miniBar

Great tapas, and even better beer selection. It has a NYC, Zurich, Amsterdam thing going. Check it out!

This place blew my mind!
Being a Wynwood Art District rat I noticed this place soon after it opened. After noticing the intriguing beer selection at the front window I just had to walk in and see what this place was about. What happened after is forever inscribed in my soul. As soon as I walked in I realized, this place was me. Beautiful, comfortable, modern looking couches in the entrance gave a sense of «homeyness» to the already beautiful ambiance. The music was perfect and the art that hung off all of the brick walls, spectacular! Not quite the amount of people I would expect in a place so beautifully decorated and well serviced. Instantly upon walking in I was seated by a kind young gentleman that actually seemed like he wanted to be there. The service was great from the second I walked in until I was out the door. The menu wasn’t too extensive but had just the right things.
Things you must try: Eggplant bites, Bleu cheese slider, Truffle fries, Hummus pizza, Penne truffle pasta and the Nutella empanada to seal the deal.
Most of these dishes are ranged between 5 – 7 dollars since they are tapas or sliders so you can definitely choose a couple for each person you are with. Don’t forget to try one of the beers, great selection to choose from. This is a great place to go with a group after work for a couple beers or even for a couple to go to have a romantic night in the VIP, closed off section upstairs. I forgot to mention that they regularly host art shows, invite bands, and even live DJs on Thurs-​Sat which are always a good time.

We bought a Groupon for miniBar. It was $ 20 or so for $ 45 of food and drinks. So glad we weren’t actually paying full price because I would have been sincerely disappointed we wasted our money.
We went on a Tuesday night to have some «happy hour» style drinks and tapas. The restaurant is in a good location in the Design District so we thought that would be a good time to check them out. Granted it was a Tuesday evening, but the place was dead — eerily quiet. When we walked in no one was there to greet us and we wondered if they were even open. Someone did come out and said we could pick a table anywhere. We chose to check out upstairs. The are a few different areas to choose from including a couple of «loungy» areas.
In general, though, the whole place is a little grungy for the type of food they are serving. It reminds me of a coffee shop in a college town more than a tapas bar. The white table cloths were stained from previous diners with wine and whatever else. The chairs are not too comfortable. The art on the walls is art-​student tacky. The candle in the middle of our table was not lit and the wax and water were speckled with dirt. Needless to say, we did not get a good first impression.
The food was not good either. We ordered one of the baguettes, the truffle fries, a pasta, a salad, and a couple of sliders. The pasta was, and I’m quoting my friend here, «something a lazy college student would make.» It was basically pasta with oil and melted cheese. Everything else was below mediocre. It was very disappointing considering that the concepts were good. I like the idea of having a small sandwich and a salad, but it was not executed well at all.
I will not be dining at miniBar again. I’m glad Groupon gave me a reason to try it, but that will be the last time unless I hear they’ve made some changes. Seriously, I think the place would be better off as a college-​town style coffee house.

Cool spot and deserves a larger crowd. Started off the evening here during this months art walk as a friend had her art being displayed here.
Its homey with its tucked away rooms and mix of local art on the walls. We were seated upstairs and I was pleasantly surprised with the beer selection. The menu is great, except I couldn’t make up my mind! I ended up with a roasted red pepper and brie baguette and a slider both were delicious. The truffle fries were great and big plus to the eggplant bites.
Definitely a spot to come and have good conversation either as a group or on a romantic date.

Relaxed. Funky. Homey. miniBar gave me a few lovely items that I’m still happily picking out of my teeth. The caprese salad was fresh and perfectly balanced. The espanada de picadillo had a gentle sweetness. While the dough was thicker than I normally like, the bite-size…size…made for a tasty mouthful. The turkey slider (and the other sliders) were tasty and fun.
Wash it all down with a bottle of the Arrogant Bastard beer (enough to share) and you’ve got a good night of small plates. I even had a delicious bite of the mac and cheese. (I know… not on my diet. It was worth it.) Don’t expect fancy. Expect funky. Hey, it’s only three letters off. If one of you in your crowd doesn’t have a sense of humor, or an eye toward irony, keep looking. If you do, try miniBar.

