Miami's Little Havana

Cuban culture, cigars, dancing and chickens

Little Havana (Calle Ocho) is a neighborhood in Miami that centers along Southwest Eighth Street, with the center crossing at Fifteenth Street. Because it is close to where I live, I decided I needed to experience this neighborhood on foot, and a good friend suggested this week that we visit there together.

This area is very similar to Key West, with live chickens and roosters in all the green spaces and artificial ones scattered everywhere. Unlike Key West, the chickens here seemed to freely roam without fear of the Haitian twenty minute rule. (My friend indicated that might not be the case. No, they aren’t eaten. According to my friend, the chickens are many times used for other religious rituals.)

In the Cuban Memorial Boulevard Park, there are multiple monuments of events in Cuba such as this one. And more chickens. It is a nice green space in the middle of a busy neighborhood.

Little Havana hosts festivals in March and April each year, and I wanted to visit the area before or after that, hoping it would be quieter with fewer tourists. The area is known for its Latin restaurants and bakeries, cigars and rum, art galleries, and other venues. There are numerous walking tours available,

The pastry shops are similar to what I am used to in Türkiye, colorful with luscious variety.

Domino Park (Maximo Gomez Park) is in the center of Little Havana and is where the locals gather to talk politics and play dominoes. I watched as tables of four played a rowdy game as the clacking and snapping of the dominos on the table mixed with their laughter. Just as the speed chess games in Union Square in New York and the backgammon games in Istanbul, these matches are serious business. I watched from a distance not to disturb.

The domino area this week was half full, but I felt uncomfortable taking a photo of so many people without their permission, so I took one from the side. You get the gist.

We like Cuban food and have already experienced Versailles, the large family-owned restaurant that feels like an overgrown diner. (Having lived in Key West for three years, better Cuban food can be found at El Siboney Restaurant or the tourist bar and restaurant, El Meson De Pepe. But that is another post.)

My friend and I ate at Sala’o, immensely enjoying the shredded flank steak (vaca frita) and plantains (maduros) with live music, even in the middle of the day on a Tuesday.

Little Havana remembers its famous people all along Tamiami Trail with murals of Celia Cruz to the sidewalk stars of famous Cubans in recent history.

While Cuban cigars may still be illegal in the U.S., you can have a fresh hand-rolled cigar made right in Miami. In Key West on New Year’s Eve, I always purchased a hand-rolled cigar and, with a cognac, strolled down Duval Street. I’ll have to revive that practice (without the stroll in heavy traffic, I think) in Miami.