Club

Ball & Chain

Recomendado por 345 personas locales,

Consejos de personas locales

Mabel
September 21, 2022
Ball & Chain Bar and Lounge in Miami, Florida has been an icon within the community since the 1930s, and has since reemerged as a live-music venue with Cuban cuisine and mojitos galore.
Angelica
August 9, 2022
The year was 1935. The Great Depression was tailing off, Miami hosted the inaugural Orange Bowl, and Little Havana’s Ball & Chain opened its doors. For the next two decades, the club became among the Magic City’s most popular venues, a place where legends Billie Holiday and Chet Baker crooned the night away and jam sessions ran until 5 a.m. But there’s another side to the golden-era club — one populated with gangsters and highlighted by great feuds. Most colorful among the bar’s many owners were Henry Schechtman and Ray Miller, who bought the bar in the early ’50s. A businessman and “well-known burglar” — as noted by the Crime Commission of Greater Miami in a 1957 Miami News piece — Schechtman was also owner of the nearby Tower Hotel. The not-so-smooth criminal was arrested twice in two months, once for breaking and entering into a Lincoln Road bar and a second time for attempting to pry open the trunk of a jeweler’s car. Miller, Schechtman’s business partner, was a Teamsters Local 320 union organizer who, according to the Crime Commission, “attempted to organize doormen and car parkers in Miami Beach” and was tied to several acts of vandalism, including slashing 70 car tires. Back at the bar, Schechtman and crew were rumored to be selling stolen liquor and bootleg cigarettes. “Schechtman had a jail record and was involved in a lot of things,” says Paul George, a historian with HistoryMiami. “The name Ball & Chain really evokes the image of a prisoner, which is very coincidental, because the name was there before the guys bought it.” Schechtman and Miller’s shady ways finally caught up with them in 1957, when legendary band leader Count Basie sued the pair for $5,000 after not getting paid the $13,000 he was promised to play the Ball & Chain. “[The club] went broke after Basie pulled in only $5,100 in gross business,” Miller told the Miami Newsback in 1957. Of course, the club was also known for some more-positive history. “The Ball & Chain had black entertainers post-World War II, which was amazing,” George says. “Even though the community was predominantly Jewish, it was still a Deep South city. It was an unusual place.” Schechtman, being a street-savvy wise guy, would sneak in regulars like Billie Holiday and Count Basie through a hidden door in his nearby Tower Hotel and allow them to stay at his property. Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were said to have performed there as well, but George says there’s no documentation of their shows.
The year was 1935. The Great Depression was tailing off, Miami hosted the inaugural Orange Bowl, and Little Havana’s Ball & Chain opened its doors. For the next two decades, the club became among the Magic City’s most popular venues, a place where legends Billie Holiday and Chet Baker crooned the ni…
Luiza & William
July 26, 2022
Iconic nightclub from the 1930s-1950s now operates as a live-music venue with Cuban-style food & drink. Real popular!
Rod
July 18, 2022
Located on the famous Calle Ocho, this bar has live Latin music, salsa dancing, delicious drinks and tapas.
Samantha
June 27, 2022
Famous bar and lounge located in the heart of Miami's Little Havana Historic District.

Experiencias en Airbnb enfocadas en Ball & Chain

Conoce este lugar emblemático por medio de experiencias en Airbnb, actividades en pequeños grupos organizadas por gente local
★ Tour con auténtica comida cubana por Little Havana
  1. Tour cultural
  2. 2.5 horas

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Pasos desde la calle 8, experiencia cubana real (3V)
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Retiro para parejas en la Pequeña Habana (1 km)
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Fantástico departamento en la ciudad de Little Havana
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En el corazón de la pequeña habitación 1 de havana
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Habitación en la famosa calle 8 de Miami “La Tia”
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Casa Habana histórica - Studio Suite 2
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A pie de la calle 8: auténtica experiencia cubana (3D)
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Apartamento elegante y espacioso cerca de Brickell #7
  1. Casa de campo entero
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Casa Habana histórica - casa de campo tipo estudio
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  1. Casa de huéspedes entero
  2. 2 camas
Casa de campo privada en el corazón histórico de Miami.
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  2. 2 camas
Precioso Departamento 2/1 Calle Ocho/Brickell/Parrilla
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  1. Habitación privada
  2. 1 cama
Acogedor estudio con muchos lugares para visitar cerca.
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Cielo

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Ubicación
1513 SW 8th St
Miami, FL
Little Havana