Open-Air Cigar Lounge on South Beach: Española Cigar Bar

Española Cigar Bar & Lounge, at 409 Española Way in South Beach, is an open-air cigar lounge on the pedestrian lane between Washington and Drexel avenues, and it is open every day from 12 pm to 2 am. You can buy a cigar inside, carry it to one of the umbrella tables on the cobbled street and order a 16 oz bone-in ribeye for $40 without moving again. For visitors staying near Lincoln Road or Ocean Drive, it is the most convenient place on the island to sit outside and smoke late into the night.

The business opened in 2016 as a small boutique cigar shop on Española Way, and the team says it grew from there into a full cigar bar, restaurant, cocktail lounge and nightlife spot. Cigar Aficionado reviewed it in July 2026 and named Claudio Torres as the managing partner and general manager, and his name is also on the lounge's contact email.

The setting does a lot of the work. Española Way was laid out in the 1920s as a Mediterranean-style village, with pastel stucco facades, terracotta roofs and wrought-iron balconies, and the lounge's tables spill straight onto that street. Torres told the magazine that roughly 70 percent of the people sitting at those tables are smoking, which tells you this is a cigar bar first and a restaurant second.

The cigar selection covers the big Florida and Central American houses rather than rare boutique labels. Cigar Aficionado listed Oliva, Plasencia, Arturo Fuente, Altadis, General Cigar and Liga Tridente among the brands in stock, which gives you a full range from a mild Dominican Fuente to a strong Nicaraguan Plasencia.

If you already have a favourite in your bag, you are allowed to bring outside cigars, and the bar charges a cutting fee for them. That is useful for anyone who picked up a box in Little Havana earlier in the day and wants to smoke one with a view of the street. The lounge also offers full-service hookah, so expect a few tables with water pipes alongside the cigar smokers on busy nights.

The kitchen is more serious than most cigar bars. A dozen smoky wings cost $20 and the truffled lobster mac also costs $20, and both are easy to share across a table between puffs. The 16 oz bone-in ribeye costs $40, while the 35 oz USDA Prime tomahawk costs $125 and is built for two or three people.

Finish with the Maduro Lava Cake, $9, a chocolate dessert named after the dark cigar wrapper, or the 305 Guava Cheesecake, also $9, for something more local. Our verdict: the ribeye is the better order for most tables, because the tomahawk only makes sense if three of you are committed to dinner rather than a drink and a cigar.

When Cigar Aficionado's reviewer visited, the drink of choice was a smoked Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned, a drink whose toasted-wood edge suits a medium-bodied cigar. The indoor space has a full bar, so you can order whisky, rum or cocktails while you sit outside.

The lounge's own drinks page currently says the menu is being updated, so we are not quoting cocktail prices here. Ask your server for the weekend specials, because the team runs drink deals on weekend evenings alongside live entertainment and themed parties.

Miami Beach air is heavy for much of the year, and that changes how a cigar smokes outdoors. A tightly rolled, thicker ring gauge burns cooler and slower in humidity, so a robusto or toro from Oliva or Arturo Fuente is a safer outdoor choice than a thin lancero that can tunnel or go out between sips.

Ask for something that has rested in the humidor rather than a fresh delivery, and keep it out of the sea breeze while you light it. If rain rolls in, which happens quickly on summer afternoons, the umbrellas cover most tables and the indoor bar is a few steps away.

Española Cigar Bar is open Sunday through Saturday from 12 pm to 2 am. The quiet window is early afternoon, when the lane is shaded and you can choose any table. Weekend evenings are the opposite, with the lane full of diners from the neighbouring restaurants, and the outdoor tables turn over slowly because a cigar keeps people seated for an hour or more.

The magazine counted about a dozen tables under umbrellas outside plus the indoor bar. If the street seats are taken, sit inside at the bar and ask to be moved when a table opens. If you would rather avoid the weekend crush entirely, a weekday afternoon visit gives you the same street and a fraction of the noise.

Before or after your cigar, walk the length of Española Way between Washington Avenue and Drexel Avenue to see the 1920s architecture, then head two blocks north to Lincoln Road, the pedestrian mall lined with shops and cafes. It is a pleasant place to stroll between dinner and dessert.

For sea air, walk east along 15th Street to Lummus Park, where the beach path runs beside the Art Deco hotels of Ocean Drive. The round trip from the lounge to the sand and back takes about twenty minutes and makes a good break between dinner and a second cigar.

This is the right choice for visitors who want a cigar with a South Beach backdrop rather than a hushed members' room, and for groups that include non-smokers who still want a proper dinner. It is less ideal if you want a quiet, enclosed lounge with deep leather chairs, because the energy here is street-level and social, with music and hookah on the busier nights.

Address: Española Cigar Bar & Lounge, 409 Española Way, Miami Beach, FL 33139, in South Beach. Email: Claudio@espanolacigarbar.com.

Hours: Sunday through Saturday, 12 pm to 2 am. Outside cigars are welcome for a cutting fee. Hookah is also served.

Getting there: Española Way is a pedestrian street, so cars cannot pull up to the door. Use the municipal garages along Washington Avenue or ride the free Miami Beach trolley, then walk the last block. Rideshare drop-offs work best on Washington Avenue at the entrance to the lane.