Best Miami Waterfront Bars – Ranking the Top Ten

Top Water Views in South Beach, Miami Beach & Key Biscayne

Nikki Beach
Nikki Beach
1.) Nikki Beach Club

1 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL
One of South Beach’s landmark nightclubs, Nikki Beach Club provides private beachfront access at the southernmost part of Ocean Drive. With full bar and dining service both indoors and alfresco, the club is an ideal spot to spend a lazy weekend afternoon surrounded by some dazzling beach bodies. Sundays from 11am – 4pm, a full buffet brunch service includes rotisserie and carving stations, freshly-crafted sushi and decadent desserts. Guests enjoying brunch can order champagne mimosas and gourmet bloody marys for just $7. Check the club website to reserve a cabana, beach bed or lounger to host your own surfside soiree!

Smith & Wollensky overlooking Government Cut
Smith & Wollensky overlooking Government Cut
2.) Smith & Wollensky

1 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL
With a few prized outdoor tables set along the Government Cut waterway, Smith & Wollensky is a popular steakhouse with a waterfront bar offering stellar views of massive cruise ships slowly steaming out to sea. Folks in the know gather around 4pm to toast the afternoon with a round of drinks and a cool ocean breeze. Enjoy classic cocktails, a well-curated wine list and tasty bar bites in good company seven days a week.

River Yacht Club
River Yacht Club
3.) River Yacht Club

401 SW Third Avenue, Miami, FL
Check out Miami’s newest alfresco drinks spot, River Yacht Club located on the busy Miami River waterway. Enjoy food, drinks, music and fun as the sun sets and the city’s top DJs spin for a well-dressed crowd. If you’ve got the income for a Van Dutch yacht, you can make your entrance via the dock area with all eyes on your pricey boat. Otherwise, be content to relax under a tropical gazebo sipping cool drinks and sizing up the crowd.

Rusty Pelican
Rusty Pelican
4.) Rusty Pelican

3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL
Popular with tourists and a fun spot to take out of town guests, the Rusty Pelican is one of Miami’s landmark lounges located on Key Biscayne and offering dramatic views of the Downtown Miami skyline. Stop in at sunset to enjoy the best of the bar area, serving drinks until 11pm weeknights and 1am on weekends. Perfect for a pre-dinner toast or a romantic nightcap, the Pelican Bar also offers happy hour discounts weeknights from 4-7pm.

Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard Hotel
Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard Hotel
5.) Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard Hotel & Spa

40 Island Avenue, Miami Beach, FL
Discover Executive Chef Mark Zeitouni’s creative Mediterranean menu at Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard Hotel & Spa where a healthy and wholesome lifestyle is encouraged year round. With service starting at 7am and winding down around midnight, the lounge enjoys a loyal local following during sundown happy hour when beer is $3, wine, frose and well drinks are $7 and the list of tasty bar bites includes nachos, wings, oysters and empanadas.

MO Bar & Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel
MO Bar & Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel
6.) MO Bar & Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel

500 Brickell Key Drive, Miami, FL
Sample a unique variety of Asian-inspired bar bites at this chic hotel lounge just steps away from the Brickell Financial District. Expect plenty of well-dressed professionals making connections toward sunset at MO Bar & Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel when the weeknight happy hour menu includes $8 cocktails and $5 snacks like Tostone Sliders, Crispy Calamari and Spicy Sushi style cones of tuna or salmon. The bar features live entertainment with a Latin flair Friday and Saturday nights.

Seaspice and Modern Garden
Seaspice and Modern Garden
7.) Seaspice Brasserie & Modern Garden

422 NW North River Drive, Miami, FL
Providing a welcome escape for well-heeled Downtown partiers, Seaspice Brasserie on the Miami River pours whiskey, wine and bubbly both indoors and alfresco. With two wood burning ovens and seating for over 300 guests, the restaurant and lounge offers unparalleled views of the Miami skyline from the edge of the busy working waterway. Modern Garden is the latest addition to the property; a covered patio with a popular crudo bar and a hot-stone menu. Best of all, you can make your entrance by car or by boat!

Verde at the Pérez Art Museum Miami
Verde at the Pérez Art Museum Miami
8.) Verde Waterfront Restaurant & Bar

1103 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL
Verde, the haute bayfront coffee bar enjoying pride of place in the newly launched Perez Art Museum in the heart of Downtown Miami, offers guests a variety of seasonally-inspired dishes served with an amazing view of Biscayne Bay. Chef Kaytlin Brakefield, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute who trained at San Francisco’s famed Quince and Cotogna, offers brunch, lunch, dinner and specialty cocktails plus food-friendly wines for guests of the museum as well as the general public. Admission to PAMM is not required to take advantage of the awesome vistas at Verde.

Monty's Sunset
Monty’s Sunset
9.) Monty’s Sunset

300 Alton Road, Miami Beach, FL
With a newly updated menu and an impressive happy hour, Monty’s Sunset at the Marina is one of South Beach’s most popular afternoon drinking destinations. Off-price bar specials run Monday through Friday from 4pm – 8pm including half off all liquor and 30% off wine and draft beer. Guests can sit under the shade of a tropical thatched tiki bar or take advantage of the public pool deck where the view of Miami’s amazing sunsets is second to none. Enjoy selections from the raw bar menu, fresh Florida stone crabs and the lobster burger – a juicy beef burger topped with Maine lobster and crispy onions.

DiLido Beach Club at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach
DiLido Beach Club at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach
10.) DiLido Beach Club

1 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL
Master Mixologist Ramsey Pimentel welcomes you to the DiLido Beach Club at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, a breezy seaside enclave serving beach-friendly fare and classic cocktails seven days a week until 8pm. Popular with sun worshippers by day, the alfresco lounge is especially “DiSocial” from 3pm – 8pm when carafes of cocktails and bottle service are half off and a small plate menu is just $10. The restaurant offers raw bar service and a variety of ceviche, plus platters of hummus, sweet & spicy wings and sliders.