El Floridita

The bar opened in 1817 as La Piña de Plata, the Silver Pineapple, in the same spot it occupies today, and has been called El Floridita since 1914. That year a Catalan immigrant, Constantino Ribalaigua Vert, known as Constante, began work behind the bar. He bought it in 1918 and is credited with creating the frozen daiquiri in the early 1930s, and the bar still calls itself “la cuna del daiquiri”, the cradle of the daiquiri.

Hemingway first came in 1932, when he kept a room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos a few streets away. Since 2003 a life-size bronze of him by the Cuban sculptor José Villa Soberón has leaned on the end of the bar, in his usual place. The red-jacketed bartenders and 1950s décor keep much of the old atmosphere.

Order the Floridita daiquiri, made with Havana Club rum, sugar, lemon juice and maraschino, or the Papa Hemingway, with grapefruit juice and maraschino. Fruit versions, from passion fruit to strawberry, are on the list too. Cuban bands play here regularly, and there is a dining room serving seafood, though most visitors come for a drink at the bar.

From Marina Hemingway the taxi ride takes 30 to 40 minutes. Ask for the corner of Obispo and Monserrate, across the street from the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. From the bar, Calle Obispo leads on foot through the heart of Old Havana.

El Floridita opens daily from noon to 1am. Most of its customers today are visitors to Havana, so expect company at the bar, and you do not need to book for a drink.