Havana Before Castro by Peter Moruzzi

As the nightlife capital of the Caribbean, Havana had hundreds of bars, restaurants, and clubs – from seedy dives to fabulous showrooms – all over the city. Sloppy Joe’s Bar was in a league all its own, attracting celebrities such as Frank Sinatra to its central location. La Floridita, the bar/restaurant made famous as the cradle of the daiquiri, continues to serve incredible food and drink in a setting that hasn’t changed since the 1950s. Similarly, La Bodeguita del Medio – mojito central – still pulls in the tourists (here's this classic mojito recipe). Havana’s big nightclubs – Montmartre, Sans Souci, and Tropicana – drew the most affluent crowds with their cocktail lounges, full-service dinner menus, vast dance floors, orchestras, dazzling cabaret revues, and casinos. In contrast, the city’s dozens of smaller, smoke-filled, densely packed clubs was where the late late crowd could really swing.

Download an excerpt from this chapter (Adobe Acrobat PDF) "Drinking, Dining, and Dancing" (1,084 KB)

See "Then & Now" comparison photos of Sloppy Joe's (1927 and 2007), Floridita Bar (1955 and 2007), and the Floridita Dining Room (1955 and 2007).