MIAMI — After dinner, you already know it’s time to hit the dance floor, and one restaurant in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood has turned its upstairs area into a club!
Red Rooster’s Pool Hall features R&B music on Fridays and Afrobeats on Saturdays, and a lot of rich history every day.
“It was called Clyde Killens Pool Hall or the Billiards Pool Hall. So basically, it’s the billiards and Clyde is the guy who owned it,” event producer Jeanie Joseph said. “It started in the early 50s and was a safe space for Black performers, like Gladys Knight, The Temptations and those alike to come down here, because they would perform on South Beach, but weren’t allowed to stay on South Beach. So they would stay at hotels in Overtown and then they would come here to party and hang out.”
Fast forward to 2026, Joseph is continuing the legacy, hosting Thank You Fridays.
“Thank you is an R&B experience. It’s a safe space I created for Black women when I originally thought about the party,” Joseph said. “It was an ode to say ‘thank you’ to all of my guests and all of the people that supported me throughout the year. It technically wasn’t supposed to be a weekly, but it blossomed into one. So I just wanted to give it that same energy.”
And that she did, bringing new life to the historic space.
It’s intimate, nostalgic and Joseph says it should feel familiar.
“When you think of the party, just think of you coming to your grandmother’s living room, you’re listening to R&B music and you’re amongst your favorite people,” Joseph said.
Then on Saturdays, the party becomes “The Shrine.”
“It’s for the diaspora and it’s an Afrobeats-based party,” Joseph explained. “We created a space for basically everybody. It’s not limited to Black and brown people, but it’s the most welcoming space that you’re going to get.”
Both parties start at 10 p.m. It costs $20 for men, however ladies are free!
You can RSVP online, and in honor of Red Rooster’s five-year anniversary, they’re bringing back live music with a monthly jazz series inside the Pool Hall.
Click here to RSVP or to get more information.
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