CubaPLUS Magazine

Settled in the long-lived Calle Empedrado, a few steps from the Plaza de la Catedral, La Bodeguita del Medio survives, perhaps the most famous restaurant in all of Cuba. With a rare mixture of very Creole and bohemian elements -the autochthonous and the universal-, it has passed gracefully over the years giving good joy to its parishioners, whether they are natural or from the world.

It is a small place, but with so much "substance" given by its Cuban flavor, the also native cocktail bar, in which the mojito reigns in a minimal bar or taken to your table, the traditional music of the country, the myth and the legends. A magical atmosphere in the middle of a place that is disarming due to its simplicity, with humble walls covered in the signatures of famous intellectuals and artists.

Upon entering there, the client comes across a perfect potion that allows them to connect with the soul of a country and its extroverted, joyful, and happy spirit. They say that it all began around 1942, when Ángel Martínez was the owner of the small grocery store, called a bodega in Cuba, which was located there at Empedrado 407, in the center of that block. He broke the habit of placing this type of establishment on the corners, so when he gave the address it was clear: the little bodeguita in the middle. It was also called "la bodeguita de Martínez".

In the aforementioned year, Martínez sold fried foods and a few drinks at the counter of his bodega, which was generally visited by intellectuals who did business in a nearby printing house. As the clientele increased, attracted by the voices given and the cheap prices, the small merchant came up with the idea of offering dishes based on a Creole menu. With the arrival of a cook nicknamed La China, in 1949, everything skyrocketed in favor of the rise of the establishment, and on April 26, 1950, it was officially inaugurated under the name of Bodeguita del Medio.

It is not known how, but the small place attracted its clientele since then like sweet to ants. And relevant figures put their signature on its walls, such as the Chileans Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral and Salvador Allende, Errol Flynn, Ernest Hemingway, Ignacio Villa and many more famous foreigners and nationals, impossible to cite here.

With a pure menu in which tostones or chatinos, sleeping black beans, congrí, roasted or fried pork, and dishes made from beef have always stood out, the Cuban seasoning has shown its seduction there from the famous chinita to the present day. There are replicas or franchises of La Bodeguita del Medio in Varadero, Cuba, and in various countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

With a history that often borders on myth, there are very beautiful memories linked to this very Cuban site, from the times when it was enlivened by the music of the famous popular singer Carlos Puebla, guarachero and happy author of boleros and memorable patriotic songs. A Bodeguita that is the Bodegona, the National Poet Nicolás Guillén said of her one day. The lyric is not wrong, so expressive of our essences. After a meticulous restoration, La Bodeguita del Medio of ordinary days returns with its charm and its irresistible condiments, components of Cuban culture, its roots, and its cosmopolitanism.