Rakija Lounge — Restaurant in Miami Beach

The Rakija Lounge is in the heart of South Beach’s art deco district.

When you enter the lounge, you hear accents. Voices in different languages such as Macedonian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, and English – the first question is always in English, asking where you are from, and then the second sentence immediately switches into a familiar Balkan language as though they’ve known each other forever.

The manager, Bogdan, will enthusiastically welcome you and is everywhere with everyone; he never stops keeping an eye on everything. There is a proverb: “Satisfied customers always come back.” He appears to know everyone, and his patrons always return.

Marko, the bartender, asked me what he could do for me in English, however since Bogdan was there, he gave Marko a better suggestion in Serbian, instead of a whisky, make me one of Rakija Lounge’s signature drinks, an old-fashion. This drink was so good that I had three. After their signature drink, I was served the best cevapi with pita bread, onion, and kajmak (goat cheese) before partaking in Balkan-style baklava.

The VIP section was packed with beautiful Balkans, delicious food, hookahs, and happy faces. Around 10 pm, the Rakija Lounge and patio was packed. Serbian music from the 80s and 90s never stopped while patrons sang at the bar and patio tables, all thanks to cool vibes from DJ Vlad. The thrilling atmosphere warmed Balkan hearts, while DJ Vlad’s songs appealed to everyone, not only Balkan but international tourists and local Floridians.

I came back the following week for a business meeting. This time I went with my Macedonian and Serbian friends. The service continued to be exceptional. Our server was an educated Albanian woman who was fast and friendly. She served an exquisite Balkan wine along with excellent mixed grill plates of kajmak, pita bread, ustipci (a blend of chopped meats wrapped around cheese), Shopska (Balkan-styled salads), and Macedonian and Serbian beers. Our entire meal was so delicious and tasted as good as back home.

The Rakija Lounge is a fantastic and unique place to hear international music and listen to stories as you meet and connect with Balkan guests and locals. This lounge is one of the best places in south Florida to visit, and stress will float away after a few shots of rakija.

I look forward to seeing the Word Soccer Match with my hybrid Balkan buddies, eating delicious authentic Balkan food, feeling pampered by the excellent service, and relaxing in the cozy atmosphere. Thank you, Rakija...

I often come to this restaurant to eat specifically Serbian food, which is always very delicious! The menu has a variety of food options, but it includes a lot of Serbian dishes. My absolute favorite is Cevapcici (in the photo I tagged), which are little grilled Serbian sausages. I always ask to have them cooked well done, and the result is super tasty! I also recommend the Serbian salad, which is a cucumber, tomato, onion, and feta cheese salad. Simple and very yummy! The prices in the restaurant are mostly reasonable. For example, for five pieces of Cevapcici, you pay $15, which is quite a lot of food and very filling. This restaurant also has a small Happy Hours menu during the day with items like calamari for $8. The only negative I can mention is that they do not offer soda refills. You pay $4 for one small can of soda, which is crazy. I hope that one day they will offer fountain drinks with free refills. In general, the restaurant looks nice and is always clean. All the staff who work there are friendly, many speak Serbian, and they come from the Balkans. So when you speak to the waiters about food, they absolutely know what to recommend. The restaurant is located only one block away from the beach in the heart of South Beach, making it very easy to find. One last thing I want to mention is the annoying 18% tip that is automatically included in your bill. Many restaurants on South Beach have this policy, and I believe it is not right, even though the service here is always very good. I believe that every single person should have a choice of how much to tip. Otherwise, I absolutely recommend visiting...

Ordered the Chicken Nachos. The cheese was very, very thick and had congealed my nachos together. Was not extremely happy about that, but once I was able to peel and chisel away the cheese on the outside of the nachos, in the middle they were still a tad warm. Nachos were not salty and the guacamole was bland.the chicken was ok, but not worth 16.00! I had the Caribbean punch and it was not as good as the Mojito. It had a sour taste and not much alcohol for 12.00. Overall, the Doorman that was working (they fired him for us giving him a tip) was lovely and bubbly and one of the main reasons we decided to eat there and come back with our arriving party of 20. Gratuity is already included at 18%, so you have been warned of such poor quality food. Doorman was extremely nice,but manager was not very nice. They watched us leave before letting the doorman leave the building after reprimanding him in front of me. Yes, I understood and heard what you were saying to him and he was the only reason we decided on staying at the bar a second time to wait for a bigger party that was coming to meet us there, but took our party and money elsewhere after firing him. Customer service was bad for us. Did not feel welcomed at all after...