Spanglish on North Miami Avenue is the Wynwood speakeasy behind a golden cocktail shaker out front, an intimate room of craft cocktails, Spanish-American small plates and art from Tatiana Suarez and Tiago Magro.
Tip: No marked sign; the shaker is the door. Capacity is tight, so reserve via the website for Friday and Saturday slots.
Address: 2808 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33127
The Sylvester on North Miami Avenue is the Wynwood neighborhood cocktail bar with a tight room, midcentury bench seating and a drinks list that runs deep on agave and amaro.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. Tuesday to Saturday from 17:00; reserve via Tock for the bench banquettes against the back wall.
R House on NW 2nd Avenue is the Wynwood Latin-American kitchen that turned a decade of drag brunches into the most-booked queer Saturday and Sunday in Miami, with two seatings per weekend day.
Tip: Drag brunch at 11:30 and 14:30 Saturday and Sunday with bottomless drinks. Reserve weeks ahead for prime weekends.
Lost Boy Dry Goods on East Flagler hides behind a faux dry-goods storefront in the Alfred I Dupont Building, the Downtown bar that plays its 1930s general-store fit-out straight and pours classics on tap.
Tip: Happy hour weekdays 16:00 to 19:00 with half-off cocktails. Open until 02:00 most nights; the front-window seats fill first.
The Sylvester on North Miami Avenue is the Wynwood neighborhood cocktail bar with a tight room, midcentury bench seating and a drinks list that runs deep on agave and amaro.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. Tuesday to Saturday from 17:00; reserve via Tock for the bench banquettes against the back wall.
Twist on Washington Avenue has run since 1993, the South Beach gay institution that packs seven distinct bars under one roof from main floor pop to an upstairs lounge to the back-courtyard dance floor.
Tip: Free entry every night. Each room has its own scene; the back patio is the easier breather after midnight when the dance floor fills.
Palace on Ocean Drive is the South Beach drag institution that has run for more than three decades, a sidewalk patio and inside bar where the queens lip-sync at the curb to traffic and tourists.
Tip: Sunday drag brunch is the signature; weekday evening drag shows are easier walk-ins. Ocean Drive parking is murder, so Uber.
R House on NW 2nd Avenue is the Wynwood Latin-American kitchen that turned a decade of drag brunches into the most-booked queer Saturday and Sunday in Miami, with two seatings per weekend day.
Tip: Drag brunch at 11:30 and 14:30 Saturday and Sunday with bottomless drinks. Reserve weeks ahead for prime weekends.
Score on Washington Avenue is the South Beach video bar and dance club, formerly on Lincoln Road, now relocated to Washington with two floors, drag shows nightly and a Sunday tea dance.
Tip: Open every day from 15:00 to 05:00, happy hour weekdays until 21:00. Sunday tea dance from 17:00 is the locals afternoon.