Last Call for a Legend of Miami Nightlife
From WLRN’s Arts desk
Locals call it the CBGB of the South, after the legendary New York City punk club. Graffiti covers the walls. There’s a long bar, pool tables, filthy bathrooms and a striking mural of Winston Churchill on the outside, above the front door. It’s Miami’s musical hideaway with an international footprint.
Churchill’s Pub in Miami’s Little Haiti has been sold, and Dave Daniels — the owner and founder — will officially retire on Monday, May 26. The dive bar and music institution will still be called Churchill’s, but will have new owners. Daniels says nearly 20,000 shows have graced the bar’s stages during his 35-year-long legacy.
Daniels came from England, where he’d already been an entertainment agent, booker and bar owner for quite some time. When he took Churchill’s over in 1979, it was called C&H Pub, and the crowd there was pretty different.