Where We Drink
Café La Trova
BAR971 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33130 · 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.
Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company
BAR237 20th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139 · 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.
ViceVersa
BAR398 NE 5th Street, Miami, FL 33132 · 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.
Bar Kaiju
BAR8300 NE 2nd Avenue, 2nd Floor, Miami, FL 33138 · 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.
Where We Eat
The Surf Club Restaurant
RESTAURANT9011 Collins Avenue, Surfside, FL 33154 · The Surf ClubThomas Keller's dining room inside the old Surf Club, where Sinatra and the Duke of Windsor once wintered. Midcentury Miami glamour, plated with a French hand.
Sunny's Steakhouse
RESTAURANT7357 NW Miami Court, Miami, FL 33150 · Little RiverA wood-fired steakhouse with the soul of a supper club and a record collection to match. The hardest reservation in the city, and worth the wait.
Where We Stay
Fontainebleau Miami Beach
HOTEL4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140 · Mid-BeachMorris Lapidus's 1954 masterpiece, still the most famous curve on the beach. Excess as an architectural principle, and unapologetic about it.
The Miami Beach EDITION
HOTEL2901 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140 · Mid-BeachIan Schrager's restrained answer to Collins Avenue, a 1950s landmark reborn with a skating rink and a bowling alley below. Quiet luxury with a wink.
Where the Chapter Begins
Click through for what to drink between flights.