Bars & Music >>

• PERSONAL BEST
  Terri Weisberg
  Terri Weisberg is an easygoing, gentle woman who takes her profession seriously: "Years ago I worked at a little Irish place on the Beach called Kelly's, and one of my co-workers at the time was named Best Bartender by the New Times. I thought to myself, Wow, it would be so great to have that... More >>
• BEST MARTINI
  Rose Bar
  A librarian walks into a bar. She is looking for the best martini and an even better man. Sexy and sophisticated is the way she wants her martini and her mate. She scans the bar and finds an empty seat next to a handsome gentleman. They smile and the young bartender asks what she'd like. A girl... More >>
• BEST BIKER BAR
  Nite Cap Lounge
  The bikers started showing up at the Nite Cap six or seven years ago. That's when bartender Biker Joe arrived looking for work. Biker Joe's friends -- leather-vested, hog-riding, heavy-gutted -- soon crowded the place, feeling right at home with the big American flag out front, the old veterans... More >>
• BEST HAPPY HOUR
  JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant
  To-do list: Monday: 7:00 a.m.: Drop the kids off at day care. 7:30: Hit the gym. 8:00: Shower and change into work clothes. 8:30: Read the paper while stuck in traffic on I-95. 9:00: Big meeting. 10:00: Get yelled at by boss. 11:00: Woo clients. Noon: Lunch meeting. 1:00 p.m.: Organize... More >>
• BEST BAR TO MODEL WATCH (1 Comment)
  Astor Hotel on Tuesday nights
  It's not easy being young and beautiful in South Beach during the season. With a dozen modeling agencies plugging their girls and guys, the competition for those lucrative posing jobs can be intense. Luckily people like promoter Tommy Pooch and places like the Metro Kitchen & Bar at the Astor... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY PINBALL
  Bird Bowl
  Pinball is a nostalgic arcade game, one that really can't be fully appreciated by those who grew up in the age of Atari or beyond. It is therefore best played in an atmosphere that doesn't boast virtual reality goggles and video games that require the hand-eye coordination of a fighter pilot.... More >>
• BEST REGGAE CLUB
  Big Fish
  Alas, the era of the reggae club is over. Even though Miami certainly has a large enough Caribbean population to support a club entirely devoted to island music, few establishments want to put all of their eggs in that particular basket. For those craving the dancehall vibe, it's all about hot... More >>
• BEST LESBIAN BAR (1 Comment)
  Anywhere Pandora and Ultra Events throw a party
  Amy Alonso, Yesi Leon, Alison Burgos, and Julie Garrity are four very involved lesbians. Not in the way that every hot-blooded, horny man has wet dreams about, but rather in a collaborative effort to mix sexy fun with legitimate issues concerning their lifestyles. Their parties, which include... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/CENTRAL
  The District
  The District and its competitor, Grass, are breathing new life into the Design District after the sun goes down. While Grass is a hoity-toity affair with a velvet rope, the District has forgone the staid doorman and the cover charge in favor of a more welcoming vibe. Walk through its doors and... More >>
• BEST NIGHTCLUB TO DIE IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS
  Nerve Lounge
  Mario Sopena's vision created the chillest place on South Beach. Hassle free and far enough from the glitterati of Washington Avenue, it attracted the hottest DJs thanks to the creative bookings of Michael Storms. Notable personalities like Rudolph Piper, Jon Cowan, and Sami Stormo helped spread... More >>
• BEST BLOODY MARY
  Flanigan's Seafood Bar and Grill
  It's Sunday night and you're still suffering from a wicked hangover. You need food, water, and a little hair of the dog. The best cure for the cocktail flu is a bloody mary with enough spice to give those queasies a kick in the ass. Select your favorite vodka, say how spicy you want it, and... More >>
• BEST LOW-RENT BAR
  American Legion Post No. 29
  There's something eerie about American Legion Post No. 29 at night. The bar, a huge sunken square that could probably fit 60 people, is almost always empty. The comfortable couches, unused. The pool table and dart board, dormant. Often the only person in the place is the bartender, watching the... More >>
• BEST JUKEBOX
  Duffy's Tavern
  Walking into Duffy's Tavern is like entering some kind of marvelous Twilight Zone, where the whole place seems able to transform, to transcend time and space, according to the whims of the computerized jukebox that rests unobtrusively against a wall near the bar. According to owner Wayne... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/SOUTH