Mini-​bar is a delightful addition to the array of tapas and tasting menu restaurants in Midtown Miami’s Design District. It’s (yet another) new establishment in the area, taking over the space of the former Charcuterie which had long existed, but little shown actual activity. Don’t let the tempered façade fool you — there is quite a bit of space inside and the 2^nd floor is where the most action seems to be. .. There is ample parking in the public lots next door and it’s a short walk to the restaurant.
The ambience at Mini-​Bar is a ton of fun, with nice (inexpensive and for sale) artwork dotting the walls, great mood lighting and vibrant color scheme. We sat on the 2^nd floor in the chill room nearest NE 2^nd ave — painted in deep purple colors with bench seating along the walls and curtained windows admitting the sodium street lamps and the changing colors from the 5 points light on 36^th street.. .
The ground floor has outdoor seating and some spots to sit — hint guys — install a bar inside on the ground floor. It’s beer and wine only, but with a full menu of Micro-​Brews, the Mini-​Bar could use a place to saddle up to, or at least invite people in the door with! The prices were fairly reasonable from $ 6 – 8 for all of the beers and wines by the glass. I’m a fan of draft micro-​brew which is something that draws me to these high end non-​spirit bars… and isn’t on the menu just yet.
I found the food to be very tasty and the portions excellent for tasting menu prices. We had a 6″ goat cheese & bacon pizza which was rich and tasty. The 3″ brie, red pepper and butter sandwich was surprisingly large and had a wonderful flavor. The «hot» chocolate cupcake, well, my spouse loved it, but I only had a small bite since I was low on cappuccino. When I say that it’s a «hot» chocolate, I mean tons of jalapeño. If I had more milk, it would be a winner, but if you’re not into Serious spice, go for the traditional sweet and not hot cupcakes.
A must try for any foodie and they have combo meals (not sure what else to call these, hahaha) where you can pick 1 item from each category too. See you there!

Don’t let the vacant tables at miniBar fool you. The place may be completely empty (hey, it’s only a month old) on a Friday night, but there is most definitely someone present in the kitchen.
Top menu selections include: goat cheese slider, parmesan/​truffle fries, hummus pizza, and nutella/​banana empanada. And these are definitely small portions (aka snacks), so don’t go here too hungry. Rather, pick minibar if you’re looking for real conversation amongst friends, while tossing back some beers and subtly delighting the taste buds. Bonus points awarded for the edgy art, upbeat overhead music, and usage of typewriter-​esque «courier» font on the menu. (i heart courier)

My coworker and I decided to get a light lunch and we were both glad we decided to try Minibar. While its nothing like Jose Andres’ famous restaurant of the same name in DC, we found it to be a very welcome addition to the MidTown Miami scene.
Its a converted house that been colorfully painted and decorated with local art, serving small tapas style plates of food. The truffle parmesan fries were top-​notch, perfectly fried and dusted with the right amount of cheese to make the addictive. The bacon and goat cheese pizza was also a highlight of the meal, nice proportions between the crust, bacon and goat cheese (the latter two mild enough to avoid overpowering the pizza). The two baguette sandwiches we tried were ok. Small but adequate drink selection, and the service was super friendly.
We really enjoyed the music playing during our meal, and they were nice enough to split a macaroon order for us to try (delish, very coconut-​y and not too sweet). Great choice for lunch or light dinner with friends, there’s even a large public lot next door.

miniBar is an appropriately cute name for this small plates/​tapas type of place. Menu consists of sliders, salads, sandwiches, pastas, empanadas, «snacks» (isn’t the entire menu essentially snacks?), and sweets. Everything’s between $ 2 – 5 (at least for lunch). Common ingredients include standard «fancy» cheeses (like bleu, brie, goat), truffle oil, iceberg lettuce (why?), fruits like grapes and apples in salads, and pine nuts.
While listening to a good chunk of Modest Mouse’s «Good New for People Who Hate Bad News» while waiting for my food, I noticed that the place was visually up to Design District par. There are three dining rooms, the one you initially walk into is painted bright yellow and has all these large, striped paintings of 3D pears bursting through the middle of their canvases. Walk a little deeper into the café and the shade of the wall gets a little peachy, maybe even a brownish, with a few more tables. I followed my inner white rabbit and I snuck upstairs, although I don’t think it was open, and took at peek. It was painted green and had a curtained VIP area next to a window constructed out of the bottoms of glass bottles.
The service, although it was just a woman and an antsy man who spoke no English and spent most of his time staring out the window (looking at the clueless blocking up that weird intersection on 29^th where NE 2^nd splits off into 4^th Ct.), was pretty decent. They were quick, friendly, helpful, and even though I got my take-​out in a brown Publix bag complete with an actual, silver fork rather than a plastic one, my server apologized for their green ghetto-​ness.
The place was completely barren and obviously just opened, which is why I hate saying this (and maybe it isn’t perfected yet, or maybe I ordered the wrong things) but the food wasn’t very good. And, yes, it’s cheap and I like the idea of creating an environment where people can gather and share food and wine, but from what I tried, there was nothing in the flavor or execution of the cuisine that lead me to believe that anything else on the menu would be worthy of purchase in the future. I tried, as recommended, the penne pasta with truffle oil, parmesan (simple, but tasty if done right) which was supposed to be one of their «most popular items «(?) and a salad with papaya, roasted red peppers, and prosciutto. Maybe I should’ve gotten a pan con lechon or a turkey slider, but my pasta was subtly garlicy if I were to give it’s blandness a description. Very little parmesan or truffle oil present and I could’ve whipped up a better dish at home. The salad was sad. It consisted of mounds of chopped romaine topped with limp, lukewarm, little throw-​away slices of papaya, red pepper, and prosciutto and it’s most pungent flavor was olive oil.
I wish this place the best, but I’d suggest they work on their menu a bit. And, considering their neighboring competition, they should do it quickly.