MIAGuide
The Best Happy Hours In Miami
photo credit: Gabriel Matarazz
Maybe you were productive at work today. Maybe you didn’t even work today. But whether you crossed every task off your to-do list or read the entire internet while you were supposed to be making a spreadsheet, you deserve an affordable drink roughly between 5-8pm (or maybe 8am-5pm). Here are some spots where you can do just that.
THE SPOTS
When: 6-7pm, Daily
The Deal: 99-cent Martinis
Chug's has a pretty standard Happy Hour Thursday through Sunday with $9 cocktails and $5 beer. But every day from 6-7pm, they do something that sounds like it should be illegal: a special 99-cent martini Happy Hour. The martinis are tiny and they require a purchase of food. But you can get them dirty or dry for just 99-cents, making this a deal you couldn’t even theoretically get at the modern dollar store. Come solo, sit at the terrazzo counter, and let the classic diner nostalgia wash over you while you eat a Yoo-hoo tres leches and drink a martini.
photo credit: The Bend
When: 5-8pm, Monday-Saturday
The Deal: Two-For-One Draft Beers, Mules, and Mixed Well Drinks
The Bend is great for people who never fully recovered from their Hot Topic phase. In one section of this retro dive bar, there's a huge Yoda statue and people drinking renditions of long island iced teas made with guava. The other section only serves wine and beer, and looks like a basement complete with decorative wood paneling and a functioning Nintendo 64.
photo credit: Courtesy Mac's
When: 8am-5pm, Daily
The Deal: Two-For-One Drinks
Among the Maseratis and billion-dollar hotels you’ll find up and down South Beach is Miami’s best dive bar. Go to Mac's to escape South Beach in South Beach. It’s dark, charmingly grimy, and cash only. Sure the Happy Hour deal is unhinged, but so is the crowd. So just bask in it. This, coupled with the fact that you can smoke inside, makes a drink here feel like you’re on an episode of Miami Vice (which they did film here at one point.)
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
When: 5-7pm, Monday-Friday
The Deal: $5 House Wine, Half-Off Beers
Books & Books in Coral Gables—the original location of this bookstore chain—has a very solid cafe that serves soups, salads, and sandwiches with both indoor and outdoor seating. It’s a lovely spot to hang with some food, wine, and a good read. There is also, of course, a great selection of books, which you’re welcome to browse before or after you eat.
photo credit: Tripping Animals
When: 4-7pm, Monday-Friday
The Deal: $2 Off Draft Beers
Tripping Animals makes Mondays fun. The Doral Brewery is always cooking up cool events like arts and crafts sessions on Mondays, and open mic nights on Wednesdays. It’s a space dedicated to taking yourself less seriously, evidenced by beers named “shake ya tailfeather” and “no mames.” $2 off their drafts may not be the deal of the century, but Tripping Animals is still a great spot to relax after work and pretend you have some artistic ability.
When: 4-8pm, Daily
The Deal: $5 Well Liquors and $3-4 Draft Beers
NW 11th Street is generally a place you head to if you’re trying to go clubbing for 23 hours straight, but The Corner also works well for people who’d like to stay away from those loud dance floors and offensively priced beers. They have solid Happy Hour cocktails, or just come for a beer and a hot dog as the sun sets over Downtown.
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
When: 5-7pm, Monday-Friday
The Deal: $10 Cocktails, $8 Wine, and $8 Spirits
Good news: you can have a lavish night at Klaw without giving up your Amazon Prime subscription. The Edgewater steakhouse is known for expensive things like king crab and tomahawk ribeye. But go to their rooftop bar and you can get cheap drinks to go along with a half-dozen oysters and an ocean view. It’s not completely ceiling-less, but it does have an exceptional view of Biscayne and that yacht club we’re not members of.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
When: 5-7pm, Daily
The Deal: $9 Cocktails, $9 Wine, and $2 Off Draft Beers
Schnitzel House is great because it not only recreates a specific restaurant (the old Schnitzel Haus) but also a specific era. One where every surface is mirrored and 75% of the people in the dining room know each other. At Happy Hour, get a cocoa old-fashioned to pair with some exclusive Happy Hour dishes like pretzel dogs, latke tots, perogies, and more.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
When: 5-7pm, Daily
The Deal: Two-For-One Well Drinks, Wine, Beers, and Frozens
Over Under is primarily a place we go for Happy Hour to consume delicious things in an environment where we don't have to worry too much about the clothes we're wearing. The theme of both the menu and the spiritual core of the restaurant is: Florida. It embraces the state with a mix of irony (they once created an entire menu as an ode to Flanigan's) and sincerity (they once created an entire menu as an ode to Flanigan's).
When: 4-6pm, Tuesday-Sunday
The Deal: $5 Beer, $9 Wine, and $10 Cocktails
Terras is our favorite rooftop in town, thanks to both the great cocktails and the view of the Downtown skyline. If you work from home, make your way over to Terras for the last hour of your work day and have a $10 margarita. It won’t make you finish that deck any faster, but that's what tomorrow is for.
