Ball and Chain

Name: Ball and Chain
Address: 1513 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135, USA, United States

Miami, United States

Plan your visit

No booking needed for the bar. Some nights carry a cover charge for the music, so check the schedule on the website.

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About this place

Ball & Chain opened on what is now Calle Ocho in 1935, and in its heyday it was a jazz club where Billie Holiday and Count Basie played. It closed in the late 1950s, and the name came back in 2014, when new owners restored the building and reopened it with Latin music in place of jazz.

Today there is a long bar inside and a garden at the back with a stage shaped like a pineapple, and live music most days, from afternoon sets to salsa late into the night.

We went for one more drink after our food tour finished. Ben had the mojito, the one everybody orders, and Cherryl the Cuban iced tea.

Our take

A fitting last stop on Calle Ocho, with history and live music. Order the mojito.

Two cocktails on a dark wooden table, a mojito with mint leaves and a tall red drink with pineapple garnish.

A curved red leather booth beneath vintage Count Basie concert posters and framed photographs on green walls in a dimly lit bar.

A dimly lit bar interior with wooden ceiling beams, green walls, green bankers lamps and bottles lined along the counter.

Location

Find Ball and Chain

Ball & Chain is at 1513 SW 8th Street on Calle Ocho, next door to Azúcar and a short walk from Domino Park.

Coordinates: 25.7659° N · 80.2198° W

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Where you'll see it in our videos

Travel series

Icon of The Seas

This series follows our seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Icon of the Seas, round trip from Miami in May 2026. We gave ourselves two days in Miami before boarding, then sailed to St Maarten, St Thomas and Perfect Day at CocoCay, with three sea days to get to know the ship.

Nearby places

All of Miami

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Azucar Ice Cream Company

A small Cuban ice cream shop on Calle Ocho, known for the giant cone above its door and for Abuela María: guava, cream cheese and Maria biscuits in vanilla.

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