12 Best New Bars With Great Cocktails in Miami

"Trader Vic’s has a history that dates back to 1930s Oakland, California, but the most recent iteration of this tropical bar is hidden on Española Way in Miami Beach, inside the dark, swanky Esmé hotel. Paying tribute to the chain’s near-century-long history through Polynesian-style tiki drinks (the founder of Trader Vic’s is said to have invented the original Mai Tai in 1944), every cocktail is inspired by a different city of the brand’s past with the menu passport stamp to match. With 20-plus cocktails on the list, the El Polinesio is a must. Best described as a tiki-inspired effervescent daiquiri with a mint infusion, this drink evokes El Polinesio, a bar inside Havana’s Habana Libre hotel, which was once a Trader Vic’s (and is still pretty perfectly preserved to this day). Drinking with a group? Get a $60 Scorpion Bowl for four." - Allison Ramirez