MIA Biscayne: Try Harder

Barely open for a month, MIA has already created quite the buzz. Located in downtown Miami, on the corner of Flagler and Biscayne, this new restaurant by day and club by night venue comes to us decked out and ready to party.

The first thing you’ll notice upon stepping inside is that this place definitely has its swag on. You’ll find yourself surrounded by ultra-modern furniture dressed in rich jewel-toned fabrics, glass bars with color-changing LED backlighting, and embellished chandeliers in almost every corner of the space. MIA is also the first to incorporate the iBar and iWall technologies into its décor in the United States. This interactive technology, which reacts to the touch, puts the icing on the cake for the oh-so-swank setting.



Unfortunately, besides aesthetics, the experience at MIA leaves something to be desired. The crowd was, to say it nicely, a bit subpar. Honestly, who really wants to party next to a bunch of people in oversized t-shirts, big gold chains and sneakers? Or with girls in clothing 3 sizes too small that leave nothing to the imagination? The crowd wasn’t exactly full of beautiful people if you know what I mean. Though there was a better dressed clientele there, they were definitely a minority.

The service isn’t exactly 5-star material either. Apparently, more than one MIA bartender seems to be in the practice of conveniently forgetting to mention that the gratuity is included in your total. So if you’re paying cash and don’t specifically ask for a receipt, chances are you’ll be double-tipping. Something which will definitely burn a whole in your wallet as the drinks are already overpriced even for South Beach standards, and even more so for downtown standards.



To make things worse, the bathrooms are unisex. This isn’t a mall, so unless the venue plans on letting in little children in need of changing in a family restroom I don’t see the point; unless, of course, the goal is to make many a woman uncomfortable. Call me old school, but something about having some random drunk guy give you the eye as you step out of a bathroom stall is just creepy.

I would say that the only highlight to my experience there was the amazing music. Friday resident DJ Bruno tore up the turntables with some seriously good beats. Besides that though, the venue has serious potential but still needs a lot of work. I wouldn’t give up all hope on MIA just yet, after all they’ve just opened and there’s an adjustment period. Hopefully, with a little more time MIA can clean up its act and live up to its potential. You'll thank me in the morning.