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One of Miami’s most historic properties is pouring drinks again. Upper Eastside Hangout is now open at 701 NE 79th St., an open-air food and cocktail garden from the newly formed All We Need Hospitality Group.
The new food and cocktail garden is on the former property of The Anderson, home to one of the city’s oldest continuously operating liquor licenses. Records show the property’s liquor license dates back to 1937 — nearly 90 years ago.
The group was founded by four partners, Travis Rogers, John Fortini, Anthony Mejia, and Victor Ramos, who all live in the neighborhood. “We wanted the Upper Eastside to have a little bit of everything in one place, a spot to hang out for all,” said Rogers in a statement announcing the opening. “We live in the area, and we know this has been missing for a while now.”
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One license, 89 years
The corner has been serving drinks under the same liquor license since 1937.
For decades it was Magnum Lounge, a piano bar with a devoted local following. In March 2016, Bar Lab cofounders Gabe Orta and Elad Zvi reopened it as the Anderson. The spot was an ’80s-inspired neighborhood cocktail bar named for Hugh Anderson, the developer who helped build the Venetian Causeway. Restaurateur Ken Lyon bought the Anderson from Bar Lab in 2019, and the bar closed in 2024.
“The corner sat empty long enough,” said Mejia. “We’re here because we live here. We saw what was missing, and we wanted to be the ones to build it.”
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Miami’s smallest cocktail bar
The courtyard holds more than 250 guests across picnic tables, high-tops, and kid-size picnic tables. And there’s green turf underfoot and cream shade sails strung with lights overhead. Big LED screens run game days and movie nights, and cornhole boards and a foosball table round out the lawn.
Down a palm-lined path sits the Original Bar Shack. It’s a coral-and-green striped mini-house the group bills as “Miami’s smallest cocktail bar,” with 15 seats inside 200 square feet.
Inside, tropical leaf-print wallpaper, brass palm sconces, and amber lighting swap the courtyard’s sunny energy for something moodier.
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Florida-grown cocktails
Upper Eastside Hangout’s cocktails are built on Florida-grown ingredients. Examples include Datil peppers, muscadine grapes, and pecan infusions. The “Florida Spritz” is made with Ketel One Botanical peach and orange blossom, Munyon’s Paw-Paw Liqueur, mint, lemon, grapefruit, hibiscus bitters, and prosecco, while the “Dade Runner” mixes Sailor Jerry spiced rum, banana, blackberry liqueur, lime, pineapple ginger beer, and orange bitters.
Pricing is the other half of the draw. Beer is $5 at all times; happy hour runs Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. with $5 mixed drinks, frozen cocktails, and wines, and standard pricing is $12 for mixed drinks, $15 for specialty cocktails, and $8 for wine.
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Cheeseburger Baby is back on 79th Street
The food garden features four stalls, and the headliner is a homecoming of sorts. Cheeseburger Baby, the South Beach burger institution that closed its Washington Avenue home of 25 years, has arrived. It’s serving its Certified Angus beef burgers here, along with the “Classic 15th S. Frita,” chicken wings, and onion rings.
Owner Stephanie Vitori called the closure “a transition” on Instagram and promised big news was coming. The new spot also puts her back on a familiar street. Vitori ran a Cheeseburger Baby at NE 79th Street and NE Second Avenue from 2015 to 2018. Therefore, she feels right at home.
Tacomiendo brings street-style tacos built on owner Carlos’ father’s family recipes. The menu includes birria tacos, tostones rellenos, and a churrasco sandwich combo. Specials include $3 tacos and $5 margaritas all day on Taco Tuesdays. Noodle Bar hand-pulls noodles and dumplings to order, its first permanent home after five years of pop-ups. ProfessorSnacks stocks international snacks, think mystery chip boxes, strawberry shortcake Kit Kats, and cinnamon bun Oreos.
The hangout is the first of three concepts planned for the 17,000-square-foot property. Here to There, an interior lounge, is targeting a September opening. Plus, In Between Wine Garden, a self-service wine spot, is set to follow later this year.
Upper Eastside Hangout. 701 NE 79th St., Miami; uppereastsidehangout.com.
