MIAGuide
The Best Places For Frozen Drinks In Miami
photo credit: Peter Rentschler
There are certain months in Miami where it’s so hot that it feels like the air is mad at you. Luckily, the inventive citizens of South Florida have devised methods to make living in such conditions bearable. And one of those methods is frozen drinks. It’s brilliant, really. The alcohol makes you not mind the fact that it’s 700 degrees out, and the frozen-ness helps cool you off. And here are our favorite places to enjoy these genius inventions in Miami.
THE SPOTS
There are things we expect when we go to Over Under in Downtown: we’ll probably eat a cheeseburger, the music will be good, and we will consume at least one frozen drink. This place does them better than almost anyone in town. Our favorite is the frozen muscle relaxer, which comes in four different levels of strength, depending on how bad your day sucked.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Fried seafood and frozen cocktails in an outdoor space that hosts live music is one of Florida’s greatest food traditions. And Low Key (which comes from the Over Under team) is keeping that tradition alive in Miami. This place operates from a barebones outdoor patio in Little River, sparsely populated with picnic benches and some shaded tables. They serve very good raw bar dishes and bigger entrees like fish and chips, a grouper sandwich, and clam frites—all served with impressively crispy crinkle cut fries. It all goes just wonderfully with the frozen piña colada or frozen margarita you can order here.
You know what we did not expect to find at Cote, an upscale Korean steakhouse in the Design District? A phenomenal frozen drink. But this fantastic restaurant has two: a very pink frosé and the “mutiny” with tequila, cocchi americano, coconut water, green tea, and lime. They're both excellent but the mutiny might be...the best frozen drink we’ve ever had? It is the absolute perfect consistency, like fresh snow, and every sip is like a little vacation to an island where wagyu and tequila grows on trees. Cote does have a bar where you can just come to drink, although you should book an actual table eventually because it’s one of the best steak experiences in Miami.
If you’re trying to eat and drink next to the water in Coconut Grove, the answer is pretty much always Monty’s. And if you want those drinks to be frozen, the answer is definitely Monty’s. This big, outdoor seafood restaurant/tiki hut has seven frozen drink options, including classics like the piña colada, rum runner, and the Miami vice (a mixture of both). Happy Hour here (Mon-Fri from 4-7pm) is a good call if you want those frozen drinks to cost $6, which you do, because you’ll probably have three.
Gramps, one of our favorite places to drink in Wynwood, didn't always have frozen drinks. But now we're thrilled to report that they have several frozen options. There’s a frozen margarita, frozen piña colada, and a frozen yacht tea with Wray & Nephew rum, lemon juice, and iced tea. And all of the above go great with a slice from Gramps' in-house pizza stand.
If you, like us, are always in the mood for a frozen margarita, then go to Bodega in South Beach. They have them, they’re good, and you can also order some pretty good tacos to go along with it. If you’re trying to keep it casual, stick to day-drinking here. At night, this place can get packed thanks to the club in the back of the space.
Sweet Liberty doesn’t have a ton of frozen options (there are three on their current cocktail menu). However, this excellent South Beach bar does have one of the best frozen drinks in the whole city: their piña colada. It is the piña colada all other piña coladas aspire to be. They do a lot of great things in this cocktail, but what sets it apart is the Jamaican coffee they grind up in the drink. It gives the whole thing a subtle coffee flavor that really compliments all the other flavors, and is the reason we usually order an average of three.
photo credit: Peter Rentschler
Shuckers is one of the few waterfront restaurants in Miami where the prime views don’t come with incessant house music and $300 bottles of rosé whizzing by your head. It’s casual, and the food here is what you want in a breezy raw bar. They have good wings, oysters, and a handful of frozen drinks with no shortage of rum in them. But the best part of Shuckers is its wide-open view of Biscayne Bay.
If fried chicken and frozen drinks sound like one hell of an afternoon to you, go to Le Chick in Wynwood. We generally have good meals here, and quite enjoy Le Chick’s burger and fried chicken sandwich. Their frozen drink options include a margarita, piña colada, and frosé—and their outdoor seating is shaded too, so it won’t melt too fast.
