After Dark >>

• Personal Best
  After the Revolution
  Fort Lauderdale finally got its big-time rock venue last year. Revolution does more than hip-hop, dance, and house beats. The Himmarshee club brings big names to town. So far, Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, Slayer, and Mos Def, among others, have graced the stage of the former Edge, Chili Pepper,... More >>
• Best Rock Club
  Poor House
  Dark, loud, smelly, and glorious, the Poor House is everything a real rock 'n' roll bar should be. There's a tangible sense of reckless excess within its smoke-stained walls, a well-lacquered, incidental hipness developed from years of serious drinking and heavy shredding. Think spring break... More >>
• Best Bar in Fort Lauderdale
  Waxy O'Connor's
  There's a hedge between Waxy O' Connor's and the busy 17th Street Causeway that serves to enclose a rollicking outdoor seating section, where pints of Guinness and Bass are consumed by hearty young men and women. Comfortable swinging tables, TV sets tuned to sports channels, and a diverse crowd... More >>
• Best New Bar in Broward
  Sauer Apple Saloon
  Sometimes, all you really need from a bar is comfort, space to move around in, and a jukebox loaded with early '90s rock. The kind of place with free peanuts and a floor to catch the shells. Simple. Sure, it doesn't hurt that the spacious Sauer Apple Saloon balances four nights of live music... More >>
• Best New Bar in Palm Beach
  Cucina Dell' Arte
  Cucina Dell' Arte has been around for years. Snooty Palm Beachers have stuffed their rich faces full of pasta there since it was a quiet Italian joint on Dixie Highway. Then came the Coniglio family, owners of the raucous and successful E.R. Bradley's. The Coniglios bought Cucina in its new digs... More >>
• Best Wine Bar
  Vienna Café & Wine Bar
  It's got the posh bistro ambiance, and the bar looks like it was transported from the Sideways set, but don't worry: This place isn't just for wine snobs. The owner, Danish-born Per Jacobsen, makes sure of that. He's a first-rate host who knows his wine and is happy to impart his knowledge and... More >>
• Best Place to Play Pool
  Automatic Slim's
  Five dollars an hour is the rate for quality pool at this downtown Fort Lauderdale hot spot. The joint has been open only since September, and the equipment has weathered well: cues straighter than the missionary position, balls yet to be pock-chipped with wear. The black felt carrying the huge... More >>
• Best Place to Play Darts
  Jester's Sports Bar
  Anyone with sniper-precise dart-throwing aim can tell you the three requirements needed for a good dart joint: cheap beer, a laid-back crowd, and a jukebox with tunes circa 1996. Jester's, a dark, unpretentious place with wood-paneled walls and leather barstools scuffed and worn with love, meets... More >>
• Best Place to Play Pinball
  Blondie's on the Beach
  Blondie's is the kind of beachfront establishment where you could do a lot of things: You could meet some lonely out-of-towners looking for a one-night friend, you could strike up a game of pool on one of ten tables, you could even sit down for a long talk with a friend and both get drunk on... More >>
• Best Poolside Bar
  Wreck Bar at Yankee Clipper
  This wood-beamed bar in the lobby of the Yankee Clipper resembles the galley of a large ship. But the sea life that swims past the large window behind the bar is not the kind you'd find at the bottom of the ocean. Not even close. It's people, which is less shocking than, say, finding out that... More >>
• Best Gay Bar
  Chase Video Lounge
  On the map of gay clubs in the Fort Lauderdale area, Chase is the new dot, but it's a little different. Though the atmosphere has the look of an upscale venue -- with large screens showing dance videos, the standard central bar, and DJs setting up and spinning in the back of the room -- the... More >>
• Best Sports Bar
  All Stars Sports Bar
  You can watch a ball game anywhere, and sure, most places have drinks and vittles, but All Stars really knows how to blend. This establishment's two party locations have central bars with the kind of open conversation you'd find in a dive bar mixed with the kind of well-dressed, attractive crowd... More >>
• Best Dance Club
  MIA Lounge
