The 20 Best Bars In Miami - Miami - The Infatuation (2024)

Miami is a city that knows how to party. But a great bar has to be more than just loud and full of drunk people (try a club if that's what you're after). The places on this guide range from dive bars to co*cktail spots making martinis we actually think are worth $23. They're wildly different—but all of them are essential Miami watering holes where we never have a bad time. And if you're wondering what the best new bars in Miami are, check out our Bar Hit List.

THE BARS

Kaiju is a co*cktail bar insideThe Citadelfood hall in Little River, and it has one of the best co*cktail menus in Miami. The menu itself is a fun little anime-inspired zine with drinks named after different mythical monsters. And those drinks are the kind of impressively engineered co*cktails you’ll want to sip slowly and appreciate, which is difficult because they’re so good you might chug them like a post-recess Capri Sun. Kaiju is located in what looks like a fancy bird’s nest on The Citadel second floor, and can only fit about a dozen people. But If there are no open seats at the glowing red bar, there’s overflow seating just outside.

Our favorite kind of landmarks are the ones that serve booze, and Mac’s—the most famous dive bar in South Florida—does just that, every day from 8am-5pm. Sure, this 50-plus-year-old South Beach spot is rich in history (the neon lights were installed by the Miami Vice crew during a shoot) and you might walk in on a retired rock star sipping whiskey when you come here. But we like it because Mac’s is just a phenomenal dive bar. It’s grimy but friendly if you play by the rules, which essentially boil down to three things: cash only, don’t touch the blinds, and don’t be an ass.

People love to ask what you’d bring with you if you were trapped on a desert island and sure, a lighter and a cell phone would be nice. But if we could bring one bar with us, it’d be Gramps. No other bar in Miami is as versatile. A week at this Wynwood spot includes karaoke, pizza, live music, killer DJs, and the best drag show in town every Thursday night. Add to that the best co*cktails in Wynwood, a very good Happy Hour, and Pizza Tropical’s fantastic NY-style pizza in the back, and we’d happily spend a few years alone with Gramps on an island. And if you don't feel like venturing into Wynwood (we get that) go to Gramps' new location on Key Biscayne, which has frozen drinks and a waterfront view.

The Bend is a great bar for people who never fully recovered from their middle school emo phase. The retro dive bar is split into two sections. One has a huge Yoda statue and serves co*cktails like the big bender, a Hialeah rendition of a long island iced tea made with guava. The other section only serves wine and beer and looks like the basem*nt from That ‘70s Show. Decorative wood paneling, reruns of old ads like the Fushigi gravity ball, and a functioning CRT TV with a Nintendo 64 connected to it—it’s all dripping with nostalgia. To play just ask the bartender and make sure you blow on the cartridge like old times.

NIU Wine is the drinking equivalent of a cashmere sweater. This snug little wine bar is our favorite spot for a low-key night out, first date, or particularly exhausting Thursday that calls for a glass of wine and excellent Spanish bar snacks. The narrow space has an intimate dinner party energy with candlelights and tables perfect for couples. There’s not really a wine menu. You just chat with the staff, and they'll bring you some bottles to try. There is a rotating food menu, though, and it’s full of tapas you definitely want alongside a glass of that red you picked because you liked the label.

Over Under in Downtown has the DNA of a dive bar, co*cktail bar, and a very good restaurant. And while your stomach will get mad at you if you come here without ordering at least something from their excellent (and very Florida) food menu—like one of Miami's best burgers—you can certainly come here just to have a fun, drunken night. Over Under gets packed (in a fun way) during weekend nights. But it's also a lovely weeknight drinking option, whether or not you want to sit alone at the bar on a Monday or show up for karaoke on a Wednesday.

The Cleat is a slightly hard-to-find Key Biscayne bar with a view that’s worth shedding a tear. This place is located inside Bill Baggs State Park on the southern tip of Key Biscayne. And it has the best waterfront view of any bar in the entire city. It’s hard to describe without using cliche adjectives like breathtaking, especially at sunset. The Cleat has a very Keys vibe, occasional live music, and every seat in the house provides a view of Biscayne Bay you’d normally have to purchase a $300 bottle of vodka to enjoy. There is an $8 per vehicle fee to get into the park, but tell them you’re going to The Cleat and they (should) let you in for free.

Nearly all breweries are industrial chic with open floor plans, but only one has a giant mural of a stoned chihuahua. Fittingly, it’s named Tripping Animals and it happens to be our favorite brewery in Miami right now. The Doral warehouse is an exciting place to be even on Mondays, when they give everyone paint and canvases and let you relive your elementary school days (except with beer). You’re here for that enormous selection of beer, but you should also come for the food. Trippy Kitchen, as they call it, has a menu that feels like it was designed by a pregnant woman with spontaneous cravings. There’s ribeye with curly fries, ceviche, a Venezuelan hot dog, and a charcuterie board.

Dante’s HiFi is a Wynwood bar and “listening room.” This doesn’t mean that everyone is sitting in silence and listening to music (this is Miami after all, a city incapable of silence). But it does mean that this place has an absolutely spectacular sound system, and a really incredible record collection. DJs take turns spinning songs from that collection, occasionally hopping on the mic to give some context about what they’re playing. And while all this is going on, you can order good co*cktails, snack on wasabi peas, and mentally calculate how much money you need to save in order to install these speakers in your own home. It's tough to walk in on a busy night, but they do accept reservations.

