South Florida’s bar scene is constantly spoiling us. When you’ve had your fill of carefully curated posh cocktail dens, a new breed of tapas bars awaits around the corner, with wine flights, sangria and Basque burnt cheesecake.
Palomas and classy Aperol spritzes are in, mocktails and nonalcoholic beers are rising, and espresso martinis aren’t disappearing anytime soon. In conclusion, the state of our drinking union is strong.
The newest class of bars calling the shots in our region include sky-high cocktails with sumptuous sunset views, a back-door speakeasy, a Spanish tapas hot spot, and a sleek pop-up of an acclaimed aperitivo bar.
Here are four that have recently opened in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Salut!
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The James and the Spicy Peach cocktail is pictured at Bar Betty, the upstairs speakeasy at Sunness Supper Club in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Broward County
Bar Betty
2465 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 954-491-6611; SunnessSupperClub.com/bar-betty
When owner Michael Stanley first opened Sunness Supper Club in Fort Lauderdale, he pictured a speakeasy on the second floor.
Then he found the “strange rooms” upstairs, he said: Odd crawl spaces that fed into secret closets. Mysterious numbered doors with deadbolts on the outside. Cramped, cobwebbed hallways that went nowhere. It all gave Stanley, who spent more than a year transforming the space, the creeping suspicion that “nefarious stuff went down here” at some point in the building’s history.
Did the upstairs house potentially illicit goings-on? He found zero evidence to support his theories, but either way, it’s intriguing Bar Betty lore that Stanley will share with any customer who asks.
“This place was built to hide things,” Stanley insists. “I think it was a den of iniquity.”
Now it’s a 1920s-style speakeasy. After a thorough cleaning and a stunning transformation, this classy drinking den that debuted Dec. 18 now crowns Sunness Supper Club. Customers enter through the building’s rear, up a flight of stairs and through a red door, which spills out into a sumptuous, 2,000-square-foot lounge with low tin ceilings, moody lighting and a mammoth Buddha statue.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Jen Hapanowicz, left, of Connecticut joins Ginetta’s Vendetta on stage at Bar Betty in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Take Bar Betty’s checkered past with a grain of salt, preferably on the rim of a margarita. Their version is James and the Giant Peach (ghost pepper-infused tequila, Cointreau, agave, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, lime juice, peach syrup). There’s also a Caramel Espresso Martini and an elixir called Fluffy Dreams (gin, zesty syrup, lemon juice, aquafaba, Luxardo Apricot Liqueur, elderflower, citrus bitters). Teetotalers can try the Black Betty (THC-infused nonalcoholic liquor, guava puree, lime juice).
Entertainment is plentiful, with Postmodern Jukebox-style jazz from Ginetta’s Vendetta on Mondays, backgammon on Tuesdays, local singer-songwriters on Wednesdays and burlesque on Thursdays — and more live music rounding out the weekend.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Garden of Eden dessert, a secret menu item, is available at Ibis Sky Lounge atop the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Ibis Sky Lounge
1850 SE 17th St., 29th floor, Fort Lauderdale; 754-224-3700, OmniHotels.com/hotels/fort-lauderdale
Picture this: A $50 showstopper dessert from a secret menu called The Garden of Eden.
It’s a green matcha sponge cake, with chocolate crumble and sake-soaked green apple, served nestled at the base of a bonsai tree on a long, slender pedestal, backlit with a glowing halo light. Beside faux-edible moss, there’s also a goldflake-dusted apple sculpture, filled with elderflower mousse, guava gel and lemon poppyseed cake, that you crack open with a spoon, according to Ibis Sky Lounge manager Fabian Vazquez.
To call Ibis an elevated lounge is an understatement. When it debuted Dec. 18 atop the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel, it became Broward’s tallest rooftop bar at 29 stories. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap the circular lounge and its central bar, which is distinguished by a massive birch tree with gray feathers instead of leaves suspended from branches.
Open Thursdays through Sundays, its menu serves global tapas and caviar, including tuna tartare, short-rib empanadas and spiny lobster cocktails. But there are no main courses, executive chef Cristian Mosquera says.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
A variety of cocktails and mocktails are available at Ibis Sky Lounge inside the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“They could have a full meal if everyone shared, we see it as somewhere people go before or after dinner,” Mosquera says. “These are intricate bites with sweetness and crunch that pair well with cocktails.”