  Hitting the dance floor on a Monday night is a pleasure akin to eating dessert before dinner. It's naughty, and you're not really supposed to do it, but that's part of what makes the weekly party at MIA Lounge so much fun. Yes, only part of a recipe that includes free dinner for women and, of... More >>
• Best Karaoke (1 Comment)
  Boom
  The lyrics "A singer in a smoky room/A smell of wine and cheap perfume" from Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" offer an appropriate description of what you'll find at the foot of the large stage on a Monday or Tuesday night at Boom nightclub. Long, black curtains frame the wall-sized mirror... More >>
• Best Happy Hour in Broward
  Samba Room
  Location, location, location. Oh yeah, and a few other things, like live Latin music and $6 mojitos make Samba Room the hot spot in which to unwind after a long day of white-collar work. The restaurant and lounge with inviting patio furniture in the heart of Fort Lauderdale's downtown cuts its... More >>
• Best Happy Hour in Palm Beach
  E.R. Bradley's Saloon
  Bradley's is kind of like a fraternity house for guys who've been out of college for ten years. The beer still flows, and the hot chicks still stop by. The only difference is that now these former slackers have a few bucks to blow, and blow it they do, on happy-hour specials from 4:30 to 6:30... More >>
• Best Bar Food
  Big City Tavern
  Las Olas' popular bar and eatery Big City Tavern is a moody establishment where it's engaging to sip a cocktail and mingle. But as the night wears on, even though you've made new friends, your stomach starts to scream for nourishment. Not to worry, Big City Tavern offers up the likes of spinach... More >>
• Best Low-rent Bar
  Sonny's Stardust Lounge
  Some guy named Sonny -- who's rockin' a silver pompadour -- owns and runs this honky-tonk joint. It has old country songs on the jukebox, including tunes from Sonny's old band (which used to open for Patsy Cline and Rod Stewart). They have a guard rail along the dance floor in case the line... More >>
• Best Place to Get a Head
  Sofa Kings Sports Bar
  No, not that kind of head, wishful reader. We're talking suds, hops, brew, ale, lager, the nectar of life. But as for that other kind, Sofa Kings isn't the worst place to dream of it. It's a place where testosterone is free to roam and a man can, for one shining moment, still be a man. This... More >>
• Best Place for a First Date
  Dave and Buster's
  A quick three-step guide to first dating: First and foremost, you're going to have to face the fact that you're not getting laid, so just scratch those devious thoughts from your raunchy little mind. Next, if there is any hope, nothing is going to lubricate the gears of love faster then a few... More >>
• Best Place to Get Drunk
  Boonies Restaurant and Lounge
  It's a late Tuesday evening, and there's a vague apocalyptic feeling to this place, which hunkers on the edge of the cane fields. It's on the edge of nowhere. It invites disconnection. An over-the-hill cowboy, dressed in white hat, spangled belt and jeans, is massacring a George Jones song at... More >>
• Best Activity While Intoxicated
  Ghosts, Mysteries, and Legends Tour of Old Fort Lauderdale
  Two questions: Did you ever wonder about all those freaky old buildings along the New River? Have you ever had the dilemma of trying to figure out what to do when it's Friday night, happy hour is over, and you don't want to go home? Well, there's one answer to both questions, and that's the... More >>
• Best One-Nighter
  MoonFest
  Imagine, if you can, Respectable Street's goth crowd wearing smiles in contrast to black vinyl pants and hair dye. Meanwhile, out on Clematis Street, drunken Rotary Club types join the usual crowd of club kids, frat boys, and rockers while live music blasts from nearly every venue around. What... More >>
• Best New Club in Palm Beach
  Release Night Club
  Release makes no bones about the fact that most people are jonesin' for hip-hop and house. So this Clematis monster club split its 8,000-square-foot interior right down the line. And a fun-loving 20- and-30-ish crowd takes the bait. The blue room's DJs are on the ball throwing popular hip-hop... More >>
• Best Place for a Second Date
  Sunrise Health Center
