Miami drinks across more registers than any other American city. Cuban cantineros on Calle Ocho, the South Beach institution that has been the same room for over a decade, the Italian aperitivo bar tucked off the Elser lobby, and the second-floor cocktail room above a Little River food hall built around the monsters of Asian cinema.
What follows is the directory at launch. Four bars are live; the restaurants and hotels that earn the chapter follow.
Where We Drink
Little Havana, South Beach, downtown Miami, Little River. Four rooms across the city, in the order that makes sense for a long evening.
- BAR
Café La Trova
Little HavanaNorth America's #42 in 2025, World's 50 Best alumna for the fifth consecutive year. Julio Cabrera's Cuban cantinero program in Little Havana, on Calle Ocho. Live Cuban music nightly, the bartenders work in white guayaberas with bow ties (the cantinero tradition Cabrera codifies through his own bartending school), and the program is built around mid-century Cuban classics done with serious technique. Best for a long evening that runs from sundown into music; sit at the bar if you can, and watch the cantineros move.
Order: the Hotel Nacional Special, a 1939 Havana classic Cabrera helped revive (rum, apricot, lime, pineapple, bitters).
971 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33130 - BAR
Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company
Collins Park, Miami BeachFood & Wine Top 10 Bars in America 2025; multi-year World's 50 Best alumna. The South Beach institution from the late John Lermayer (industry icon, passed in 2018) and partners David Martinez and Michelle Bernstein. The "Pursue Happiness" pink neon, the live music, the Michy's Fried Chicken Sandwich (named one of the world's iconic sandwiches in 2025), and a cocktail program that has stayed on the list as the bar has stayed itself for over a decade. Best for a sundown drink that turns into the rest of the evening.
Order: a perfectly built Daiquiri, the Lermayer house standard.
237 20th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139 - BAR
ViceVersa
Downtown Miami (Elser Hotel)North America's #46 in 2025, James Beard Best New Bar 2025 finalist, in the Michelin Guide. Valentino Longo's Italian aperitivo bar tucked off the lobby of the Elser Hotel in downtown Miami. Negronis, Milano-Torinos, Americanos, all reimagined with local Florida ingredients; the menu follows the Italian Futurist *Polibibita* philosophy of building cocktails around tension (saline meets floral, bitter meets bright). Chef Justin Flit runs the kitchen at a level that earns the room standalone billing. Best for an unhurried aperitivo before dinner.
Order: the Italian-VICE, a riff on an Amalfi lemon granita made with bergamot liqueur, lemon sorbet, and vodka.
398 NE 5th Street, Miami, FL 33132 - BAR
Bar Kaiju
Little River (above the Citadel)North America's #70 in 2026 (also on the 51-100 list in 2025); Bon Appétit's best new bars in America 2024. A second-floor cocktail bar above the Citadel food hall in Little River, dedicated to the monsters of Asian cinema. Electric red lights, walls collaged with movie-monster posters, and a cocktail menu printed as a deck of trading cards (each drink a kaiju with stats and tasting notes). The technique runs deep with house carbonation, clarifications, and fermentations, but the room never takes itself too seriously.
Order: the Kappa, a southside built around shiso, cardamom, cucumber, and toasted rice syrup.
8300 NE 2nd Avenue, 2nd Floor, Miami, FL 33138
Where We Eat
More to come.
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Curated picks coming soon
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Where We Stay
More to come.
- COMING SOON
Curated picks coming soon
We're still finalizing this section. Check back soon.