If Richard was like a father to me, then Henrietta was like a mother to me. And it wasn’t really that hard to believe. “We used to joke around all the time to customers who didn’t know us that she was my mom and I was her son. “Henrietta brought more people to my bar than what I would’ve had to come to on their own because of her legacy and the fact that she sat at my bar upstairs on Saturdays and Sundays,” Smith said. “He gave me a stage for 20 years, he believed in me, he taught me everything I know today and he was like a father to me.”Įqually as important to Smith was the late Henrietta Robinson, a decades-long South Beach barfly and pioneer in the Miami LGBT community who frequented Smith’s upstairs video bar at Twist for years.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere today without Richard,” Smith said. Over time, Smith also developed a father-son type of relationship with Trainor. The concept behind Nathan’s video bar at Twist was one Smith himself conceived and pitched to his boss and eventual idol and father figure, the late Richard Trainor.ĭuring the course of his successful run at the helm of Twist, Smith spent two decades of his life slinging and serving drinks to a loyal clientele consisting of locals and tourists and the brand he created made Twist and Smith synonymous with each other. Everyone in Miami knows Twist, the long-running South Beach gay bar and club known for its catch slogan, “always a groove, never a cover.” Well, that was also the place where Smith would make two important and heartfelt connections in his life. It’s all I know it’s pop culture, music and gay bars.”īefore opening the bar Smith was a popular VJ - that’s short for a video DJ or disc jockey - who worked at Twist for 20 years (from 2000 to 2020) and also ran the upstairs video bar for more than a decade. When asked why his bar is so heavily influenced by pop divas and pop culture in general, Smith said, “Because pop culture is me. Smith said a living room area devoted to “The Brady Bunch” will soon be replaced by one dedicated to “The Golden Girls.” The pop culture experience at Nathan’s currently includes a “Stranger Things” VIP area and areas dedicated to “Will & Grace,” “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” among others. Staff is super friendly, drinks are great.” “It’s always a good crowd, no matter which day of the week you come. I love that they have music playing lower at the beginning of the night so you can hear yourself talk with friends and then the music gets louder when you want to kick up your heels and dance,” Charria said. “I love the lounge-like vibe at Nathan’s Bar. A Miami Beach native for 11 years, Charria said Nathan’s has become his new favorite place to hang out with friends or have a Happy Hour drink after a long, stressful day at work. Nathan’s regular Brian Charria, 28, started visiting the new bar about a year ago during the pandemic. The uniqueness and one-of-a-kind concept behind the small business landed Nathan’s Bar smack in the middle of a recent “Miami New Times” readers' poll that named the establishment South Florida’s Best New Gay Bar. Upon entering this establishment, patrons of the bar are instantly greeted with wall images of pop divas like Madonna, Cher and Lady Gaga and pop culture stations or living room areas dedicated to popular American television serials, including “Friends,” “Stranger Things” and Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise. “Any other small business owner could’ve and likely would’ve failed, but not Nathan,” said Brianna “Bawdyy” Kane, 26, a trans woman and is one of five rotating hostesses who man the door and entrance to this pop culture themed bar at 1216 Washington Avenue on Miami Beach. One year later, business has done just that with the bar thriving and successful as ever even after COVID broke other small business owners and shut down similar establishments permanently. During the course of a challenging year, Smith, 44, remained optimistic and positive business would flourish. This month, Nathan’s Bar - an LGBT bar that is heterosexual friendly - celebrates its one-year anniversary amid having opened when the pandemic shut down many small businesses for good.
He just couldn’t ever imagine his lifelong dream would come to fruition in the middle of a pandemic. Nathan Paul Smith always dreamed of opening his own pop-culture-themed bar.