at all; I saw it as the restaurant’s effort to keep out overly casual patrons and to make dining there feel like an event.

Sitting inside the restaurant, I could see how high-profile guests might feel at home in its intimate space.

The tables set around the perimeter of the restaurant were dimly lit. Booths in the back and private dining areas indicated that the place was designed with privacy in mind.

Afro-house and reggaeton music played throughout the restaurant — it was loud enough to conceal nearby conversations but not so loud that we needed to shout.

A three-sided chef’s counter at the center of the dining space felt like a stage for them and their work.

However, the sushi chefs weren’t eccentric performers. Instead, it felt like watching masters of their craft artfully handle their exclusive ingredients.

The menu, which has five steak offerings, also includes a section devoted to five different wagyu options, ranging from the $120 4-ounce A5 Hot Stone entrée to the $598 4-ounce olive-fed “Wagyu Experience.”

Aside from the steaks on the menu, wagyu is also featured in other dishes, from appetizers like wagyu crispy rice, dumplings, and steak tacos, to surf-and-turf nigiri with lobster.

I got the wagyu crispy rice, one of the restaurant’s most popular appetizers. At $34, it’s also one of the most affordable wagyu items on the menu, and it’s meant to be shared.

The dish came with four pieces of fried rice squares topped with raw wagyu tartare and crispy capers.

The raw meat was the star of the show, with each rice square featuring a generous portion of the tartare. It had a strong, spicy, slightly acidic flavor that complemented the velvety, rich beef. The crispy capers were the cherry on top, and I found myself craving those more than the wagyu itself.

From looking at Gekko’s menu, you know what kind of crowd would most usually dine here, and what their tax brackets might be.

Items on the menu feature ingredients like caviar and lobster, and don’t shy away from using 24-karat gold leaf. I tried to pick as many of the glitzier dishes as I could while staying within a reasonable budget.

For my main bites — all two of them — I got the gold-topped otoro nigiri, which was $19 a piece, and the surf-and-turf nigiri, which featured torched wagyu and lobster, and cost $17 for one piece.

While other nigiri pieces were half the price for a comparable portion, I went into the meal hoping to test whether the upcharge and hype were worth it.

In trying out some of the most expensive items, I found that some high-end elements, like the gold leaf or the lobster, didn’t play as much of a role as I expected for the price point, and that I would’ve enjoyed the dishes just as much without them.

For a total of $164 after tax and tip, I only got six bites of food: four in the crispy rice appetizer, which was labeled as an item to share, and one bite in each of the nigiri.

The total also included two drinks and dessert.

While the bites were excellent and well-balanced, I felt some components of the dishes were just fancy for the sake of looking expensive and didn’t add much to the dish for me, like the 24-karat gold leaf on the tuna nigiri.

At “only” $24, which felt reserved compared to some of the other menu items, the miso dulcey lava cake was the most worth-it item from my visit, and I wouldn’t hesitate to come back just for it.

The decadent, made-on-demand dessert, which came with a 15-minute wait as staff prepared it, featured silky vanilla ice cream, shortbread crumbles, and icing printed with the restaurant’s logo.

The cake itself had a crispy, toasted exterior and a rich, miso-and-dulce-de-leche filling that spilled out. Paired with the ice cream and crumbs, this dessert was the standout for me.

This isn’t a Bad Bunny theme park by any means.

If anything, you have to put in some effort to notice the small nods to the singer throughout the menu and decor, like a sculpture of a man who, while not resembling the rapper, looks like he could’ve gone shopping in his closet.

I was surprised by the side of Bad Bunny that the restaurant reflected. Rather than the approachable, proudly Puerto Rican Bad Bunny who sings about the music he grew up with and his island’s regional pride, this venture seems to show more of the rapper’s celebrity, designer-wearing side.

While some guests might be drawn to Gekko for the Bad Bunny connection, it’s not a place where the average fan would feel close to the singer, since his influences aren’t particularly obvious, and the experience is unaffordable for many.

With its blend of glitz and genuine craftsmanship, Gekko somehow caters to guests looking for an intimate experience and those hoping for an ostentatious night out.

Six bites were enough to tell me that the restaurant offers high quality, but I still left feeling unsatisfied.

When I got home, I reached for Chinese takeout to feel properly full.