This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Miami
Miami’s cocktail scene has never been short of vibrant. But these days it’s more abuzz than ever. When bars like Broken Shaker and Sweet Liberty opened around a decade ago, they demonstrated that tropical-inspired craft cocktails could go beyond the daiquiri and the mojito — and beyond the velvet ropes and stringent dress codes of South Beach. Their fun yet complex beverages — Broken Shaker’s Old-Fashioned infused with Cocoa Puffs, Sweet Liberty’s piña colada with coffee beans and PX sherry — are paired with come-as-you-are vibes. It’s a combination that has earned them both national and international accolades.
Following in their footsteps, Café La Trova, run by Julio Cabrera, opened in 2019 in Little Havana and put a spotlight on the Cuban cantinero-style of bartender — known for “throwing” cocktails, memorising more than 200 recipes and dressing formally in long sleeves, waistcoats and bow-ties. Cabrera trained as a cantinero in Cuba in the 1980s, and in 2023 he received an “industry icon” award from North America’s 50 Best Bars. He’s also one of the key inspirations for a new generation of impassioned bartenders and exciting cocktail bars, found in residential buildings, hotels and even a food hall. These are some of the city’s best.
Derek Stilmann at Bar Kaiju
the citadel, 8300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33138
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Good for: A unique drinking experience — the entire bar is themed around monsters
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Not so good for: Making plans in advance; Kaiju is walk-ins-only
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FYI: There’s no food menu, but you can order from one of the many vendors in The Citadel food hall and eat upstairs in the bar
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Opening times: Tuesday–Wednesday and Sunday, 6pm-1am; Thursday–Saturday, 7pm–2am
Bar Kaiju sits on the mezzanine level of The Citadel food hall in the Little River neighbourhood. The glowing red space is decorated with posters of mythical creatures, and each cocktail is inspired by a monster in terms of ingredients, taste profile and strength.
“I themed Kaiju around monsters to celebrate the interconnectivity and creativity shared across cultures,” says owner and anime-fan Derek Stilmann. “These creatures symbolise indescribable moments, lessons and dreams, evoking nostalgia and connecting us to our childhoods. I aimed to link our guests to both old and new tales, allowing them to explore the world through the menu and bar.”
Stilmann has organised the menu into three core sections: carbonated, sour/tropical and spirit-forward/strong. Chukwa (the colossal “world turtle” from Hindu mythology) is a carbonated milk punch inspired by the Indian yoghurt-drink lassi, built with single malt whiskey, mango, cardamom and coconut. The ingredients may sound complex but they go together very smoothly. Güije (a creature said to dwell in rivers and lagoons in Cuba) is a tropical, slightly sweet and savoury rum cocktail spiced with mojo criollo (a citrus and garlic Cuban marinade), rounded out with mango and served in a hand-painted cup. And Yara-Ma-Yha-Who (a monster from Australia that preys on unsuspecting travellers) is a remake of the 1930s New Orleans cocktail Vieux Carré, with coconut-infused rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth and fig, topped with a piece of white chocolate.
Valentino Longo at ViceVersa
the elser hotel, 398 NE 5th Street, Miami, FL 33132
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Good for: Drinks plus pizza: it serves some of the best neo-Neapolitans in town
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Not so good for: Alfresco lounging — ViceVersa is purely indoors
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FYI: In addition to co-owner Valentino Longo, the team boasts star head bartenders Shauna O’ Neil (formerly of Sweet Liberty and who trained under the late John Lermayer) and Ricardo Acevedo (formerly of the Champagne Bar at The Surf Club and Jaguar Sun)
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Opening times: Monday–Friday, 5pm–midnight; Saturday–Sunday, noon–2.30pm and 5pm–midnight
Classic Italian cocktails are done exceptionally well at ViceVersa, a dark- green aperitivo bar in Downtown Miami that opened its doors last June. “The first cocktails I ever made were negronis and americanos,” says Rome-born co-owner Valentino Longo, who in 2020 won the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s North America’s Most Imaginative Bartender competition. “In Italy, everyone has bottles of vermouth and amaro in their homes. I wanted to bring a little bit of my culture to Miami and offer a contemporary look at aperitivo.”
The house negroni has a base of its own-made dolce amaro blend, MI-TO (Milano-Torino), and is built with gin then garnished with a lime as well as orange and lemon twists, in a nod to Miami’s tropical locale. The savoury martini doppio is a slightly dirty Gibson, served with a powerful onion pickled in sherry vinegar, dry vermouth, juniper, oregano and thyme. The Vice President, meanwhile, is a potent rum Manhattan — with more fortified wine than rum — topped with a negroni-infused cherry.
Non-alcoholic cocktails are also available upon request, and Longo recommends the N/A spritz. “We make this with Martini Floreale, which has the same botanicals as a regular aperitivo — lemon and orange peels, rhubarb, Roman chamomile.”
The food here is created in partnership with the Sunny’s steakhouse team with the kitchen overseen by Carey Hynes — it’s run by executive chef Justin Flit (formerly of Jaguar Sun). Don’t skip the white-sauce clam pizza with middleneck clams. And on Mondays from 5pm they do a special ViceVersa burger that’s extremely popular with locals.
