Editorial
The best bars in Miami are nothing like the clubs on Ocean Drive that tourists photograph and immediately regret entering. The city's real drinking culture lives in Brickell rooftop lounges, Wynwood cocktail rooms, and a handful of Coconut Grove institutions that have been doing this longer than most of their patrons have been of legal age. We've spent considerable time across all of it. Here's where our editors actually go. For deeper dives by neighbourhood, see our dedicated Wynwood bar guide, South Beach bar guide, and Brickell bar guide.
Miami's cocktail scene matured quickly over the past decade, driven by a generation of bartenders who trained in New York and Chicago before relocating for the weather. The result is a city where a serious drink is never more than a few blocks away, regardless of neighbourhood.
Miami's skyline has grown fast enough that the rooftop bar scene is genuinely competitive now. A few years ago you had two or three options. Today there are a dozen worth visiting, and another dozen that are worth avoiding. We've done the work.
The most interesting drinking in Miami often happens away from the hotel bars and rooftop terraces. These are the places that Miamians actually frequent — spots where you're unlikely to see a bottle service table or a DJ who needs his own security.
Miami rewards the drinker who is willing to move between neighbourhoods. The single biggest mistake visitors make is staying on the beach — the city's best bars are almost all west of Collins Avenue. Our recommendation: start in Brickell for cocktails, move to Wynwood for the scene, and end the night in Little Havana if you want a genuinely Miami experience that money can't manufacture.
Marcus covers the US West Coast, Miami, and Latin America for barsforKings. He has been drinking his way through Miami's bar scene since 2015 and has strong opinions about which neighbourhoods are overrated.
Five editor-curated guides, each ten bars, each tuned to a specific moment. The Miami bars our editors send first dates to, and the ones we send proposals to, and everything between.
Six annual Miami guides, each ten editor-vetted bars. Christmas Day to New Year's Eve to Halloween, with the cover charges, midnight pours and door policies confirmed.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 by the barsforKings editorial team