  Keg South of Homestead
  From the truly pickled to neighborhood families, denizens of the southern stretch from Naranja to Homestead partake in pitchers and wings and fresh fish fillets daily at Keg South. The bar serves exclusively beer and wine, and the most exotic brew on tap is Heineken, but all mugs of beer cost... More >>
• BEST BAR FOOD
  The Bar
  The Bar is the best of both bar worlds. Dark and cool even at midday and absolutely shadowed at night, it's a great place to drown sorrow or joy in a shot glass of bourbon accompanied by one of the Bar's many boutique beers. But Giralda Avenue is in Coral Gables, after all, and if you're going... More >>
• BEST VIP ROOM
  The Pawn Shop Lounge
  The best VIP rooms are exclusive, far removed from the peasants, and exude cool at all times. In the middle of the unending mayhem here stands a big yellow school bus that serves as the presidential suite, and it meets all of the above criteria. It's functional too. The bus windows are well... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY POOL
  New Wave Billiards
  Thirty well-kept professional-size tables, fair drink prices, an excellent jukebox, and low prices -- $10 per hour (for the table, not per person) for two players, $12 per hour for three -- are all good reasons to shoot stick at this FIU-adjacent pool hall. Where most places either have cheap... More >>
• BEST CLUB DJ
  DJ Irie
  With the exception of Khaled's frequent cameos in Fat Joe's music videos, Irie may be the only local jock who regularly makes it onto network television, which he does via his gig as the official DJ for the Miami Heat during its home games. A more visceral place to hear Irie is at a club, and... More >>
• BEST PLACE FOR COCKTAILS
  V Bar and Lounge
  Everyone knows that a hotel party is the hippest recreational activity in Miami. Just check out the pages of People and InStyle and you'll see celebrities lifting cocktails to the camera while sitting on comfy sofas and enjoying the opulence and verve of South Beach's finest hotels. You too can... More >>
• BEST JAZZ CLUB
  Upstairs at the Van Dyke Café
  Under the able musical direction of bassist Don Wilner, Upstairs at the Van Dyke remains Miami's premier jazz club. No other venue comes close in terms of consistency -- 365 days per year. (Check the Website for calendars and newsletters.) And in terms of consistently high quality, nothing can... More >>
• BEST GAY BAR
  Azucar
  Yes, all the fabulous boys go to Twist and other South Beach haunts we've given this award to time and again. But for those looking for a real Miami experience, Azucar is fantastic. It's kind of a down-and-dirty muy Cubano salsa club/gay bar located on a quiet road just south of Coral Way. It... More >>
• BEST NIGHTCLUB DISGUISED AS A HOTEL
  Biltmore Lounge
  Maybe it's the giant photos of movie stars on the walls, the pretty women at the bar, or the Sinatra oozing out of the speakers, but the Biltmore Lounge seems like it would be more at home in Hollywood (California, that is) than Coral Gables. Tucked inside the Biltmore Hotel, it's a quiet,... More >>
• BEST SPORTS BAR
  Players
  Wouldn't it be great if the next time a Dolphins quarterback threw an interception you could give him your two cents on the subject? What if you could challenge the Heat's Eddie Jones to a shooting contest and then go dance with him to the beats of a WMC DJ spinning live? Well, sports fans,... More >>
• BEST NEW BAR
  Transit Lounge
  Pull up a stool and dig the story of a Miami girl, Isabel Aguero, who loved to travel the world. She ventured far and wide, through towns and cities, seeing new places and faces, always meeting interesting people along the way. And when she came to a new place, she would park herself at the... More >>
• BEST OPEN-MIKE NIGHT
  Magnum Lounge
  It's been around for only a few years, but the Magnum Lounge has a lived-in feel. It's dark and homey, and it comfortably pulls off a combination of gay-bar and restaurant atmospherics. If any one element does this trick, it's definitely the piano, which sits between the two halves of the... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/NORTH
  Shuckers Bar & Grill
  You're the kind of person who owns a boat instead of a turntable. Your favorite pastimes are fishing and baseball, not wine tasting and yoga. You prefer cooked meat to raw fish. You think house is something to live in, not something to dance to. In other words, you'd rather drink a six-pack at... More >>
