Entertainment in Havana
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A
El Chevere
One of Habana’s most popular discos, this alfresco place in a lush park gets local tongues wagging, and hosts a good mix of Cubans and tourists.
reviewed
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B
Cabaret Las Vegas
Don't get duped into thinking this is another Tropicana. On the contrary, Cabaret Las Vegas is a rough and seedy local music dive (with a midnight show) where a little rum and a lot of No moleste, por favor will help you withstand the overzealous entreaties of the hordes of haranguing jineteras.
reviewed
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C
Café de las Infusiones
Wedged into Calle Mercaderes, this recently restored Habaguanex coffee house is a caffeine addict's heaven; it boasts a wonderful resident pianist, too. It's fancier than your average Cuban coffee bar and more comprehensive than the Escorial. You can order more than a dozen different cuppas here, including Irish coffee, punch coffee, mocha and cappuccino.
reviewed
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D
La Casa de la Música Centro Habana
One of Cuba's best and most popular (check the queues) nightclubs and live-music venues. All the big names play here, from Bamboleo to Los Van Van – and you'll pay peanuts to see them. Of the city's two Casas de la Música, this Centro Habana version is a little edgier than its Miramar counterpart (some have complained it's too edgy), with big salsa bands and little space. Price varies depending on the band.
reviewed
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E
Tropicana Nightclub
A city institution since it opened in 1939, the world-famous Tropicana was one of the few bastions of Havana's Las Vegas-style nightlife to survive the clampdowns of the puritanical Castro Revolution. Immortalized in Graham Greene's 1958 classic Our Man in Havana, this open-air cabaret show is little changed since its '50s heyday, featuring a bevy of scantily clad señoritas who climb nightly down from the palm trees to dance Latin salsa amid colorful flashing lights on stage. Tickets go for a slightly less than socialistic CUC$70.
reviewed
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F
Museo del Chocolate
Chocolate addicts beware, this quirky place in the heart of Habana Vieja is a lethal dose of chocolate, truffles and yet more chocolate (all made on the premises). Situated – with no irony intended – in Calle Amargura (literally: Bitterness Street), the sweet-toothed establishment is more a cafe than a museum, with a small cluster of marble tables set amid a sugary mélange of chocolate paraphernalia. Not surprisingly, everything on the menu contains one all-pervading ingredient: have it hot, cold, white, dark, rich or smooth – the stuff is divine, whichever way you choose.
reviewed
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G
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'). A bartender named Constante Ribalaigua invented the daiquirí soon after WWI, but it was Hemingway who popularized it, and ultimately the bar christened a drink in his honor: the Papa Hemingway Special (basically, a daiquirí made with grapefruit juice). His record – legend has it – was 13 doubles in one sitting. Any attempt to equal it at the current prices (CUC$7 and up for a shot) will cost you a small fortune – and a huge hangover.
reviewed
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H
La Bodeguita del Medio
Made famous thanks to the rum-swilling exploits of Ernest Hemingway (who by association instantly sends the prices soaring), this is Havana's most celebrated bar. A visit here has become de rigueur for tourists who haven't yet cottoned on to the fact that the mojitos are better and (far) cheaper elsewhere. Past visitors have included Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro, Nicolás Guillén, Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole, all of whom have left their autographs on La Bodeguita's wall – along with thousands of others (save for the big names, the walls are repainted every few months). These days the clientele is less luminous, with package tourists from Varadero outnumbering…
reviewed
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I
Café Literario del 'G'
If Havana has a proverbial Left Bank, this is it: a laid-back student hangout full of arty wall scribblings and coffee-quaffing intellectuals discussing the merits of Guillén over Lorca. Relax in the airy front patio among the green plants and dusty books and magazines (available to read, lend and buy), and keep an ear out for one of the regular trova (traditional music), jazz and poetry presentations.
reviewed