Are these really South Florida’s best beach bars?
Website puts three well-known spots on its Top 35 list
Our beach bars have reaped major cocktail awards and starred in Jimmy Buffett music videos, but South Florida came up nearly dry in a recent ranking of the country’s best oceanfront spots.
Three South Florida bars made the 25 Top Beach Bars in America list compiled by the diningwebsite theDailyMeal: Nikki Beach Miami in Miami Beach, Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar in Islamorada and SquareGrouper Tiki Bar in Jupiter. Rounding out Florida’s representation is Pensacola honky-tonk FloraBama Lounge.
TheDailyMeal’s bar breakdown justified the honorees by highlighting Nikki Beach’ s private cabana rentals and dance-worthy lineup of partyDJs. Of Lorelei Cabana Bar, theDaily Meal describes the FloridaKeys mainstay as “an incredible place to catch one of Islam or ada’ s world-famous sunsets.” For Square Grouper, thewebsite cites the national landmark as the filming location of Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson’s music video “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”
Of course, like most national lists compiled by folks who don’t live here, theDailyMeal’s list feelswoefully incomplete. Omitted is a trove of local hallowed dens and divesworth your drinking money. Up the street fromNikki Beach are notable craft-cocktail pioneers the Broken Shaker and Sweet Liberty, two Miami Beach bars on Collins Avenue with a mountain of accolades apiece.
In Broward, we can hardly forget Fort Lauderdale’s iconic Elbo Room, a historic dive with cheap drinks and late hours featured in the landmark1960 spring breakmovie “Where the Boys Are.” Lauderdale-by-the-Sea’s Aruba Beach Café, steps fromthe ocean on Commercial Boulevard, is also bustling with colorful cocktails, wastin’-away vibe and addictive Bimini bread. Palm Beachers should seek out another landmark in Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach, a Red Sox beach bar with a pooch-friendly menu and a generous happy hour.
The bottom line: There are plenty ofworthy beach bars dotting South Florida’s long coastline.
Nikki BeachMiami is located at 1Ocean Drive., inMiami Beach. Call 305-538-1111 or go to NikkiBeach.com.
Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar is located at 96Madeira Road, in Islamorada. Call 305-664-2692 or go to LoreleiCabanaBar.com.
SquareGrouper Tiki Bar is located at 1111Love St., in Jupiter. Call 561-406-6417 or go to SquareGrouper.net. pvalys@southflorida.com or 954-356-4364