Dante's too crowded? That happens. And if that's the case—or if you just want to check out another excellent listening bar in Miami—try Miami Sound Bar. This Downtown spot has everything we expect from a great listening bar: excellent co*cktails, an intimate interior, and talented DJs playing vinyl on speakers we wish we could afford. They also take reservations, which is a smart idea since the narrow space is a tight squeeze, and it’ll be comforting to know you have a guaranteed seat (especially if you’re coming here on a date).

The majority of this Little Havana spot is dedicated to the restaurant. But there is a long bar you can drink at (if you can find a seat) as well as a separate bar area in the back. La Trova runs one of the best co*cktail programs in town, and their daiquiri clasico is probably the one drink we’d take along if we were left on a desert island. You can enjoy it at the back room bar, which is inspired by ’80s Miami and has a heavily mirrored space that’d make the cast of Miami Vice feel right at home. But try to spend some time in the main dining room too, where there's live music and it feels like a party every night of the week.

Lagniappe is proof that not all wine bars are quiet, dim places that feel more like libraries. This place gets packed and loud both inside—where you’ll find a weekly rotation of great jazz and plenty of good wine—and outside, which is a back patio that all other back patios should aspire to be. There are string lights and tons of tables that look like they were collected from years of nearby garage sales. It’s hard to get one of those tables on the weekend though. But if Lagniappe looks too crowded, here are some alternatives nearby.

Here's the bad news: Miami's rooftop bar scene is pretty pathetic. But here's the good news: Terras in Little Havana is a rooftop bar we truly love and wholeheartedly endorse. This is thanks to both the great co*cktails and the wonderful view of the Downtown skyline. They serve food as well—but you’re coming here to drink (or dance, since they usually have a DJ spinning on the weekend). The space is pretty and not too claustrophobic—great for a date or catching up with a few friends. And even though it’s on the roof of a hotel, it’s not annoyingly touristy.

There is really never a bad time to come to Sweet Liberty. They’ve got one of our favorite Happy Hours that includes oysters and some of the best co*cktails in the city. The late-night scene is always fun without feeling sloppy. Sunday brunch is a blast too, whether you’re looking for bottomless rosé or eggs benedict with andouille sausage. This place is everything we love about South Beach: sexy, colorful and not afraid of a hot pink neon sign, without any of the nasty overpriced stuff you’ll eat and drink on Ocean Drive.

If you're trying to drink and eat at a bar, then you should be at Off Site. The Little River nano-brewery is serving some of the best bar food in Miami. There’s a Cuban sandwich with bread pressed crispy enough to play shuffleboard on. Their huge fried chicken sandwich just might be the best in town. And they also make wings, a burger, and a hot dog that all rank among the best versions you'll find in all of South Florida. Plus, this is just a refreshingly chill space perfect for a beer and a conversation—which you can have as soon as you finish inhaling whatever you end up ordering.

There are some questions that require a yes 100% of the time. Would you like fries with that? Would you like to upgrade to first class free of charge? Would you like to grab a drink at Broken Shaker? No matter how touristy it gets, we always want to come to this outdoor Miami Beach co*cktail bar, where we can sip some of the best drinks in Miami, swim in the pool without being asked for our room number, and feel a solid 15% cooler thanks to the tropical design we’ve tried (and failed) to emulate in our own tiny backyards. This place also earns bonus points for being 15 steps away from one of our favorite restaurants in Miami Beach, 27.

Swizzle is a bar that feels like a cross between a tiki bar and a speakeasy—or a tiki-easy, which is a word we just made up that’s as fun to say as this bar is to drink at. Even though it’s only three short steps below a hotel lobby, Swizzle is dimly lit and makes you feel like you're well below sea level in the hull of an old wooden ship. Underground atmosphere aside, this place also makes some of the best co*cktails in town. The drink menu is extensive and unanimously excellent, especially the swizzle co*cktails.

Palace isn’t strictly a bar. The South Beach LGBTQ+ classic serves food too, but you really come here to drink and watch drag, which pretty much makes it a bar in our eyes. This place is open till 2am during the week (and usually later on weekends), but the best time to come here is for their famous drag brunch. You get a couple hours of bottomless mimosas and the best sidewalk drag show of your freaking life.

We prefer to treat Downtown’s Jaguar Sun like a restaurant. We make a reservation, sit down, order food, drinks, and leave incredibly happy every single time. However, Jaguar Sun is also a co*cktail bar—and an outstanding one too. Their bar area (which is separate from the dining room) is a bit small. It can be tough to snag a seat during peak hours, but when you do, you can expect some of the best service and drinks in town. The fact that you can also order some oysters or pasta if you start to get hungry is an added bonus we’ll happily take.

NW 11th Street is generally a place you go if you’re trying to go clubbing for 11 hours straight, but The Corner is a great spot for people who’d like to stay away from those loud dance floors and offensively-priced beers. This neighborhood standby works for a solid co*cktail at 4am or a Happy Hour beer and hot dog as the sun sets over Downtown. But The Corner (open till 7am on Friday and Saturday) is undoubtedly a late-night spot and generally the best choice for anyone out in the middle of the night who doesn’t want to go home yet and would like to be around people who feel the same way.