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It’s been more than three years in the making but Cebeda Rooftop—the first of its kind in downtown Coral Gables—is finally open. It comes to us from Jorge Sr. and his son, Jorgie Ramos, the dynamic duo behind Dadeland’s Havana-inspired cocktail bar Abi Maria and the now-shuttered Barley, a neighborhood favorite they closed to focus their energy on Cebada. “[The rooftop bar] has been a big labor of love and in process for a while: It’s one of the many reasons why we never renewed the lease at Barley,” says Jorgie.
Part of the delay had to do with pinning down the concept. The two Jorges brainstormed for months, first considering a contemporary American bar before landing on the more resonant Cuban-American lounge you’ll encounter today. “It just didn’t feel right,” says Jorgie, who was determined to create a space that reflected his experience growing up in Miami. “I really wanted something more in line with my Cuban heritage and my upbringing as a first-generation American,” says Jorgie.
He manifested his vision as a dual-bar program for Cebada, which means barley in Spanish. Inside, the bar serves spirit-forward, classic Cuban cocktails while the outdoor area focuses on playful mixed drinks, canned booze and draft cocktails. There are seven drinks on tap, including wine, and large-format cocktails he’s serving in pony growlers rather than your typical punch bowl.
The cocktail selection reads like a long list of inside jokes, each one inspired by and poking fun at Jorgie’s childhood. “Every friend of mine who went to Belen [High School] would go to Breckenridge in December and then spend eight months bragging about it,” he says, describing Every Belen Guy’s Christmas Vacation, made with cucumber, ginger, honey, lemon and Breckenridge Gin. There’s also the Voli Vodka-based Bro, Why Are Your Pants So Tight, an ode to Pitbull and his sartorial hallmark. “We’re friends with him so I’m always making fun of his pants being too tight,” Jorgie admits.
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Every inch of Cebada can be traced back to the Ramos family, like the repurposed lights from Barley that now adorn the interior bar and the chicharrones de pato you’ll find on the expansive food menu. “This is the grown-up version of the chicharrones de pollo I ate at a Cuban cafeteria below my dad’s office supply store when I was a kid,” says Jorgie of the crispy, salt-cured duck breast he serves over a foie gras brodo with a sour-orange and fennel mojo.
Cebada Rooftop officially opened last Wednesday and the steady crowds and delighted Instagram fans demonstrate a real need for a laid-back watering hole with heart in the neighborhood. “We wanted to bring a little bit of our culture to Coral Gables,” says Jorgie. “We want you to sit down, have some drinks, a conversation and, hopefully, you like the old-school hip-hop we’re playing and have a good time.”
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