10 Best Bars in Miami – Miami offers memorable experiences for any kind of drinker, whether you’re looking for an upscale cigar lounge, creative cocktail bar, or Irish pub. You can enjoy Japanese whisky in a hi-fi listening lounge or pose with colorful drinks on a downtown rooftop.
10 Of The Best Bars In Miami For Your Next Night Out:
Like the Art Deco architecture that defines the Ocean Drive skyline, the Miami drinking scene is a refreshing mix of vintage style with newfangled twists. While it’s long been known for its cocktails (like any subtropical destination might be), long gone are the days of frozen drinks with tiny umbrellas. From the adventurous and the experimental, to the perfect Martini, Miami has its cocktail game under control, yet still has plenty of room for legendary dives.
1. Swizzle Rum Bar & Drinkery:
Tucked away down a short staircase that’s off the Stiles Hotel lobby, Swizzle thrives in a quiet, sexy space away from noisy Collins Avenue. Evoking the feel of a small wooden pirate ship, the dark, narrow room is lined with more than 150 rums. Want to get two, maybe three sheets to the wind? Be warned: The beautiful, smooth-tasting cocktails are highly potent. Cozy up with your main squeeze at the tiny bar or nab some nearby high-tops for your girls’ night out.
2. Champagne Bar:
Sometimes you want a drink in a dingy dive bar, but other times you need a drink surrounded by frescos and fine linens like you’re in the middle of a sub-tropical episode of Bridgerton. For the latter, head inside to Four Seasons Surf Club to Champagne Bar, where exquisite sparkling wine and cocktails reign supreme. Aside from housing the largest selection of champagne in the city, the bar’s cocktail menu doubles as an education in Miami history, where drinks with names like Barefoot Mailman, Buena Vista, and Wynwood Walls each come with an explanation of the era they represent.
3. The Broken Shaker:
The Broken Shaker has helped evolve the Miami mixed drink scene bringing the stiff drinks out of the parlor and into the open air. It’s not the velvet slipper and smoking jacket type of cocktail club some out-of-towners may be used to. Patrons sip their drinks scattered around the pool and beneath the over-growth.
4. Jaguar Sun:
Quite a few Miami bars seem to land on either a dated chrome-and-neon look or go too far the other way, fussing up the interior with all manner of vintage tat without too much thought behind it. Thankfully Jaguar Sun, a new addition to Downtown’s X Miami building, strikes a very tasteful middle ground. The drinks themselves seem lofty on paper—think various types of sherry, rare Mexican rum, falernum and the like. But the experience is entirely free of pretension.
5. Café La Trova:
This nostalgia-soaked Cuban spot in Little Havana placed 24th on the World’s 50 Best Bars’ 2023 list. Decorated cantinero, co-owner Julio Cabrera mans the bar, slinging stiff, rum-based drinks and handcrafted mojitos that no one can resist. One of those rare places that attract locals and tourists alike, La Trova provides an electric atmosphere, live music and drink prices that won’t send you home broke. Bonus: It’s two bars in one! On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant’s backroom turns into a neon-tinged, ’80s-themed party starting at midnight.
6. Dante’s HiFi, Wynwood:
Dante’s HiFi, the city’s first vinyl listening bar. Inspired by Japanese kissas, visitors can expect authentic, HiFi musical experiences from globally-recognized artists while enjoying a great cocktail. The soulful space will please any music enthusiast with its state-of-the-art sound system and extensive wall of records from resident Music Director Rich Medina’s personal collection.
7. Jolene Sound Room:
Generally, if someone tells you about a “basement bar” anywhere in South Florida, they’re about as believable as a guy who swears who knows the doorman at LIV. But in the case of this downtown hi-fi listening lounge, it’s actually the truth. This super sound room sits in an unassuming locale beneath a Walgreens in downtown Miami, and the drinks come courtesy of the BarLab team, which would be reason enough to venture underground. Add on the fact that this is the first hi-fi bar in Miami with a legitimate dancing space, and you’ve got what promises to be summer’s hottest new nightspot.
8. Gramps:
This Wynwood cocktail bar might advertise its “Cold Beer” and “Air Conditioning,” but its cocktails are nothing to be ignored. Its laid-back atmosphere and strong — yet balanced — drinks make it the perfect spot to begin or end the night.
9. Ball & Chain:
The first thing you notice about Ball & Chain is that green and white awning, beckoning nighthawks to Little Havana for decades. Originally opened in 1935, the historic space has seen many changes—and owners—over the years, yet it kept hints of the past, like the original pine ceiling that Billie Holiday and Count Basie played beneath. If it’s a quiet night you’re after, look elsewhere; the venue’s two stages are always delivering great jazz and spirited salsa. It makes a great spot for meeting up—and catching up—with a group of friends who embrace an old-school Miami party vibe.
10. Lost Boy:
“Eclectic” is absolutely an overused descriptor for decor, but there’s really no other word that fits the studiously jumbled arrangement of Lost Boy’s interior. Random oil paintings, dart boards, skulls, antique bookcases, and tailor’s dummies fill the corners of a bar that’s cozy, cluttered, and well-organized all at once. The owners cite the American Southwest, drunken sailor bars, and English pubs as their aesthetic inspiration, and you can see all of those elements very clearly here. The cocktail menu risks a little adventure, but nothing here will alienate drinkers who stick to the classics. The gin and tonic, for instance, is jazzed up with some peppercorn, and the pineapple daiquiri comes with roasted pineapple, but neither is deconstructed or unrecognizable.
