Press Releases

Now Open! Bar Betty Speakeasy & Lounge in Fort Lauderdale

Published

8 months ago

February 5, 2026

South Florida Insider

THE SECRET IS OUT AND IT IS SPECTACULAR! BAR BETTY SPEAKEASY & LOUNGE NOW OPEN AT SUNNESS SUPPER CLUB.

January 29th, 2026

When restaurateur Michael Stanley first toured the space that would become Sunness Supper Club at 2465 East Sunrise Boulevard, it wasn’t just the spacious downstairs dining room and expansive kitchen space that titillated him. Upstairs he discovered a warren of anterooms and tucked away chambers that mystified as much as they intrigued. “I was already sold on the space for the restaurant but the second floor had so much potential and spirit that my desire to turn it into a speakeasy and lounge was immediate,” he notes. In the winter of 2024, Sunness Supper Club opened its doors to much critical and popular acclaim and now, almost a year to the day later, Bar Betty – the restaurant’s second floor speakeasy and lounge – has officially made its grand debut.

Open Tuesday through Saturday evenings beginning at 7PM, Bar Betty (named after Michael’s grandmother, as Sunness is named after his grandfather) is accessible via a hidden interior staircase (and elevator) linking the two floors. Once upstairs, guests will feel utterly transported, ensconced in a contemporary, space that simultaneously nods to the building’s past as a once well-known Chinese restaurant, Jade Palace. In fact, the overall décor and design encompass two wildly different aesthetics. The foyer, upon entering, evokes a Far East-leaning look and feel, complete with red lanterns, and a mammoth stone buddha, rescued from the original space and refinished to gorgeous new glory. Playing off the unique dragon wallpaper, the entrance to Bar Betty is nothing but dramatic. From there imbibers enter the bar through a red door, which gives Great Gatsby vibes from the dropped tin ceilings and black walls to the moody lighting and Art Deco-style wallpaper. All this combines to make the perfect, shadowy setting for Bar Betty’s nightly entertainment, from live Roaring 20’s style torch singers to the new Thursday night burlesque show.

But what of the drinks? Of course, the decadently-decked bar is ready to deliver any perfectly-executed cocktail but imbibers should not ignore its signature sips. Top sellers thus far include James and the Spicy Peach (Ghost tequila, Cointreau, agave, Ancho Reyes, lime juice, and peach syrup) and Fluffy Dream (No. 3 Gin, zesty syrup, lemon juice, Aquafaba, Luxardo Apricot Liqueuer, elderflower and citrus bitters). For those seeking a non-alcoholic but palate-pleasing but still flavor-packed pour Bar Betty features three NA options including the Black Betty (Black Market THC Liquor, guava puree, and lime juice).

Bar Betty is located upstairs from Sunness Supper Club at 2465 E Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Bar Betty is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7PM to midnight. The restaurant is open daily for dinner beginning at 5PM. Happy Hour is offered daily from 5PM – 7PM. For more information on Bar Betty please visit www.sunnesssupperclub.com/bar-betty. Telephone: (954) 491-6611. Follow on Instagram: @BarBettyFtl | @SunnessSupperClub

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Press Releases

Palace Miami Beach Is Going All Out for LGBTQ+ History Month

Published

2 weeks ago

October 1, 2026

McKaela Lulic

Drag brunches, rooftop parties, a Courage Wall, Halloween chaos and meaningful moments of community are taking over Ocean Drive this fall.

October 1, 2026

There are some places in South Florida that just feel like Miami, and Palace is absolutely one of them.

The drag. The music. The brunch. The people walking down Ocean Drive who suddenly realize they’re part of the show. If you’ve been, you know.

But Palace Miami Beach has also spent nearly four decades being something much bigger than a fun place to spend a Sunday afternoon. For generations of South Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, it has been a place to show up, be seen, find your people and celebrate exactly who you are.

And this October and November, Palace is leaning into all of it.

For LGBTQ+ History Month, the Ocean Drive icon is rolling out nearly two months of events that somehow manage to include drag, dating, voter registration, comedy, rooftop pool parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving and some genuinely meaningful community moments.

It is a lot. In the best possible way.

First Up: Love, Drag and a Very Palace Start to October

October 1 kicks things off with Love Is a Drag, Palace’s first singles dinner club and networking mixer.

Because apparently even dating is more fun with Palace involved.

Guests can meet over dinner, drinks and conversation before the evening rolls right into Welcome to the Family: Drag Turnabout, a three-night event where Palace staff get their own full drag transformations and compete onstage. Poizon Ivy Lords, CC Glitzer and Tiffany Fantasia will each host a night from October 1 through 3.

Already, we’re off to a very strong start.

But what we really like about this entire lineup is that Palace isn’t treating LGBTQ+ History Month as just another reason to throw a party. The parties are definitely happening, but there’s purpose behind them too.

