Jazid Will Close Its Doors After Monday

After 21 years as South Beach's most dependable spot for a dance and a drink, Jazid has declared Monday, July 10, will be the last day of business. The bar at 1342 Washington Ave. was among South Beach's longest-running nightclubs, having opened its doors in 1996. The sale of the location has been finalized, and all that's left is to say goodbye this weekend.

Since the bar announced a few weeks ago that it would close, it has seen a bump in business. "It's been going good," Jazid co-owner Tony Alarcon says. "We're open every night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. with no cover. Everything is the same, until it's not." During this last hurrah, the club has hosted shows by old favorites, along with Friday-night sets by Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

These past few weeks have given Alarcon and Jazid regulars a chance for some last remembrances, drinks, and jams. The owner and his crew have prided themselves on providing South Beach these past two decades with live music from a multitude of genres. Jazid was originally intended to be a jazz club, but it quickly became apparent there wasn't enough demand in South Beach to offer only that genre, so they expanded to Afro-Cuban funk, reggae, and hip-hop. "The camaraderie of the employees and bands was sacred," Alarcon says. "It was a place you could play what you wanted to play without the confines of worrying what was hip. People asked, 'Is Jazid hip-hop or jazz or reggae?' I would say if you look in a dictionary, you won't find the word 'Jazid,' because its definition is always being written. But once you've been to Jazid, then you know how to describe it."

He promises these last nights of Jazid will be fun, if a little messy. "Ride on through. It's going to be a blast. You're not going to sleep until you piss your pants and forget your name, just like the old times."