The menu’s 12 cocktails include a Cinnamon Roll Old Fashioned (spiced pear cinnamon reduction, bourbon); a Pink Paloma (tequila blanco, grapefruit cordial, tangerine, guava lime); and two mocktails (Vazquez recommends Amaretti Sour with amaretti, lemon juice and fee foam.)
And that secret dessert? Mention the Ibis logo on the menu to your server and they’ll wave a blacklight over the surface, revealing a scannable QR code that unlocks two more bites and two cocktails. Among them: A 28-gram tin of Grade 000 Beluga caviar from Marky’s Caviar Lounge in Hollywood sitting atop a Rolex-designed box for $750.
Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale / Courtesy
ViceVersa, an Italian aperitivo bar, is in residence through May at Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale. (Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale/Courtesy)
ViceVersa Four Seasons
525 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; FourSeasons.com/fortlauderdale
Tucked inside Fort Lauderdale’s Four Seasons Hotel and Residences is an Italian aperitivo bar pop-up of effortless cool, touting a mighty Negroni to match. ViceVersa, now in residency through May in the hotel lobby, is awash in luminescent ambers and leather tones, with acclaimed barkeep Valentino Longo pouring digestivos, bubbly spritzes, and Italian wines.
It’s a foodless offshoot of the Michelin-recognized, James Beard-nominated pizza restaurant-bar Longo also operates at The Elser Hotel Miami. But by no means is it small or stripped-down. The sleek 22-seat lounge (eight at the bar, 14 at tables) lounge has leather-backed chairs, a soundtrack of Italian and American beats and 23 drinks, including riffs on martinis and margaritas.
Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale / Courtesy
ViceVersa’s Negroni is among 23 cocktails, spritzes, digestifs, wines and mocktails offered at the lobby bar at Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale. (Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale/Courtesy)
Case in point: The Martini Doppio is a Gibson twist with Cocchi Rosa Americano aperitivo, Tio Pepe sherry and pickled onions; while its ‘rita blends Patron Blanco and spicy mango with barolo and vermentino wines. And its Negroni is elegant and Florida-inspired, built with ViceVersa’s in-house dolce amaro blend called Mi-To.
There are also drinks exclusive to Fort Lauderdale: a White Wine spritz (Italicus, peach, white wine, elderberry and soda) and Coast to Coast (Aperol, coconut water, prosecco).
Barcelona Wine Bar / Courtesy
The interior of the new Barcelona Wine Bar, which opened Jan. 18 at Sundy Village in Delray Beach. (Barcelona Wine Bar /Courtesy)
Palm Beach County
Barcelona Wine Bar
22 W. Atlantic Ave., Suite 140, Delray Beach; 561-501-0300; BarcelonaWineBar.com
The stars have aligned for exotic wines at this Spanish tapas bar in recently opened Sundy Village, where garlic prawns are paired with crisp, white Riojas.
Barcelona, which has chain outposts in 11 states and Washington, D.C., debuted Jan. 18 with executive chef Javier Narvaez at the helm, serving exotic charcuterie boards with aged goat’s milk cheese and 20-month cured hams, rich paella and tapas that range from Berkshire pork tenderloin to salmon al la plancha.
Barcelona Wine Bar / Courtesy
Rich paella, Spanish wines and tapas are offered at the new Barcelona Wine Bar at Sundy Village in Delray Beach. (Barcelona Wine Bar/Courtesy)
They have 400 Mediterranean, Spanish and Latin American organic and biodynamic wines, plus wine-based cocktails and zero-proof drinks in a warm space of repeating archways, terracotta pots, Turkish jars and natural woods that’s inspired by “sherry bodegas of Lustau in Jerez, Spain,” according to a news statement.
There are dry and sweet sherries (by the pour or bottle), wine flights, white and red sangria, and 13 cocktails, among them Alebrijes (mezcal, quinquina, salted honey syrup, dragonfruit and tangerine powders) and Laird’s Way (scotch, vermouth, amaro, walnut bitters).
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
The outside bar at Ibis Sky Lounge inside the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)