Wood Tavern (2531 NW Second Ave., Miami) may have a suggestive name, but there's no tongue in cheek joke hidden in there. The newest watering hole set to open mid-October in Wynwood takes its name from the part of town in which it sits. Though owner Cesar Morales didn't love the title at first, he asked around and people went for it, so, he says, "I went on the side of the majority." Very democratic.
Morales grew up in the restaurant business in Atlanta, and he's no stranger to taking drink orders. Currently, he owns printing businesses MiamiFlyers.com and samedayprinting.com.
His newest endeavor at Wood has only drinks, no food will be served. The beverages will be affordable though, slung for between seven and eight bucks, and of the highest quality.
"The idea with the drinks is to try to stay as natural as possible," according to Morales. Juices will be made by his own two hands or he'll purchase the tastiest and most organic products.
Though Morales' favorite drink is simply a Madras, he wants "to get creative" with what he serves at Wood Tavern. He isn't a beer drinker, so he enlisted the help of his girlfriend and the public on Facebook to determine which brews to buy. There will be a nice selection of craft beers on draft.
Wood Tavern will be "a true bar." By that, Morales explains that he wants to "make it easy for somebody to pop in and have a drink." There will be no VIP, no list, no reservations. His passion is interior design, and his desire is to make the bar comfortable. There will be a vintage vibe, so expect alotta wood.
There won't be room for bands, but DJs brought by Supermarket Creative will feature alt rock. He named Coldplay, U2, Black Keys, and The Strokes. Let's just hope that Coldplay never plays when this writer's there. Please.
"The music is important to set the mood, but it's not the focal point," he said, and doesn't expect that people will dance. But if they dance, then they dance. "We'll see!"
Guess we'll all see what going to happen to Wynwood once all these bars start opening their doors. Maybe it'll end up the next Coconut Grove? Let's drink to that not happening.
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