Is Churchill's Pub Back From the Dead?

File under news we thought we'd break sometime after announcing pigs were flying: Churchill's Pub is back.

Maybe.

The Little Haiti English pub/dive bar/live-music mecca that opened in 1979 and closed, seemingly for good, with the COVID outbreak in March 2020, was set to reopen on Saturday night for a concert featuring one-man band Quintron and experimental musician Aaron Dilloway.

As social-media posts made the rounds earlier this week advertising the show as "Churchill's Grand Reopening," New Times called booker and longtime Churchill's mainstay Frank Falestra, AKA Rat Bastard.

"The owner called me six months ago and said they'd open in March. March became April and then May," Rat Bastard told us. "I had this Quintron show booked for June 21 and they said they're not totally finished, but it's close enough to being ready."

And so it seemed the Quintron show would serve as a soft opening, and on July 3, Churchill's would officially reopen, bringing back the bar where you could see live music every night.

But Wednesday brought news that the Quintron show had been relocated to the Club.

Rat texted, "So after today's meeting at Churchill's, they figured out that Churchill's is not going to be ready for Saturday, and I moved the show to the Club [14247 NW Seventh Ave., Miami]. Same time, different channel, $20 door."

Added Rat: "Churchill's grand opening most likely now set for July 3." A show that night will feature two stages of local bands, all curated by the Jellyfish Brothers.

But note the "most likely."

Rat Bastard says he isn't ready to announce any other dates, but he says Churchill's has shows scheduled all the way through December.

He says he's unsure why Miami had to wait until summer 2025 for Churchill's to return. "There was a fight between owner and management, but after that got settled, I don't know what took so long," he admits.


The bar had been closed for so long that when some pranksters put a banner over the Winston Churchill mural proclaiming, "Chili's coming soon," in January 2023, it seemed believable.

Meet the New Churchill's, Same as the Old Churchill's (Sort Of)

Rat Bastard says when people can finally re-enter the bar, they'll think they've entered a time warp. "Everything is exactly the same, but better and cleaner," he promises. "The pool tables, the stage, the bar."

What about the infamous bathrooms, said to be among the filthiest in the civilized world?

"The bathrooms look the same with the stickers and graffiti but are renovated," he says. "People who were coming to Churchill's a year before the pandemic know I started cleaning the bathrooms myself with bleach. They were spotless a year before the pandemic, so the pandemic didn't start here."
One person who is elated that Churchill's will be revived is former head bartender Nicky Bowe.

"I drive past Churchill's four or five times a week and all I wish is that red door to be open, no matter who owns it or runs it," Bowe tells New Times. "And that's the same for a lot of people from Miami."

Bowe says he'll be on hand for the grand reopening, along with Dave Daniels, who opened Churchill's 46 years ago before selling it to Mallory Kauderer in 2014.

Reached by New Times via text, Kauderer responded that he no longer owns the bar. He did not respond to a follow-up question requesting that he share the new owner's identity.

New Times did receive a response to an email addressed to Churchill's.

Writes David Siqueiros, who identified himself as Churchill's director of media and communications: "We’ll be issuing a formal press release as soon as the details are finalized, and anyone wishing to stay informed is encouraged to sign up for updates at churchillspub.com."

For his part, Bowe says the opening can't come soon enough. "Dave [Daniels] is 84 years of age and has been hanging on to see the doors reopen," Bowe tells New Times. "He feels he made the biggest mistake of his life selling it. He always says, 'I should have given it to you or Rat.'"

Bowe does have one quibble with the renovation: If he had taken it over, he'd have gutted the bathrooms. "We'd have the most beautiful women in there and they'd have to sneak over to Soyka [a since-closed nearby restaurant] to take a piss."

Now Nicky Bowe and the rest of us will soon see whether Churchill's bathrooms are cleaner than we remember them.

Maybe.

Churchill's Pub. 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807. Grand reopening *Thursday, July 3, 2025.
*"most likely"