The Famous "La Bodeguita Del Medio" - Cuba

Very near the Cathedral Square, half way down Empedrado Street, right there where it has been standing for fifty years: La Bodeguita del Medio.
What started as a grocery store in 1942 under the name of La Casa Martinez, became a restaurant after World War II, turning into a favorite meeting place for poets, newspapermen, intellectuals and bohemians who were interested in having a good time and trying to "fix the world" while drinking "mojitos" and eating appetizers, rather than in the menu, which was quite scanty by then. But Martinez's ability for business and the satisfaction of gathering his friends into a big family, made him open a special typical cuban dishes area in the back of the store. Thus, the world-famous Bodeguita del Medio came into existence. Politicians, MPs, art celebrities, intellectuals, sportsmen and gourmets have all enjoyed our "sleepy black beans", roast pork, fried green bananas, jerked beef and many more traditional Cuban dishes which are as Nicolas Guillen (our national poet) once put it, "overflowing with surges of aged rum", and of course dressed with the most genuine inspiration of "soneros" and troubadours (poet-musicians).