Brickell Cigar Lounge, No Membership Needed: Empire Social

Empire Social Lounge, at 1106 S Miami Avenue, Suite 202, is a second-floor cigar lounge in the middle of Brickell that opens at 12 pm every day and stays open until 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 3 am on Friday and Saturday. You do not need a membership to walk in, and the house rules let guests bring their own cigars. The lounge recommends booking through Resy, and the bar seats are first come, first served, so a solo visitor can usually find a stool without a reservation.

This room has been one of Brickell's cigar addresses for close to a decade. It opened in June 2016 as Casa de Montecristo by Prime, according to Halfwheel, which covered the opening and the later rebrand to Empire Social Lounge after the Montecristo agreement ended. The Prime group behind it was founded in Boca Raton in 2010 by Jason Reznik and Ryan Leeds, and the company still runs a sister lounge on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

Leeds explains the idea in personal terms on the lounge's website: he wanted an environment where friends and colleagues could spend real time together, and where fathers and sons could share the kind of evenings he had with his own father. The lounge also points to two accolades on its site, a Best Cigar Lounge in the Nation title from Cigar & Leisure Magazine and Best Cigar Lounge in Miami from Miami New Times.

The centrepiece is a set of walk-in humidors lined with cedar and fronted by glass, so you can see the boxes before you step inside. Across the brand, the company says it keeps more than 5,000 cigars in stock. At the Brickell bar the whiskey shelf currently sits at 250 bottles and counting, which gives the bartenders plenty to work with if you want a pour matched to a specific wrapper.

Air quality is the other selling point. The lounge describes a state-of-the-art HVAC extraction system, and in a second-floor room without street-level doors, that is what keeps the space comfortable when every table is lit on a Friday night.

The official FAQ is clear that you do not have to be a member to visit, and that there are good spaces for non-members alongside a dedicated members' lounge. The dress code is smart casual. Shorts are allowed only with a collared or more elevated shirt, and T-shirts are allowed only with pants. Men must wear closed-toe shoes, and swimwear and gym wear are not permitted, which matters in a neighbourhood where people often come straight from the pool or the gym.

Guests may bring their own tobacco for personal consumption, a generous policy compared with lounges that insist you buy from their humidor. Outside spirits are strictly prohibited, but you can bring one bottle of wine per reservation for a corkage fee.

The calendar is busy this month. A dark spirits experience with Bumbu rum and Deacon whiskey is listed for Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 7 pm. Whiskey Wednesday runs on Wednesday, October 28 from 12 pm to 11 pm, and on Halloween night the Brickell lounge hosts Saturday Fright Fever, presented by Dano's Dangerous Tequila, starting at 8 pm.

Event nights are the busiest of the month, so reserve on Resy if you want a table rather than a bar stool. On a regular Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon, by contrast, you can usually walk in and choose your seat.

Regulars can choose between two tiers. The Social membership costs $1,800 per year and includes a personalised locker for your cigars. The Prime membership costs $3,500 per year and returns $2,400 in member credits, so heavy spenders effectively pay much less for access than the headline number suggests.

Our honest take: neither tier makes sense unless you visit at least a couple of times a month. A visitor in town for a week gets the full experience without joining, since the main room, the humidor and the bar are all open to the public.

Arrive before 6 pm if you want to watch Brickell light up from a quiet table, choose a cigar in the humidor, and take your time with a first pour before the after-work crowd lands. Late arrivals on Friday and Saturday get the longest night, with the lounge open until 3 am.

If the room is full and Resy shows nothing, the downtown lounges north of the river are a short rideshare away. El Vecino at Miami Worldcenter opens at 4 pm, and City Cigar Lounge near Government Center opens at noon, so you will not lose the evening.

Mary Brickell Village is a short walk south on South Miami Avenue, with open-air restaurants and bars that work well for dinner before a cigar. Brickell City Centre is a few blocks north, where you can shop or eat under its climate ribbon canopy. A walk east on 10th or 11th Street brings you toward Brickell Avenue and its bayfront towers if you want a look at the water after your smoke.

Metromover's Brickell loop has stations within a few minutes' walk, and it is free, which is the easiest way to arrive from downtown without driving.

Address: Empire Social Lounge, 1106 S Miami Avenue, Suite 202, Miami, FL 33130, on the second floor in Brickell.

Hours: Sunday through Thursday 12 pm to 2 am, Friday and Saturday 12 pm to 3 am. Reservations through Resy are recommended, bar seating is first come, first served.

Parking: there are two private lots within one block of the entrance, priced by day and time, and metered street parking paid by app. Check the dress code before you leave the hotel, since the closed-toe shoe rule for men and the ban on swim and gym wear are written into the house policy. If you plan a second cigar, a late dinner at Mary Brickell Village in between keeps the night from becoming one long sit.