  You wouldn't be going on a second date if the first one hadn't gone well. And if you're going on a second, you're probably gunning for a third. And everybody knows that on the third date, you're supposed to have sex. (Oops, you thought that was on the first date?) Before you bump uglies with... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men
  Fort Lauderdale Beach During Fleet Week
  According to the dream dictionary on www.hyperdictionary.com, "Dreaming that you meet a person wearing epaulets means unwise attachments that may result in scandal." Hmm... sounds fun! There's something about stripes on a uniform that'll make you ask an otherwise regular guy to dock his boat in... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Women
  Capone's
  There's nothing really groundbreaking about Capone's. Nothing original about its dark wood bar with neon accents, about the cheesy mural that covers one whole wall, or about the regular hot-body contests. But the funny thing about formulas is: They work. The 3-for-1 Happy Hour helps everyone say... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Intelligent Women
  Florida Center for the Book
  All right, stop the groaning, guys. You didn't really think you were going to find a brainy chick at that bimbo joint on the beach, did you? No, if you want to meet a woman who has more on her mind than her body, you have to seek out repositories of knowledge. Hence, the library's Center for the... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Intelligent Men
  O'Hara's Jazz Café & Swing Street Bistro
  When stalking the concrete jungle for signs of intelligent male life, it is essential to arm yourself with the knowledge that smart men have patterns. To start with, the IQ-blessed have interests. An easy way to weed out the masses is to start at a place like O'Hara's, where live jazz, dance,... More >>
• Best Bartender in Broward
  "Super" Dave Pettibone at Dicey Riley's
  This Himmarshee Irish joint has a veritable all-star crew of Guinness-slinging barkeeps -- Mike, Tommy, Noel, you know who you are -- but the most charismatic cat here is the man with the perpetual 10 o'clock shadow and a voice like a carnival barker. He succeeds in chatting shit, drawing... More >>
• Best Margarita
  Yucatan Mexican Bar & Grill
  You know what you want in a margarita. We'll wager it has nothing to do with flavoring from some rare tropical fruit you can find only on the western shore of Tobago or with weird food coloring (like, ugh, Kelly green on St. Patrick's Day). You want a drink that will cool you down and give you a... More >>
• Best Bar in North Broward
  Kahuna's
  The yuppies sip mojitos and watch waves crash over at JB's on the Beach while listening to a nonauthentic "reggae" band play Lionel Richie covers, but those in the know walk their flip-flops across A1A to Kahuna's. The laid-back bartenders slide bottles across the bar past the bamboo walls and... More >>
• Best Bartender in Palm Beach
  Candy Mansfield
  When new customers start to become regulars, Candy Mansfield has an unabashed way of remembering their names. She'll scrawl them on cocktail napkins, complete with short descriptions of what they drink and how they spend time in the bar. "You're Jerry's wife, right?" she asked a blond patron... More >>
• Best Bloody Mary
  Hamburger Mary's
  You know the Bloody Mary drill. Sunday brunch. Hair of the dog. Tomato juice, vodka, spices, and a stalk of celery. You also know that, at a place with Mary in its name, they're going to take special measures to juice the thing up, to make it their own. At Hamburger Mary's, la cosa nostra comes... More >>
• Best Bar in South Broward
  The Field Irish Pub and Eatery
  The first time the foot falls inside the Field, you get the feeling of having entered a large, 100-year-old Irish house. Once you drop a Guinness, Bass, or Strongbow Irish Cider down the neck, you begin to feel the warm effects of the dark wood and dim-lit interior. From the massive, deep barrel... More >>
• Best Club DJ
  Matt Cash
  Precocious youth perhaps won us over, but to be fair, this 19-year-old Fort Lauderdale native's got the skills to back it up. In just two years, Matt Cash has graduated from the back rooms of Broward Brit pubs to wowing hipsters ten years his senior at mainstay Miami nightspots like Poplife and... More >>
