Cocktail Bar Near Arsht Center: Before or After the Show

If you've got tickets at the Adrienne Arsht Center, the drinks question usually comes down to timing. Do you grab a cocktail before the curtain, or save it for after the final bow? The good news is that a cocktail bar near the Arsht Center doesn't have to mean a crowded lobby line. Kaona Room, a 45-seat hidden tiki speakeasy inside The Leinster Irish Pub in Edgewater, is easily reached from the Performing Arts District, and it works for either half of a show night as long as you plan the timing right.

Here's how locals use it, before the show, after the show, and when the whole group wants to come along.

Before the Curtain: a Cocktail Bar Near the Arsht Center at 6PM

Kaona Room is open Wednesday through Saturday starting at 6PM, which lines up nicely with an evening performance. The trick with a pre-show drink is keeping it relaxed rather than rushed. Book the earliest slot you can on the reservations page, give yourself one drink and a bite, and leave with time to spare. Nobody wants to sprint into their seat with a Zombie still working its way through their system.

For a pre-show order, lean toward the brighter, easier drinks on the menu. The Pina Colada ($15) is white rum, coconut cream, fresh pineapple and lime, about as friendly as tiki gets. The Hurricane ($15) brings light and dark rum with passion fruit, orange, lime and grenadine. If you want something with a little more character, the Jungle Bird ($16) mixes blackstrap rum with Campari, pineapple and lime, and that bitter edge makes it a great aperitif.

Hungry but not ready for a full dinner? The small plates are sized for exactly this window. Coconut Shrimp with mango chutney is $16, the Poke Bowl with fresh ahi tuna, avocado and ponzu is $18, and the Tropical Ceviche with coconut milk, citrus, chili and plantain chips is $16. Split two and you've got enough to carry you through the first act.

After the Show: Where the Night Slows Down

This is where Kaona Room really earns its place among the bars near the Arsht Center in Miami. When the house lights come up, a lot of people want to keep talking about what they just saw, and a loud room makes that impossible. Kaona Room is small on purpose. Bamboo walls, hand-carved tiki masks, amber light and a little dry-ice haze set a mood that feels more like a jazz club than a nightclub, so you can actually hear each other.

The late hours help too. Wednesday and Thursday we close at 1AM, and Friday and Saturday at 2AM, so even a long performance leaves plenty of room for a proper nightcap. A post-show drink is also the moment for something slower and stronger. The Mai Tai ($17) is aged Jamaican rum, lime, orange curacao and orgeat with a dark rum float. The Volcano Prayer ($18) arrives with an absinthe mist, which is a nice bit of theatre after an evening of the real thing. The signature The Kaona ($20) comes with a story, so ask the bartender to tell it.

If you'd rather sip than mix, try a flight. Each one is three pours with tasting notes from the bartenders. The Caribbean Journey ($28) covers Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, the Agricole Experience ($32) pours rhum agricole from Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the Aged & Rare ($45) lines up 12, 15 and 21 year selections. Every rum in the collection is also available as a neat pour or on the rocks, so you can wander through the rum collection one glass at a time.

And then there's the door. Kaona Room is hidden inside The Leinster, and we won't say exactly where the entrance is. Finding the door is the first chapter, which makes for a fun little epilogue to a night at the theater. The Find Us page gives you a hint without spoiling it.

Booking Around a Curtain Time

Show nights have one fixed point, the curtain, and everything else has to bend around it. A few things make that easier here:

• Book ahead, always. Kaona Room isn't a walk-up bar. Walk-ins are welcome when space permits, but with 45 seats there's no guaranteed entry, especially on weekends. Friday and Saturday evenings regularly sell out a week or more in advance.
• Pad the post-show slot. We hold your table for 15 minutes past your reservation time. Shows can run long and exits can be slow, so pick a time with a cushion built in.
• Plans change, so cancel early. Please cancel at least 2 hours before your reservation, or at least 24 hours ahead for parties of 6 or more.
• Getting there. The address is 1600 NE 1st Ave, Miami, FL 33132. There's free street parking on NE 1st Ave and the surrounding side streets, and rideshare is the smart move if a rum flight is in your future.

Bookings run through SevenRooms, the confirmation arrives the moment you finish, and online reservations cover parties of up to 6. Entry is 21+ with a valid government-issued ID, and there's no cover charge.

Bringing the Whole Theater Group

Subscription nights and birthday outings often mean a bigger crew. For parties of 7 or more, or for a full or partial buyout, the private events team handles it directly. With the whole room to yourselves you can arrange custom cocktail menus, a guided rum tasting, food and beverage packages and a dedicated bartender, so a big group can toast the show without competing for seats.

One last note on what to wear. The dress code is smart casual with a tropical streak, so whatever you put on for the theater fits right in. Hawaiian shirts are encouraged, flip flops and athletic wear are not.

Whether the drink comes before the overture or after the encore, Kaona Room is a secret worth finding on show night. Check the calendar, reserve your seat, and let the curtain set the schedule.