The best Little Havana bars

Today’s Ball & Chain is a recreation of a 1930s hotspot that once occupied the same space and welcomed jazz superstars like Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Chet Baker to its stage. Across from the historic Tower Theater, Ball & Chain has its own storied past filled with Jewish and Cuban community influences. The bar program offers a smattering of classics (margaritas and mojitos) and new-wave drinks unique to Ball & Chain. We recommend sampling a few Cuban-inspired cocktails: the Mojito Criollo (made the classic way with the mint leaves left intact for enhanced aroma, and more sugar), the Canita (white rum, lime, house-made honey syrup, guarapo or sugarcane juice, sugarcane stick) and the Pastelito Daiquiri (pastelito-infused aged rum, lime, simple syrup, and a side of pastelitos or guava pastries).  

Café La Trova is the delicious and much-hyped recent byproduct of a most fruitful partnership: James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein, her chef/restaurateur husband David Martinez, and nationally acclaimed cantinero Julio Cabrera. The elevated dinner-and-a-show concept has garnered attention from national outlets like GQ and Washington Post. The old-Cuba style fits right in with Little Havana’s nostalgia-tinged nightlife scene. Cabrera’s cocktail menu takes you back in time from pre-Revolutionary Cuba to present-day Miami: channel the island’s most famous midcentury expat with a Hemingway Special (rum, maraschino, grapefruit and lime), drink to Havana’s famed Hotel Nacional (rum, apricot liquor, pineapple and lime) or sip on a Yin & Tony, an updated gin & tonic with an amusing phonetic moniker. 

This nautical bar (Nancy was the name of a ship that raised the first American flag in a foreign port after the Revolution) is serving up inventive cocktails in the heart of Little Havana. You won’t find Cuban sandwiches or cafecito at this neighborhood watering hole, but seafaring-themed drinks are aplenty. Feeling adventurous? Order the Smile You Son-Of-A-Bitch, a not-so-scary-tasting tipple named in homage to the movie Jaws (it’s even got a plastic shark in it!). The Mutiny Milk Punch is a sophisticated and surprisingly light cocktail with hints of chocolate and lemon. 

Little Havana's only true beer bar is the brainchild of David and Cici Rodriguez. The duo's experience helming beer-centric businesses is evident in the Calle Ocho establishment, featuring rotating taps (check out the chalkboard menu to see what's new) and double coolers filled with cans and bottles of local, American-made and internationally brewed varieties. To order, grab your favorite and give it to the bartender to ring up—simple as that. Union Beer also has vintage arcade games to keep you busy between sips. 

 Like its name suggests, Old’s Havana is a glossy tribute to the Cuba of yesteryear, complete with black-and-white photos, vintage memorabilia and a soundtrack of Cuban classics that range from rumba to boleros (and is played live on weekends). The food is slightly more contemporary, mixing in Spanish tapas and ceviche with arroz and frijoles, as are the mojitos, which can be ordered in flavors such as mango and coconut. Owners do a good job at providing a traditional Cuban experience, which, for Little Havana, means tourists are aplenty here.