With an enviable location on Ocean Drive, just across the street from the 12th Street Gay Beach, the Palace Bar (1200 Ocean Dr., 305-531-7234) lures plenty of fun gay guys and lesbians (and everybody else, really) with its large patio overlooking the parade of bronzed bodies strolling to and from the beach. The Palace, whose slogan "Every Queen Needs a Palace" seems quite fitting, is both a bar and restaurant, serving three meals daily (casual American fare, such as steak and eggs, chicken wings, Cobb salads, mahimahi wraps, burgers, spaghetti pomodoro) - plus there are wildly popular drag brunches on Sundays. It's been a fixture in South Beach since it opened in the late '80s, and it's one of Florida's enduring GLBT hangouts.
This is one of the few gay bars in South Florida that's actually just as popular during the day (and especially early evening) than at night. That being said, the Palace does keep rocking till 2 am and has lots of fun events, including Sunday T-dances, Friday queer cabaret, and plenty of other lively gatherings, many of them hosted by Miami's most elegant and eligible drag queens.
