Party like you did in the ’80s at this Little Havana bar
Cafe La Trova has a bad — or is that good? — case of ’80s nostalgia. And its creators are ready to share it with Miami.
The Calle Ocho bar and restaurant is opening a bar within a bar, a themed space called 80’s 305 Bar, where disco and New Wave music reign and the drinks reflect the best of 1980s cocktail culture. No word on whether you’re allowed to wear your old leg warmers or not.
The brainchild of mixologist Julio Cabrera and chef Michelle Bernstein, Cafe La Trova features an indoor bar and restaurant and a walkup window. For the 80’s 305 Bar, it will add a live DJ and an outdoor patio area, where customers can indulge in any of the cigars offered on the menu.
The real draw, though, are the 12 specialty cocktails (all are $12). Each one bears the name of the bartender who made the drink famous, according to Cabrera, who designed the menu as a tribute.
“These drinks weren’t necessarily invented in the ’80s, but they were popular at that time,” he said in a press release.
The cocktails include the Blue Hawaiian by New York bartender Julie Reiner (Cruzan light rum, blue Curacao, coconut cream, fresh pineapple and lemon juices) and Chris Hanna’s Hurricane (light and dark Cruzan rum, fresh passion fruit puree, orange and lime juices, all spice dram, sugar, grenadine and absinthe).
Cabrera also honors his mentor, Miami mixologist John Lermayer, via World’s Best Piña Colada, a frozen cocktail with Don Q rum, spiced rum, coconut rum, coconut cream, fresh pineapple and coffee beans.
There’s also beer, wine and champagne.
Cabrera, who helped design the back-bar space, hopes patrons have fun with the throw-back atmosphere.
“The colors, the disco ball, the decor, the striped mirrors, the music — it all invokes this incredibly important time in Miami’s history,” he said in the release.
80s 305 Bar
Where: Cafe La Trova, 971 SW Eighth St., Miami
Hours: Opens 9 p.m. April 5; Friday and Saturday nights only
This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 6:28 PM.