You can’t miss this Allapattah gem: It’s the one painted like a giant Dominican flag with a line down the block on the weekends. Since 1985, the beloved restaurant and dance club has been dishing up authentic Dominican food by day and music from the island by night, whether that’s a DJ spinning bachata urbana or a traditional merengue band straight from DR. With a mini dance floor smack in the middle of the dining room, it’s got the feel of a cozy but turnt-up house party.

At the center of Cuba’s rich cocktail history is the cantinero, an elite bartender known for flashy techniques and a commitment to Prohibition-era Cuban tradition. At this Michelin-recommended restaurant, owner Julio Cabrera’s team of classically trained cantineros shake cocktails and shimmy to live mambo and rumba played nightly in the dining room. The performers (the ones onstage, not behind the bar) are trovadores, continuing a tradition of wandering buskers that dates back to the 1800s.

This Little Havana institution opened in 1935 as the Ball & Chain Saloon and became a haven for Black jazz legends like Billie Holiday and Count Basie. The club changed hands a few times after closing in 1957 but reopened in its original form in 2014 with an all-day live-music lineup, which spans Latin jazz, salsa bands, reggaetón, and hip-hop DJs. If the green walls look familiar, you might’ve seen them in the video for Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin’s hit “I Like It.”

Miami’s Cuban enclave has evolved over the years into a thriving nightlife hub, particularly since El Santo opened in 2019. The Calle Ocho triple threat is an all-day taqueria, photogenic cantina, and Día de los Muertos–themed nightclub all in one. Feast on tacos and tequila while mariachis perform in the cantina’s mood-lit grotto, then hit the Don Diablo speakeasy, where DJs spin reggaetón from a booth outfitted in a wooden coffin. Light a candle and pray your hangover away.

In his classic novella The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses the term “salao” to describe an unlucky fisherman—hence the name of the Little Havana club-staurant, which opened in 2019 as a tribute to the author and the Cuba of yore. Sala’o is known for seafood and daiquiris by day, but after 10 p.m. it’s a full-on Cuban dance party, where live bands and feathery Carnival-style dancers serve up salsa and rumba like it’s the Tropicana Club circa 1940.

The Little Havana cultural center is a museum that knows how to party. It’s equal parts art gallery, library, music venue, and rum bar where Cuba’s history is told through music, dance, and a jaw-dropping array of pre-revolution Cuban art from owner Roberto Ramos’ personal collection. Grab a mojito or cafecito from the ornate bar and take in a descarga from an Afro-Cuban jazz band or join in a free salsa lesson.

Brazilian drinking culture centers around the boteco—the friendly, no-frills bars found on every corner, and the namesake of this Brazilian staple just east of Biscayne Boulevard. On Friday and Saturday nights, the laid-back Upper East Side restaurant’s outdoor patio roars to life, and diners set aside their coxinhas and caipirinhas to dance to live salsa, pagode, and forró music under glowing lanterns and rustling Brazilian flags.

The splashy outdoor venue opened in 2021—Ludacris and Major Lazer helped ring in the grand opening—but it’s already a staple of Wynwood’s live-music scene. At the center of its 35,000-square-foot courtyard is a neon-lit stage that’s become a springboard for emerging Latin talent: Eladio Carrión brought his Sauce tour here in 2023, and go-to Latin trap producer Dímelo Flow played a set in 2022. It’s also a place to catch headlining sets from fan favorites like Pusha T and Charli XCX.