Most searches for non alcoholic drinks near FIU end at the same place: a soda, a slushie, or a coffee shop that closes before anyone has finished dinner. If you want an actual night out, with a candlelit room, a show and something good in a nice glass, the answer is a few minutes up the road at The Library. It's a 1920s prohibition-inspired speakeasy on the Coral Way corridor near FIU, open Wednesday through Saturday, 6 PM to 1 AM, and the zero-proof side of the menu gets the same care as the cocktails.
The bigger news for a lot of FIU students is the calendar. Thursday is comedy night, and Thursday comedy is 18 and over. So if you're 19 and tired of hearing "you'll love it when you're 21," there's one night a week this room is yours too, and the drink list is ready for you.
Non alcoholic drinks near FIU, night by night
The Library runs on a weekly rhythm, and what you order (and who can come) changes a little depending on the night. Here's how a sober or sober-ish week lines up.
Wednesday: karaoke, 21 and over
Every Wednesday the microphone comes out at 9 PM. Wednesday night karaoke is the one evening a week you're allowed to be loud in a library, and being the person who isn't drinking is a real advantage here. You remember the words, you keep the song list moving, and you're the one who can actually hit the high note at midnight. The room is 21 and over on karaoke nights, so bring ID even if your glass is zero-proof.
Thursday: Laughs at the Library, 18 and over
Dade County Comedy takes the mic every Thursday at 9 PM for Laughs at the Library. Entry is free with your Library card, the doors open at six, and the mic sits a few feet from the nearest table. This is the night that matters most for anyone under 21, and the night where a good mocktail list stops being a nice extra and becomes the whole point. The comedy page says it plainly: mocktails, wine and draft beer are all on the menu, so mixed-age tables can order side by side without anybody feeling like the kid at the grown-ups' party.
Friday and Saturday: the long nights
The weekend is for lingering. Your reservation sets your arrival time, not your departure, so you can settle in at eight and stay until 1 AM. That's where pacing comes in, and where having a few non-alcoholic rounds in your back pocket makes the night better whether or not you're drinking at all.
What to actually order
We wrote up the full mocktail list last week, so here's the short version. The specialTEA Mocktails are built on the same loose-leaf teas and tisanes that go into the cocktails, because The Library lives inside specialTEA Lounge and the bar has a tea shelf most bars don't.
- Golden Spice Mule ($8). Golden Spice Herbal Tisane with Fever Tree Ginger Beer, agave and lime. Warm, a little spicy, and it holds its own next to a whiskey drink.
- Berry Rosey Mojito ($8). Berry Rosey Oolong, rose syrup, lime, muddled mint and sparkling water. If someone at the table orders the Oolong & Juliet ($16), you're drinking the rum-free twin.
- Strawberry Guava Sour ($8). Fruit tisane, lemon and agave. The most Miami thing on the list.
- Yuzu Fizz or Lemon Fizz ($5). The easy ones, good for a reset between rounds or a late order before close.
A small comedy-night tip: order your first drink before nine. Once the lights drop and the first comic walks up, you don't want to be the table flagging someone down mid-punchline.
If you're hungry, the Prohibition Era Bites are built for sharing. Speakeasy Deviled Eggs ($6), the Bootlegger's Cheeseball ($8) and Secret Society Hummus & Pita ($8) all travel well around a table, and the Boardwalk Cannoli Duo ($10) makes a decent case for after dinner drinks in Miami that don't involve alcohol at all. One thing to know before the check: a 20% automatic gratuity is added to every check, and all of it goes to the staff. The whole list is on the menu page.
Who this works for
Designated drivers, obviously. This part of Miami is a driving city, and someone has to get everybody home. But the people ordering zero-proof drinks at The Library are a wider crowd than that: grad students with an early class the next morning, people taking a month off, folks on medication, and plenty who just like a well-made drink and don't care whether there's gin in it.
It also makes a good date night bar near FIU when one of you drinks and one of you doesn't. Nobody's reading your glass in a candlelit room. Order matching drinks, one with rum and one without, and the night feels like the same night for both of you. The same logic works for birthday drinks near FIU, when the guest list spans a few different ages and habits. Groups bigger than four should email the team ahead of time so they can make room.
Getting in
The Library is at 10766 SW 24th St, about two minutes from FIU, with free parking in the plaza lot out front. From the street it looks like a quiet old book-binding shop. It's cocktail attire, so dress for the room, which mostly means wearing the outfit you'd put on for a night you'd been looking forward to.
A reservation always gets you in, because your phone number becomes your library card number and the card scans you through the street door. Walk-ins come through the bookcase inside specialTEA Lounge while it's open, but on busy nights it locks to walk-ins, so check the live walk-in status on the homepage or the Find Us page before you head over. On comedy nights, pick an arrival time of eight or eight-thirty so you're seated with a drink before the show.
Among the bars near FIU, this is the one where not drinking doesn't mean sitting out. Reserve a time at The Library, claim your card, and order the Golden Spice Mule. Just keep the address to yourself.