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Miami | |
Nightlife |
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Miami,
Nightlife The main nightlife district is South Beach. Local celebrities Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin both have restaurant‐bars on Ocean Drive. South Beach’s Art Deco buildings – neon‐lit with vibrant yellows, blues, pinks and purples – provide a suitably light‐hearted backdrop to a hedonistic nightlife. In the evenings, the bars are abuzz with a colourful, cosmopolitan crowd. After midnight, the whole of South Beach throbs to the international rhythms of its club scene, which offers some of the hottest nightlife in America. Bars close around 0100 and nightclubs around 0600. The average price of a drink while out and about in Miami is US$8‐12. The minimum age for admission to all clubs in Miami Beach (including South Beach) is 21 years, the minimum drinking age in Florida. It is advisable to carry ID and dress codes often require chic attire. Check out the New Times or the Friday section of the Miami Herald for listings. Bars: The local scene changes frequently but the following are some of the South Beach bars that are currently ‘in’. B.E.D., 929 Washington Avenue, is named from the abbreviation for beverages, entertainment and dining, but also offers pillow‐covered king‐size beds in place of tables and chairs. The super‐stylish Pearl, 1 Ocean Drive, appeals to the well‐off and the well‐dressed. Rose Bar at the Delano serves up fancy cocktails off the airy lobby of the glamorous Delano Hotel, 1685 Collins Avenue. Sensual Tantra, 1445 Pennsylvania Avenue, sparked a genre of Miami resto‐lounges, proffering a top‐notch meal in an exotic setting (grass flooring and Turkish tobacco hookahs) that transforms into a nightclub (the DJ spins Middle Eastern fusion). Larios on the Beach, 820 Ocean Drive, is owned by Gloria Estefan, and serves lethal mohitos (fresh mint, sugar and rum cocktails) alongside nightly funky Cuban music. Astor Place, 956 Washington Avenue, is renowned for its martinis. The Clevelander Hotel’s legendary outdoor bar and dance club, 1020 Ocean Drive, is a hotspot among the twenty‐somethings. The News Café, 800 Ocean Drive, one of the Beach’s coolest hangouts (open 24 hours), was the venue for Gianni Versace’s last drink. Casinos: The Casino Princesa (tel: (305) 379 5825; ) offers Las Vegas‐style ‘gaming cruises’ for up to 600 passengers, with on‐board blackjack, craps, roulette and slot machines. Four‐and‐a‐half‐hour trips (US$6) leave Bayside Harbour (adjacent to the Hard Rock Café), 315 Biscayne Boulevard. Departure times are daily at 1230 and 1930, and Friday to Sunday at 0100. Dress code is casual, the minimum age is 21 years and ID is required. Clubs: You haven’t done the Miami club scene until you’ve been to Liquid, 1532 Washington Avenue, an impossibly exclusive club and favourite celebrity haunt, owned by Madonna’s best friend, Ingrid Casares. Nikki Beach Club, 1 Ocean Drive, is right on the beach and has an indoor/outdoor dance floor and a young, supermodel crowd. Another hot South Beach spot is the Casa Salsa, 524 Ocean Drive, a restaurant‐cum‐dance club, owned by Latin heart‐throb Ricky Martin, which moves to the sounds of Puerto Rico. Likewise Samba Room, 1501 Collins Avenue, features authentic Latin‐fusion in a frenetic atmosphere. The gay‐friendly Crobar, 1445 Washington Avenue, has angels on bungee cords above the packed dance floor. Nelly and Queen Latifah have been spotted in Level, 1235 Washington Avenue, an old movie house and now a massive clubbing venue reminiscent of New York’s Studio 54, while the Opium Garden, 136 Collins Avenue, is a house and hip hop dance club in an Eastern temple setting, with an excellent Asian restaurant next door. Big spenders and celebrities come to enjoy this open‐air amphitheatre venue, including Enrique Iglesias and Missy Elliot. In Coconut Grove, try Chili Pepper, Streets of Mayfair Mall, 2911 Grand Avenue, one of a handful of dance clubs in the area. Live music: For the latest Latin rhythms, try Café Nostalgia, 432 41st Street, Miami Beach, which has a small dancefloor and a house band playing authentic salsa music. La Covacha, 10730 NW 25th Street, is one of the hottest places in Miami for salsa, merengue and Latin hip hop, while the hugely popular Mango’s Tropical Café, 900 Ocean Drive, has flamboyant South Beach salsa with dancing on the tables and in the street. At Miami Beach, the laid‐back Van Dyke Café, 846 Lincoln Road, and the more upmarket jazz club, Jazid, 1342 Washington Avenue, both have live jazz and blues nightly. |