Throughout October, Palace will host nonpartisan voter registration and civic engagement events, with Miami Beach commissioners joining Tuesday programming throughout the month. The goal is simple: make it easy for people to get registered, find voting resources and connect with local leaders in a space where they’re already comfortable gathering.

We love that.

The Courage Wall Might Be Our Favorite Part

Then comes October 11, National Coming Out Day, and this is where the calendar gets especially meaningful.

At exactly 10:11 a.m., Palace will unveil The Courage Wall, a community installation built around one sentence:

“I found the courage to…”

That’s it.

Guests get to decide how the sentence ends.

Maybe it’s coming out. Maybe it’s finally being yourself. Maybe it’s supporting someone you love, leaving something behind, starting over or speaking up when it would have been easier not to.

There’s something really lovely about taking all of those individual stories and putting them together in one place.

Later that day, Palace is teaming up with SAVE for a special National Coming Out Day Drag Brunch bringing together Palace performers, community members, supporters and local leaders. A featured cocktail during the weekend will also benefit SAVE.

And because emotional reflection and a rooftop pool party can absolutely exist on the same day in Miami, Palace will also host its National Coming Out Day Rooftop Pool Party from noon to 10 p.m. with DJs Jesus Montanez and Jrny.

Honestly, that’s kind of the whole Palace experience in one day.

And Then Palace Goes Full Halloween

Before we even get to Halloween, there’s Love Out Loud Weekend from October 16–18, celebrating couples, friends, allies and chosen families.

Then Tiffany Fantasia is taking over the rooftop on October 23 for the debut of Laughs on Top: Tiffany & Friends, a new monthly comedy series. South Florida comedian and actor Lisa Corrao joins the first show.

And then things get wonderfully ridiculous.

From October 26 through November 1, Palace transforms into Camp Palace: The Final Slay.

Yes, that’s the real name. No notes.

The week includes Deadly Dolls, Secrets from the Crypt, Slasher Night, Noche de los Muertos and The Final Girls before everything culminates with The Final Slay on Halloween night. Expect drag, costumes, themed entertainment, cocktails, food and exactly the amount of Halloween drama you’d hope for from Palace.

Palace isn’t even staying in Miami Beach for the night. The team is also heading to Wilton Manors to produce Halloween entertainment at Wicked Manors, complete with its own Mayhem Masquerade programming and costume competitions.

November Brings an Important Moment of Visibility

Once Halloween is over, Palace shifts the focus.

Transgender Awareness Week runs November 13–19, followed by Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, and Palace will use its programming to highlight transgender talent, visibility and community.

On November 20, Palace will host a special Transgender Day of Remembrance Brunch featuring an all-trans cast.

This one isn’t simply another themed brunch.

The event is designed to create space for performance and visibility while also making room for remembrance and reflection. A portion of the proceeds will benefit a local trans-inclusive organization.

Later that evening, Laughs on Top returns with comedian Brad Loekle.

Oh, and There’s Food. Obviously.

Palace’s fall isn’t only about what’s happening onstage.

The culinary team heads to Lummus Park on October 24 for Seafood Slam at the South Beach Seafood Festival, while Palace’s seasonal menu gets very into fall with a Pumpkin Espresso Martini, Harvest Pumpkin Margarita, Pumpkin & Burrata Arepa, Brown Butter Pumpkin Gnocchi and seasonal desserts.

November keeps going with an Official Latin GRAMMY Watch Party in partnership with Gilead on November 12 and, because Miami apparently needed this and we just didn’t know it yet, a Coffee Party with Oscar G on November 23.

Then Thanksgiving week brings the whole season back to one of its sweetest themes: chosen family.

Palace is planning Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving dining centered around turkey, traditional holiday favorites and a table meant for friends, relatives and the families we create for ourselves. Thanksgiving weekend closes with a November 27 rooftop pool party featuring DJ Oscar Velazquez.

This Is Why Palace Is Still Palace

What makes this lineup fun isn’t just that there is so much happening.

It’s that somehow it all makes sense together.

You can register to vote and then watch a drag show. You can write something deeply personal on the Courage Wall and spend the afternoon dancing on a rooftop. You can remember people the community has lost while also celebrating the people who are here.

That’s what LGBTQ+ spaces have always been capable of being: joyful and serious, loud and safe, ridiculous and meaningful, sometimes all at once.

After nearly four decades on Ocean Drive, Palace seems to understand that better than most.

As General Manager AJ Prasaguet put it, Palace has always been about more than what happens on its stage. It’s also about the people who walk through the doors and find community there.

And this fall?

They’re giving everyone plenty of reasons to walk through those doors.

Keep Up With Palace

With this much happening over the next two months, there’s a pretty good chance Palace will give us even more reasons to head to Ocean Drive.

Follow @palacesobe on Instagram and visit the Palace Miami Beach website for the latest events, reservations, performers and everything else they have coming up.