Drinks After Arsht Center Show Nights: What to Order

Looking for drinks after an Arsht Center show? The easiest move is a short ride up to Edgewater, where Kaona Room, a 45-seat hidden tiki speakeasy inside The Leinster Irish Pub, keeps the lights low well past the final bow. Kaona Room is open Wednesday through Saturday starting at 6PM. Wednesday and Thursday we close at 1AM, and Friday and Saturday at 2AM, so even a long performance leaves you time for a proper nightcap. We've written about booking around a curtain before. This one is about the better question: what should you actually order once you sit down, given what you just watched?

Drinks After Arsht Center Show Nights, Matched to What You Saw

A show leaves you in a mood, and the right drink keeps that mood going instead of breaking it. Here's how we'd read the room after a few different kinds of nights in the Performing Arts District. Everything below is on the menu, so you can plan your order in the car.

After the symphony or the ballet

You've just spent two hours listening closely, so go for something you can sip slowly and actually pay attention to. The Aged & Rare flight ($45) lines up premium aged rums in 12, 15 and 21 year selections, and tasting them side by side feels a lot like hearing the same theme played three different ways. If you'd rather have a single cocktail, the Mai Tai ($17) is aged Jamaican rum, lime, orange curacao and orgeat with a dark rum float. It's a classic for a reason, and it doesn't shout.

After a big touring musical

Big sets and big finales call for a drink with a little stagecraft of its own. The Volcano Prayer ($18) is aged rum, falernum, passion fruit and lime, finished with an absinthe mist, and it's about as close to a curtain call as a glass gets. Feeling bolder? The Zombie ($18) brings three rums with falernum, cinnamon, grapefruit, lime and absinthe. It's strong, so share the ride home and let someone else do the driving.

After an opera or a heavy drama

Some nights you walk out with a lot to talk about. A drink with a bitter edge gives the conversation something to push against. The Jungle Bird ($16) mixes blackstrap rum with Campari, pineapple and lime, and it's the one we'd hand to the friend who wants to argue about the second act. The Navy Grog ($16) works too, with a navy rum blend, honey, lime, grapefruit and allspice that warms up as you talk.

After a comedy night or a lighter show

You're already laughing, so keep it bright. The Pina Colada ($15) is white rum, coconut cream, fresh pineapple and lime, and the Hurricane ($15) adds light and dark rum to passion fruit, orange, lime and grenadine. If one of you is curious, the signature The Kaona ($20) comes with a story, and the bartender is happy to tell it.

Coming From Kaseya Center Instead

Not every show night happens at the Arsht. If you're looking for bars near Kaseya Center after a concert or a game downtown, the route is the same one people take from Brickell: head north on Biscayne Boulevard, about 10 minutes depending on traffic. Free street parking is available on NE 1st Ave and surrounding side streets, but rideshare is the smarter call once rum is involved.

An arena night is loud, and that's exactly why a 45-seat room feels so good afterward. Bamboo, hand-carved tiki masks, amber light and a little dry-ice haze give the place jazz club vibes rather than nightclub energy, so you can finally hear each other again. For a post-concert order, the Painkiller ($16) is Pusser's Navy rum, coconut, pineapple, orange and fresh nutmeg, and the Midnight Monsoon ($17) pairs navy-strength rum with coconut, blue curacao, orgeat and citrus. Both drink like a vacation after a long, sweaty night on your feet.

Late Bites, and a Flight for the Curious

If you skipped dinner before curtain, the small plates are sized for a late snack rather than a full meal. Coconut Shrimp with mango chutney is $16, the Poke Bowl with fresh ahi tuna, avocado, seaweed, sesame and ponzu is $18, and the Tropical Ceviche with coconut milk, citrus, chili and plantain chips is $16. Two plates split between a couple will hold you through a second round.

And for the cocktail nerd in your group, a flight is a fun way to stretch the evening. The Caribbean Journey ($28) covers Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, while the Agricole Experience ($32) pours rhum agricole from Martinique and Guadeloupe, which tastes nothing like the rum most people grew up on.

Getting a Seat Once the House Lights Come Up

The one thing a great post-show drink can't survive is a closed door. Kaona Room isn't a walk-up bar. Walk-ins are welcome when space permits, but with 45 seats there's no guaranteed entry, and Friday and Saturday evenings regularly sell out a week or more in advance. Book your table on the reservations page the same day you buy your tickets. Bookings run through SevenRooms, confirmation is instant, and online reservations cover parties of up to 6.

Pick a time with a cushion built in, since shows run long and exits are slow. We hold your table for 15 minutes past your reservation time. If plans change, please cancel at least 2 hours before your reservation, or 24 hours ahead for parties of 6 or more. Bigger theater groups of 7 or more can go through private events instead.

Entry is 21+ with a valid government-issued ID, there's no cover charge, and the dress code is smart casual with a tropical streak, so whatever you wore to the show fits right in. Then there's the door itself. It's hidden somewhere inside The Leinster, and we won't say exactly where, but the Find Us page gives you a hint. Finding the door is the first chapter, which makes it a pretty good encore.

Next time the curtain comes down, skip the lobby crowd and make Kaona Room your second act. Reserve your seat before the show, and we'll have the rum ready when you get here.