Showing 1-17 of 17 results
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Bar Dos Hermanos
Out of the way and a little seedy, Bar Dos Hermanos was a favorite Habana hangout of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca during his three months in Cuba in 1930. With its long wooden bar and salty seafaring atmosphere, it can't have changed much since.
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Bosque Bologna
A fern-filled terrace that fills the space of a demolished building on Calle Obispo, the Bologna is always busy with drinkers and diners drawn in by a combination of its effervescent music and highly persuasive waiters. It's a perfect warm-up for an extended Habana Vieja bar crawl.
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Café Fresa Y Chocolate
A small patio bar at the Centro Cultural Cinematográfico, this place is the nerve center of Habana's cinema community, with a young, hip clientele of actors, writers and film-lovers. Named after Tomás Gutierrez Alea's Oscar-nominated movie, it hosts a number of regular happenings, both here and in the adjoining building, including the once-monthly El Último Jueves del Mes (Last Thursday of the Month) debate night.
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Club La Red
Club La Red is a Vedado disco-club that rarely gets animated before on a Friday or Saturday. Expect piped Western dance music with the odd revved-up reggaeton number thrown in for good measure.
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Club Tropical
Cheap but a little out of the way, this is where you come when your budget's blown but you still want to dance to salsa, pop and rap. After all, why should a lack of funds stop you from shaking your booty?
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Discoteca Amanecer
Discoteca Amanecer (Dawn Disco) is another cheap Vedado nightspot that mixes pop and rap. Whether you'll want to stay here until dawn is another matter.
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El Baturro
Part of a long tradition of drinking houses situated next to train stations, El Baturro is a rough-and-ready Spanish bistro with a long wooden bar and an all-male - aggressively so - clientele. Don't come here if you're looking for girly cocktails.
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El Chevere
One of Habana's most popular discos, this alfresco place set in a lush park gets local tongues wagging, and hosts an animated mix of Cubans and tourists.
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El Floridita
Promoting itself as the 'cradle of the daiquirí,' El Floridita was a favorite of expat Americans long before Ernest Hemingway dropped by in the 1930s (hence the name, which means 'little Florida'). Indeed its fame began soon after WWI when a bartender named Constante Ribalaigua began using shaved ice to make frozen daiquirís.
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Karachi Club
The Karachi is a ferociously caliente (scorching!) disco situated on a leafy Vedado street corner. Rumba dancing has been reported here, but you're far more likely to encounter Euro-disco, techno and rap.
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La Bodeguita del Medio
Made famous thanks to the rum-swilling exploits of Ernest Hemingway, a visit to Habana's most celebrated bar has become de rigueur for literary sycophants and Walt Whitman wannabes. Notables including Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro, Nicolás Guillén, Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole have all left their autographs on La Bodeguita's wall.
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La Dichosa
It's hard to miss the rowdy La Dichosa on busy Calle Obispo, despite the fact that it doesn't display its name outside. Small and cramped, with at least half the space given over to the resident band, this is a good place for a quick drink before heading off down the road.
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Monserrate Bar
Traveler's tip: the Monserrate Bar daiquirís are half the price of those sold at the El Floridita one block down the road, thanks to the fact that a certain Ernest Hemingway never drank here. Skip the cheap food (it's cheap for a reason) and concentrate on cramming in the cocktails.
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Opus Bar
With individual candlelit tables, overstuffed chairs and Sly and the Family Stone on the sound system, this is Habana's (good) approximation of a lounge. The wall of windows make it a great sunset spot and performances in the Teatro Amadeo Roldán downstairs are broadcast via closed-circuit TV - a good alternative if the show is sold out.
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Prado No 12
This slim flat-iron building on the corner of Paseo de Martí and San Lázaro serves drinks and simple snacks. Despite a major renovation five years ago, Prado No 12 still seems to be in a 1950s time warp. Soak up the atmosphere of this amazing city here after a sunset stroll along the Malecón (Av de Maceo).
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Taberna de la Muralla
Set up by an Austrian company in 2004, this unique no-nonsense drinking establishment serves smooth, cold homemade beer at sturdy wooden benches set up outside on the cobbles or indoors in an atmospheric beer hall. Get a group together and the staff will serve the amber nectar in a tall plastic tube; you draw the beer out of a tap at the bottom. There's also an outside grill here where you can order good helpings of chorizo, fish and kebabs.
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Teatro Fausto
Another Art Deco eye-catcher on Paseo de Martí, the Teatro Fausto is renowned for its sidesplitting comedy shows on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There's an open-sided theater bar across the street on the corner of Colón.
Showing 1-17 of 17 results
