‘The best place to drink in Miami’ is closing
After six years, a craftbeer dream is ending.
Union Beer Store, a barand-bottle shop known for its craft beer, relaxed vibe and delicious dining popups, is closing on Eighth Street in Little Havana.
Founded by husbandand-wife team David and CiCi Rodriguez, the bar opened in 2017 and swiftly became a favorite of thirsty, laid-back customers seeking conversation and good beer (or natural wines).
The hungry showed up, too, for pop-ups such as Adrian Castro’s Panolo, just so they could try his pan con bistec of legend. The bar’s inviting atmosphere did not go unnoticed: In 2022, Yelp named Union Beer the best place to drink in Miami.
Now, though, as Miami’s craft-beer movement has changed, things are different at 1547 SW Eighth St. In an emotional, heartfelt Instagram post, David Rodriguez, who before Union Beer’s opening managed the beverage program at Lokal and Kush restaurants, wrote that Union Beer was shutting down for good.
“Too many obstacles looming have us waving the white flag,” he wrote.
In a text, Rodriguez said a perfect storm of factors made continuing at Union Beer too difficult, among them a rent increase of $3,000 a month and a looming grease-trap upgrade that could cost upward of $90,000.
“We had a good run,” he texted.
Rodriguez and his wife also operate Far Out Pizza, which is next door to Union Beer and opened in 2023. Even then, he had noted that changes in Miami’s craft-beer world were troubling.
“Craft beer is not what it was years ago,” he told the Miami Herald. “I feel like over the last three or four years, there are so many breweries opening up. It’s saturated the market.
That’s why we started getting into food.”
On Instagram, he thanked his customers profusely for their support and all the good memories made over these last six years.
“You allowed us behind the bar to be ourselves.
This was never a job for us. ... We weren’t going to work. We were going to union to hang out with everyone who came in through our doors that wanted to drink some beer and talk some s---.”
“You all went from being our regulars to our friends, family.”
No official closing date has been set, but the bar is hosting a farewell party on Saturday an Sunday with pop-ups from chefs Shaggy and Gian Luca of Haochi and the team from Tacos and Tattoos.
TOO MANY OBSTACLES LOOMING HAVE US WAVING THE WHITE FLAG. David Rodriguez, about closing Union Beer Store