MIAGuide
3 Very Fun Bars In The Bird Road Art District
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
The Bird Road Art District is a small area just off Bird Road where artists work and live in studios next to breweries, car repair shops, and Cuban cafeterias. You can take pottery classes and visit galleries here. But it’s also one of our favorite places to meet up with friends for a night out that feels like one big house party. The small but mighty selection of bars in this circuit includes Florida’s first sake brewery, karaoke nights, and a near-zero chance of tourists. In a city where affordable places like these often get gobbled up by developers, we hope the Bird Road Art District doesn’t go the way Wynwood did. This is us doing our part to highlight them. Now go do your part and check them out.
MIA Guide
The Best Restaurants On Bird Road
THE BARS
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @EATTHECANVASLLC
Unseen Creatures does Happy Hour from 4-7pm on weekdays and the live music starts early, so it’s a great place to start the night. Order "the child"—it's like drinking an IPA out of a fresh melon. But if beer isn't your thing, they also have a delicious housemade vermouth. Unseen uses “locally foraged yeast and bacteria“ to make their beers. This sounds like they’re harvesting germs from the Metromover, but it’s all done under laboratory microscopes and it’s how they create the chocolatey stouts, crispy lagers, and blueberry sour ales that make this one of our favorite breweries in Miami. They also hold weekly events like live figure drawing and vinyl nights where you can bring your own records and spin on stage with a mural of a giant owl with antlers as your backdrop.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
This sake brewery looks a lot like that secret layer you always dreamed of having as a kid—complete with a hidden doorway to a converted warehouse with arcade games, a pool table, and foosball. But because this place is for adults, they’ve also got sake flights, Lebanese beer, and wine. Snacks like wasabi peas and kimchi chips are always available, but they also host a rotating list of pop-ups, including yakisoba from Hungry Yokai and the only Nicaraguan sushi we’ve ever had. It’s walking distance from Unseen, but if you’re trying to start the night here, show them your rideshare receipt and they’ll take 10% off your check.
photo credit: Virginia Otazo
We like to end the night at Linconln’s Beard: the brewery that started it all in the Bird Road Art District. With its graffiti facade including an Atomik orange, it feels like the Wynwood we used to love. Their Patrick Swayze IPA is so good, it’ll make you want to beg a bartender to play "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" so you can swan dive into a stranger’s arms. And there’s always something fun going on here: live performances by local musicians like Carlos Escanilla, karaoke on Wednesdays, and comedy on Thursdays. And when that disco ball starts turning, the brewery comes alive with unbridled singing and dancing. Which is the perfect way to work up an appetite for an inevitable late-night burger at their nearby sister bar, Thorn.
