River Lounge

Description:

• Sometimes it's all about the view, whether it's the window seat of an airplane, a front-and-center spot at a finer gentleman's club, or a back-row slot at the company team-building meeting. For a place whose view lets you see...everything, hit River Lounge at the Epic Hotel. RL sits inside fishbowl-like 30-foot windows and faces out over the mouth of the Miami River, across from the Miami Circle, and under all the new towers of Brickell and Downtown -- offering so much to look at, your date might even tear her eyes away from her BrickBreaking, but probably not. Outside there's a riverbank patio with docking area, and inside, high ceilings and espresso hardwood floors house a circular bar in the middle, a nookish area in the rear, and a playful loft balcony overlooking everything, replete with banquettes curvy enough for Dr. Seuss, and zebra print carpet zebra-y enough for your banana hammock. The drink menu bifurcates into classics with a twist, like the Pear Manhattan (Knob Creek, Xante pear liquor, & Cinzano), and the Pomegranate Julep (Gentleman Jack, pomegranate juice, fresh mint leaves, & simple syrup), and more experimental stuff like the Amante Picante (Patron Reposado, agave nectar, cucumber slices, cilantro, fresh lime juice, dash of Green Tabasco) and a lovely number with TY KU Sake, citrus liqueur, sour mix, fresh pears, and agave nectar called the Blushing Geisha, whose memoirs are scrawled on cocktail napkins.
• © Thrillist 2012

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Cocktail Bars