Alexa Delgado at Matador Bar, The Miami Beach Edition
2901 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140
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Good for: Offbeat takes on Miami classics. There are no “stereotypical tropical umbrella drinks here”, says Delgado
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Not so good for: Getting to by taxi; there’s often traffic congestion approaching the area
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FYI: Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s signature classics at the next-door Matador Room restaurant can also be enjoyed at Matador Bar
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Opening times: Sunday–Thursday, 5pm–midnight; Friday–Saturday, 5pm–2am
“I’m originally from Miami,” says Alexa Delgado, director of bars at The Miami Beach Edition hotel, home to chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Matador Room restaurant and the adjacent Matador Bar. “I was born right before Hurricane Andrew — something that drastically defined the city.” It was also a reference point for her signature Cat 5 cocktail, a vodka-based refresher built with Sauvignon Blanc, guava, lemon and catnip. “It encompasses category-five hurricanes — it’s made of five ingredients — but it’s also served in a kitschy, bespoke white-ceramic cat cup. But more than that, I really wanted it to represent the resilience of Miami and South Florida after the storms.”
The rest of the drinks on the Matador Bar menu were crafted around various team members’ perspectives of Miami, most of whom have moved here from out of state. On paper, the negroni colada may give the impression that it’s a sweet blend of pineapple and coconut, but on the contrary, it’s a stirred-down, spirit-forward bitter cocktail. “It’s more the essence of tropical life,” says Delgado. The non-alcoholic options are no less refreshing, including Sowing Seeds, made with distilled herbal botanicals, cucumber, ginger and lemon. Guests can choose to sit in the cosy walnut-panelled bar — often busy during after-work hours — or on the airy terrace, which is especially pretty come sundown.
Will Thompson at Sunny’s
7357 NW Miami Court, Miami, FL 33150
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Good for: Dinner. This modern Florida steakhouse offers a full restaurant menu that can be enjoyed indoors (in a mid-century dining room) or outdoors (in a courtyard centred around a majestic banyan tree)
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Not so good for: Those who have limited time. Located in Little River, it’s a half-hour drive — or longer, depending on rush-hour traffic — from Miami Beach
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FYI: Sunny’s also has a thoughtful wine and champagne list, which spans larger names like Pol Roger as well as interesting low-intervention bottles such as Muchada-Léclapart Lumière from Andalusia
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Opening times: Sunday–Monday and Wednesday–Thursday, 5.30pm–10.30pm; Friday–Saturday, 5.30pm–11pm
“Everybody thinks their martini recipe is the only martini recipe,” says Sunny’s co-owner Will Thompson. His choose-your-own-martini menu offers guests five kinds of gin, four kinds of vodka, whether they’d like it dry 50/50, dirty or filthy, and an assortment of garnishes (do try the house blue-cheese olives). “We have a martini that’s ‘Our Way’ with manzanilla sherry and frozen gin, but the point of this martini section is to get guests to give us the information to make the cocktail that’s right for them.”
This way of making people feel welcome, seen and heard while having a great time is a gift that the Boston-born Thompson possesses. It was the backbone of his first bar, Jaguar Sun in Downtown Miami, which received the Exceptional Cocktails award from the Florida Michelin Guide in 2023. While Jaguar Sun has closed its doors, its spirit lives on at Sunny’s, the permanent iteration of its pandemic pop-up, which opened in October. Some drinks were carried over too, including the signature Green Ghoul — a margarita made with poblano pepper-infused tequila and mezcal, cucumber, lime and salt — and the low-ABV Valiant, with gentian liqueur, Cocchi Americano, lemon, orange bitters and salt.
While steaks are the name of the game here — Aaron Brooks, formerly of Four Seasons Miami’s Edge Steak and Bar, is executive chef — Sunny’s also has an impressive raw bar. My favourites include the scallops served with aguachile negro and pickled chayote; and the Ko egg — soft-cooked, atop onion sauce and served with ossetra caviar and fingerling-potato chips, it’s inspired by chef-partner Carey Hynes’s time at Momofuku Ko in New York.
Jonathan Gabbay, Leo Varona and Larry Olea at The Champagne Bar at The Surf Club
four seasons hotel at the surf club, 9011 Collins Avenue, Surfside, FL 33154
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Good for: A special occasion or just to treat yourself. Each guest is welcomed with a complimentary glass of champagne and light snacks including fennel taralli from Puglia, Castelvetrano olives and puffed corn
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Not so good for: Your wallet — cocktails start at $24
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FYI: It hosts regular takeovers by some of the best bars and bartenders in the world; keep an eye on its Instagram stories
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Opening times: Daily, 3pm–midnight
True to its name, The Champagne Bar at The Surf Club has one of Miami’s largest selections of champagne — more than 100 varieties — but people are also drawn to the storied, palm-fringed bar in the Four Seasons Surfside hotel for its extremely precise, elegant and dexterously crafted cocktails. The menu is a collaboration between director of bars Jonathan Gabbay, who oversees the entire beverage programme; head mixologist Leo Varona, who handles the creative side; and lead bartender Larry Olea, who manages the day-to-day operations — hailing from France, Colombia and the Dominican Republic respectively.
“[We drew] inspiration from Miami’s vibrant and diverse neighbourhoods, with each area represented through signature cocktails that celebrate its unique history, culture and flavours,” says Varona. Case in point, Lemon City is named after the historical district now known as Little Haiti; the refreshing tribute to the area’s abundant lemon groves features gin infused with lemon and lemongrass, hints of mezcal and coconut water, topped with a limoncello foam. Banana Cabana, meanwhile, is a playful take on the classic banana daiquiri and a homage to the poolside cabanas of Miami Beach, crafted with bourbon, rum, banana and coconut cordial and sherry. Most of the cocktails on the menu can also be enjoyed as a non-alcoholic option, while bar bites include Hokkaido-scallop skewers and saffron arancini with spicy bluefin tuna tartare by executive chef Marco Calenzo. Plus there’s live music on weekends, when the in-house DJ is joined by a saxophonist or violinist.
Who in your opinion does the best cocktails in Miami? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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