• BEST DRINK SPECIAL
  Hooligan's Pub & Oyster Bar
  Before all the hoopla over slot machines, one place was making winners out of the locals by washing down their gambling needs with their choice of alcohol. Every Sunday and Tuesday from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. patrons can order anything they desire and then leave the bill to the whim of the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY DARTS
  Abbey Brewing Company
  BEST PLACE TO PLAY DARTS Abbey Brewing Company 1115 Sixteenth Street Miami Beach 305-538-8110 A crowded, dim beer bar may seem like an odd choice, but we're assuming you're not looking to play championship darts. Few beach bars are more collegial than the Abbey, which is unpretentious and... More >>
• BEST CLUB MIX (1 Comment)
  El Clique
  BEST CLUB MIX El Clique 1252 Coral Way Miami 305-860-5360 A little gem tucked in where Coral Way forms a triangle with SW Third and Twelfth avenues, this place used to be a gay bar called the Eagle. But now it's a magnet for young, hip, Spanglish Miami. The crowd is a smooth blend of... More >>
• BEST ROCK CLUB
  BEST ROCK CLUB I/O 30 NE Fourteenth Street Miami 305-358-8007 www.iolounge.com People who want to enjoy live music must content themselves with I/O, Churchill's Pub, and Tobacco Road. Of that trio, I/O, which opened in June 2003, is the young and fresh choice. In addition to the... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/MIAMI BEACH
  Spire Bar
  BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/MIAMI BEACH Spire Bar The Hotel 801 Collins Avenue Miami Beach 305-531-2222 At the rooftop bar designed by Todd Oldham, electronic cocktails glow with the luminescence of the old Tiffany Hotel's neon sign. Allow your eyes to slowly scan the entire landscape, from... More >>
• BEST LATIN CLUB
  La Covacha
  BEST LATIN CLUB La Covacha 10730 NW 25th Street Doral 305-594-3717 www.lacovacha.com Miami's best Latin club also has a very colorful history. What used to be a rural roadhouse where Cuban families would tie up their horses burned to the ground in the Nineties. Lucky for us,... More >>
• BEST NIGHTLIFE TREND
  House Parties
  Face it -- on any night, any nimrod can talk good enough game to get past even the most discriminating doorman. Veteran night owls are sick to death of elbowing Lil Jon off the sidewalk on Washington Avenue and shoving past Katrina Campins to get to the free Grey Goose bar at the National.... More >>
• BEST ONE-NIGHTER
  Bliss at Jade
  BEST ONE-NIGHTER Bliss at Jade 1766 Bay Road Miami Beach 305-244-5787 www.theblissclub.com The Madonna/whore complex dictates that individuals who succumb to it expect their distaff mates to exhibit demure qualities in public but devilish attributes in the bedroom. Each month the Bliss... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/WEST
  Sports Grill
  BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR/WEST Sports Grill 10005 Sunset Drive Kendall 305-598-2227 The surest testament to a good neighborhood bar is whether locals actually frequent the place. For 17 years Sports Grill has been hosting families for lunch and dinner and bar patrons well into the night. The... More >>
• BEST BARTENDER
  Terri Weisberg
  Terri Weisberg is a tall woman, cresting six feet, with forearms to rival Rosie the Riveter. But it is Terri's calm demeanor, facility with mixology, and all-around 'tude that bring tranquility to the Flanigan's in Coconut Grove. Like the legend of the wind and the sun, Terri coaxes, never... More >>
• BEST POOLSIDE BAR
  The Raleigh Hotel
  BEST POOLSIDE BAR The Raleigh Hotel 1775 Collins Avenue Miami Beach 305-534-6300 Step poolside at the Raleigh Hotel and you'll swear you've stepped into the 1940s: a quartet of guayabera-clad young Cuban men lounging on the patio, smoking cigars under a lazy ceiling fan. A server in crisp... More >>
• BEST KARAOKE
  Hooligan's Pub & Oyster Bar
  Karaoke is like sushi, or country music, or George W. Bush: It's strictly a matter of love or hate. But at Hooligan's every Saturday night beginning at 11:00, Love conquers all. DJ Mark Love, that is, who hosts the karaoke party and opens up the microphone to would-be stars. Haters, as hard as... More >>
• BEST DANCE CLUB
  Amika
  Amika is the people's nightclub, or the closest thing to that concept. The doormen have a relatively relaxed velvet-rope policy, packing the club with a smartly dressed but down-to-earth crowd. It features some of the city's top DJs, including dance mixologists Stephan Luke and Cue on Sundays.... More >>