History of La Bodeguita del Medio
From Casa Martinez
to Bodeguita del Medio
When Angel Martinez set himself up in business in Havana in 1942 in order to buy out the small Bodega in Empedrado Street, no-one could imagine the legend that would spring up.
From Casa Martinez
to Bodeguita del Medio
First of all, he made his “Casa Martinez” into a grocery shop, then a restaurant. But already, some people were in the habit of meeting there over a drink.
From Casa Martinez
to Bodeguita del Medio
Amongst them was Felito Ayon, whom Angel Martinez came across in 1946. This charismatic editor, who rubbed shoulders with the avant-garde of Havana, put Casa Martinez on the map amongst his acquaintances. Thus it was, by indicating to them the location of the bodeguita – in the middle of the street – that he made popular the expression that was to become its official name in 1950: Bodeguita del Medio.
La Bodeguita del Medio,
the meeting place for artists
The Bodeguita del Medio very quickly became the centre of Havana's cultural effervescence and Angel Martinez was some kind of patron of the arts there.
La Bodeguita del Medio,
the meeting place for artists
Attracted by the bohemian charm of the place, writers, choreographers, musicians or journalists met there in a convivial ambiance.
La Bodeguita del Medio,
the meeting place for artists
Amongst them, Pablo Neruda, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Cuban writers such as Nicolas Guillen and Alejo Carpentier. But the most famous regular was certainly Ernest Hemingway. “My mojito in the Bodeguita” can still be read on the wall, in his handwriting.
La Bodeguita del Medio,
the meeting place for artists
They attracted yet more people, innumerable celebrities frequented the place: Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Ava Gardner... More recently one could meet Mohammed Ali or Naomi Campbell there.
A place full of stories
Whether an artist or simply curious, anyone who enters the Bodeguita is immediately caught up in its unique atmosphere. The first shock: the walls, hidden by an impressive number of graffiti, footprints left by famous and unknown clients. It is recounted that the poet Nicolas Guillen was the first to affix his signature.
A place full of stories
Everywhere, tables, posters, frames and fantastic objects are piled up and recount a thousand stories. “Cargue con su pesao” can be read on a sign, which can be translated roughly as “Each to take care of the troublemaker whom he has brought!” It is the writer Enrique Labrada Ruiz who wrote it following an incident in the Bodeguita: that evening, an unpublished work by the poet Justo Rodriguez was being passed from hand to hand by the guest... until one of them, a journalist, departed with the precious copy! It happened that the tiresome individual had been invited by Plomito, a regular at the Bodeguita...
A place full of stories
And then, there is the music of love and lively rhythms from the ‘trovadores'. For decades, these trios represent the soul of traditional Cuban music. A well-defended tradition, if one believes the anecdote: when Angel Martinez installed a jukebox in the Bodeguita in the 1950's, it was destroyed two days later by furious clients!
A place full of stories
Covering tables and counter, the undisputed star of the place is the mojito. From the outset of the Bodeguita, Angel Martinez has prepared the famous cocktail with 3-year Havana Club Añejo rum, “The Cuban Gold”. He has thus given his letters patent of nobility to this drink to which the Cubans to this very day devote a veritable cult.