If you're reading this, you probably need a drink.
Although there are dozens of winners, here's a list of the booziest all-stars for your reading enjoyment.
You'll find both the funniest and sincerest picks from our favorite places around town. The complete list of all of our selections is available at miaminewtimes.com/best-of. And be sure to pick up a copy at newsstands today!
10. Best Bloody Mary - MC Kitchen
MC Kitchen chef/owner Dena Marino is obsessed with tomatoes. Look in the kitchen and you'll see a giant white bowl brimming with her favorite heirloom varieties. This is important to
9. Best Martini - Traymore Gin Bar
Martinis are both cocktail and lifestyle. As such, they must be respected and enjoyed. This is not a drink to be guzzled from a red Solo cup while Anthrax plays on the juke in some crummy dive bar. For a proper experience, grab a seat at the Traymore Gin Bar. A soothing nod to Miami Beach's art deco era, the room features silver tones, and bottles of gin are the main decoration.
8. Best Bar Program at a Restaurant - Tom on Collins at Beachcraft
Tom Colicchio isn't just any celebrity chef. The multiple James Beard Award winner also holds an Emmy for his work on Top Chef and is heavily involved in social and political activism, especially on issues such as GMO labeling and the use of antibiotics in our foods. It stands to reason, then, that his Miami Beach restaurant, Beachcraft, sources only the best produce for its kitchens. This fresh and local mentality also works its way onto Colicchio's bar menu. The drinks use fresh fruits, herbs, and flowers to create unique and delicious cocktails.
7. Best Hotel Lounge/Bar - the Broken Shaker
A humble hostel might be the last place you'd expect to find Miami's most inventive bar. But from the beginning, the Broken Shaker, helmed by Bar Lab's Gabriel Orta and Elad Zvi, has defied all expectations. What started as a pop-up bar in 2012 in a quiet Indian Creek Drive hotel has become a beloved creator of incredible libations celebrated by clientele and critics alike. In fact, for two years in a row, the Broken Shaker was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program.
6. Best Bar When It's 90 Degrees Out - Drinkhouse Fire & Ice
Sure, we have palm trees and the ability to wear bikinis year-round. The flip side, however, is the radioactive-intense sun and 99 percent humidity we get during Miami summers. And it's a good day when we're not being carried off by some tropical storm. So when the mercury hits 90 degrees, get thee to Drinkhouse Fire & Ice. Before you even walk inside, your core temperature seemingly drops at the sight of the cool blue lighting and pictures of what looks like a snow queen.
5. Best Beer Selection - Boxelder
If you want to tap into the best beers, you'd best go to the source — Wynwood. There's no denying that this artistic neighborhood is the epicenter of Miami's brewing scene. It also stands to reason that Wynwood has a kick-ass beer bar. Don't go to Boxelder seeking a massive 30-page binder full of beers — do you really need to peruse thousands of artificially flavored fruit beers?
4. Best Happy Hour - Beaker & Gray
The large, round lights that make up the sign for Beaker & Gray are reminiscent of an old-school Broadway theater in New York City. And the bar's indoor aesthetics would fit nicely into Gangs of New York, the 2002 Leonardo DiCaprio movie about 1860s NYC. All in all, this Wynwood newcomer is a pleasing combination of rustic, country, and hipster. And unlike many über-trendy locales, it's got a killer happy hour every Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., and again at 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. for late-night wanderers (except Friday). Everything is $5.
3. Best Bartender - Gui Jaroschy
Gui Jaroschy doesn't quite fit the trendy bartender mold. Instead of wearing a beard or a finely waxed ironic mustache, Jaroschy sports more of a Brady Bunch mop top and smile. Don't let that disarm you — the man means serious business when it comes to making a cocktail or running an entire operation.
2. Best Bar, Miami Beach- Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company
John Lermayer is one of bartending's elite — a world-class drink slinger known the world over for his style, his concoctions, and his bon vivant lifestyle. So it was no surprise that when he (along with dream-team partners restaurateur David Martinez and Blackbird Ordinary's Dan Binkiewicz) opened his first bar, it would offer superlative libations. What makes Sweet Liberty so good is its casual setting. Here, no hipsters look down on you because you don't know the latest small-batch whiskey, and no brusque waitresses demand $35 for a cocktail.
1. Best Cocktails - The Anderson
When Bar Lab's Gabriel Orta and Elad Zvi announced they were taking over the old Magnum Lounge — a retro New York-style piano bar — everyone naturally assumed the old, beloved space would serve some good cocktails. After all, Orta and Zvi are the masterminds behind the Broken Shaker, the bar that single-handedly put Miami Beach's cocktail scene on the world map. But what could the Bar Lab partners do to make a unique mark on the Anderson? Their answer was to seek inspiration from the '80s, a time when people enjoyed libations with names like WooWoo, Sex on the Beach, and Kamikaze.
