Cafe La Trova

"If you're looking for a big, fun restaurant that'll satisfy a tourist's craving for a night of Cuban Miami culture, get a table at this Little Havana spot. The food is good, but not entirely why you're here. You're coming for live music and a team of spiffy bartenders who not only make the world’s best daiquiri, but also occasionally start dancing and playing instruments. Just don't come if you're trying to have a conversation because it gets loud in the dining room. " - ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino

"Join the undead at the Vampiros en la Habana celebration at Cafe La Trova, starting at 8 p.m. on October 31. Dress in vampire attire for a free cocktail and step into a world of vampires and Bacardi cocktails. DJ Funktual will spin beats so you can dance until you’re undead." - Laine Doss

"Having fun at Cafe La Trova is as inevitable as having a panic attack while merging west on the Dolphin near that Allapattah exit (you know the one). This is Miami Cuban culture distilled into a dinner party. The whole dining room is constantly teetering on the edge of breaking out into song and dance. The live music (and the daquiris) make you shimmy in your seat. Bartenders occasionally whip out instruments and start singing along with the band like Broadway understudies. The only thing keeping people in their seats—and off the tables—is the very good Cuban food on those tables. It’d be a shame to step in that arroz con pollo." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino

"The majority of this Little Havana spot is dedicated to the restaurant. But there is a long bar you can drink at (if you can find a seat) as well as a separate bar area in the back. La Trova runs one of the best cocktail programs in town, and their daiquiri clasico is probably the one drink we’d take along if we were left on a desert island. You can enjoy it at the back room bar, which is inspired by ’80s Miami and has a heavily mirrored space that’d make the cast of Miami Vice feel right at home. But try to spend some time in the main dining room too, where there's live music and it feels like a party every night of the week." - ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino

"Classic Cuban comfort food with an irreverent twist by James Beard award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein rules the menu at Cafe La Trova, served alongside expertly crafted Cantinero-style cocktails by Julio Cabrera and his team that consistently keep the bar on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. Pop in for lunch, happy hour, or dinner, and don’t be surprised if the live music visits last longer than expected. Pro tip: visit the 305 Bar in the back room on the weekend for a Miami Vice-style ‘80s blast from the past." - Olee Fowler