• Best Strip Joint
  Bada Bing
  Self-deprecation is a dying art. And so, any strip joint with the wit and chutzpah to make fun of the Mobbed-up reputation of titty bars deserves a nod. Even better is the fact that Bada Bing, one of the newest additions to South Florida's T&A scene, deserves the recognition. A classy place near... More >>
• Best Debauched Dance Night
  Crush Thursday
  As many Gen-Y kids grow bored with the stuffy, hectic, downtown Liquordale scene, they now gravitate to neighborhood pubs to clink mugs and dance with like-minded music geeks. In the past year, Crush has grown from a whispered-about Thursday night to arguably the week's preeminent outlet for... More >>
• Best New Club in Broward
  Gryphon
  Almost as new as the year itself, Gryphon nightclub has redirected late-night, Miami-bound traffic to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The large dance club with a sunken dance floor and comfortable seating all around offers an environment where you can take in the company of the upbeat,... More >>
• Best Pub
  The Village Pump
  The Village Pump has one hell of a story. Opened in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in 1949, 15 years before the Commercial Boulevard bridge connected the barrier island to the mainland, the pub built a reputation as a place where locals and tourists alike could sit back, drink a beer, and converse like... More >>
• Best Place to Slow-dance
  Hollywood Bandshell
  Listen up, rage-aholics. You can guzzle a sixer of Red Bull and go flail your woman across a disco dance floor like every other trendoid or you can break away from the pack and show some class. Here's the trick: ballroom dancing. Slow down, smooth out, show a mastery of this stuff and you'll wow... More >>
• Best Place for a Sidecar of Blues
  Bamboo Room
  Best Place for a Sidecar of Blues Bamboo Room It's no easy feat for a concert venue to come across as sophisticated and downhome at the same time, but Lake Worth's Bamboo Room pulls off the combination with classic Florida charm. Over the past six years, the Bamboo Room has established itself... More >>
• Best Salsa Club
  Spice Resto-Lounge
  As long as Hollywood doesn't roll back the hours of operation for downtown clubs, house band Exito will continue to bring in feverishly dancing crowds each and every night until 4 a.m. And we're talking crowds as in crowded -- unlike Zombie, the space's former occupant, Spice is anything but... More >>
• Best Local Label
  Audio Thrift Shop Records
  Though Miami practically dictates the electronic scene with labels like Schematic and acts like Phoenicia and Push Button Objects, Fort Lauderdale now has a more diversified imprint to level the playing field. Audio Thrift Shop Records, the brainchild of Broward native Jasper Delaini, echoes the... More >>
• Best Place to Get Stoned
  The Peace Tree
  So the WASPY fastidiousness of Palm Beach doesn't exactly add up to a Wonderland for your down-the-rabbit-hole psychedelic adventures. That just makes the Peace Tree all the trippier. Situated behind the Sea Gull Cottage -- Palm Beach's oldest house, built in 1886 -- just south of the Flagler... More >>
• Best Bar in Central Palm
  Brogue's on the Avenue
  You gotta love a bar that has a "Banshee Room." Brogue's not only has one but uses it to host private parties as well as community functions like mayoral debates. Brogue's is the place you go, sunburnt and happy, on the way back from the beach to kill a drunken afternoon. It's the place you go... More >>
• Best Signature Drink
  The Charlie Chaplin Martini at Posh Lounge
  Posh Lounge is a full-service liquor and wine bar that sits in the lobby of the Waverly building. The Charlie Chaplin Martini, like some of its other signature cocktails, is named after the dog of one of the residents. The tall glass holds part Stoli Razberri vodka, part Godiva White, and part... More >>
• Best Bar in South Palm
  The Lion & Eagle
  You need a place where everybody knows your name... and they say it in an endearing British accent. This cozy pub draws a random crowd of old Brits, indie rockers, surfers, and dirty athletes who just finished playing rugby. Got an obscure beer you love? The friendly staff will order it for ya.... More >>