Closed for good: Wynwood and Allapattah just lost three local favorite hangouts

Wood Tavern, one of the original pioneers in Wynwood, has closed — again.

And this time, two of its siblings are closing along with it.

The beloved late-night bar announced its first closing in March of 2021, with owner Cesar Morales citing rising rents, fewer guests and seating restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From a business standpoint, it was very black and white. The numbers no longer worked,” he told the Miami Herald then.

A few months later, Morales reopened Wood Tavern inside one of his other venues, Pizza and Beer, located just around the corner. Now, a year later, he has announced on his Instagram account that both venues are closing for good in addition to a third bar, the live music venue Las Rosas in Allapattah.

A Philadelphia restaurant is opening a new location at Wynwood Walls in Miami

Founder of the Miami Bar Group, which includes Miami Mojito Company and Tayrona Restaurant + Patio, Morales blames a “perfect storm” of events prompting him to close the venues, including high-interest loans he was trying to juggle, increased rents and a drop in sales due to the pandemic.

“I was over leveraged,” he said. “I’ve been in survival mode since the pandemic. I had to make some decisions.” Even the tropical storm scare a few weeks ago was a blow to business, he said. When he realized he could not pay his employees he knew he had to close at least some of his venues.

Another and perhaps larger problem was the 20,000-square-foot space that housed Pizza and Beer and the second generation Wood Tavern. The businesses were utilizing about 12,000 square feet of space, but Morales was paying for all 20,000 square feet. He tried to sublet it but was unsuccessful. The rent on the property also rose 64 percent six months ago, he said.

As for Las Rosas, the bar “was very special to me,” Morales said. “But sales just never got back to what they were pre-pandemic.” The building Las Rosas is in was recently purchased along with nine other properties along Northwest Seventh Avenue for $16 million by an entity controlled by local real estate developer Moishe Mana, the Real Deal reported.

Tayrona and Miami Mojito Company will remain open. Morales says that Miami Mojito Company has always been a robust business and often carried the other ventures, while Tayrona is also performing well and that its lower rent made it a more viable property to keep open.

Wood Tavern first opened in late 2011 and with businesses like Panther Coffee and Wynwood Kitchen & Bar generated the first interest in Wynwood as a destination for locals and tourists. Panther Coffee remains, though Wynwood Kitchen, part of Wynwood Walls, has closed. The space will soon house the Philadelphia import Double Knot, which will serve sushi and pan-Asian cuisine.

Morales says he blames his own business decisions for the way things turned out, but he believes that changes in the Wynwood neighborhood helped hasten the end.

“Evolution is part of life,” he said. “But Wynwood’s not the same anymore. Local foot traffic is not what it used to be. It’s ironic. When I opened Wood I doubled down on the for-the-locals concept. In 2011, Wynwood was the anti South Beach, the anti club, the anti cover charges, the anti dress code place. Now there are cover charges and bottle services, and Wood Tavern is the odd man out.”

‘It’s Disneyland for food’: Outdoor market from New York opens in Miami with 50+ vendors