Café Cantante Mi Habana

CA4
Style of place: Live music venue
Cover: CUC 10
Style of music: Salsa/Timba
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service
Best for: Plenty of seating, good audio and clean sight lines to the stage. Great musicians.
Worst for: Still a basement club even after the revamp.
Teatro Nacional de Cuba, Avenida Paseo, esquina 39, Plaza de la Revolución
(+53)7878 - 4273
8pm to 3am
  • What Café Cantante lacks in comfort and service (especially from the doormen) it more than makes up for in the quality of the artists which play there and the busy atmosphere. Afternoon shows feature hip-hop, salsa, rock, pop and traditional Afro-Cuban music. For the nighttime shows the very best big name salsa groups play until 3am. It is housed in the basement of the National Theater. I have never really been a fan of the place mostly for the lack of creature comforts, when it gets busy it gets busy. Friday night has recently become predominantly LGBT night and is more packed still. Can’t deny the great bands.
    Cover: Evening show: 5-15 CUC
    Matinees 50-100 CUP

    There’s always something grotty and off-putting about basement clubs and this place in the nether regions of the Teatro Nacional fit the bill perfectly until a recent major overhaul. I’m surprised how nicely this club cleaned up; it actually feels hip, which is has been a slow learning curve for state-run establishments. The air condition works, there’s plenty of seating, good audio and clean sight lines to the stage. Los Kents (rock ‘n roll covers); Qva Libre (wildly popular rock/fusion); and Santiago Feliú (trova superstar) have regular gigs here. This venue also has historic significance since it’s where Nueva Trova solidified as a movement.

    
  • Il Divino

    Il Divino  LH 5

    Il Divino gets our vote as the absolutely best place to eat in Havana with the family at the weekend. 6 stars out of 5. Simply brilliant, superlatives trip off the tongue. The place is huge with plent …

    Espacios

    Espacios  LH 5

    Espacios opened towards the end of 2012 and has firmly established itself on the party circuit in Miramar for your funky young twenty-somethings (and older wannabees!) This place consists of an ample …

    Havana Libre Hotel – Salon Turquino

    Havana Libre Hotel – Salon Turquino  LH 4

    Definitely a place for posh spice. This is certainly the best view in Havana to watch a cabaret show (there is often a popular band and disco following the show). The room is on the 26th floor of the …

    Jazz Café

    Jazz Café  LH 4+

    Located on the top floor of a new shopping center opposite the Melia Cohiba hotel the Jazz Café. Mellow, sophisticated and freezing due to extreme air conditioning, the Jazz Café is not only an excell …

    Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís

    Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís  LH 4

    This imposing and beautiful basilica with fine acoustics hosts some of the most important classical music concerts in Havana. Set in the square of the same name, the church is the home of the Grammy-n …

    Don Cangrejo

    Don Cangrejo  LH 5

    Don Cangrejo has over the past couple of years become the Friday night party venue of choice/last resort. The Friday night party crowd originally was the beautiful young Cuban crowd who were always lo …

    Madrigal

    Madrigal  LH 4

    Café Madrigal is the sort of place that Hemingway would have liked in his Paris phase–intellectual, intense, artistic. A gathering point, a meeting place rather than simply somewhere to get something …

    Centro Cultural El Gran Palenque

    Centro Cultural El Gran Palenque  LH 4

    El Gran Palenque is home to the world-renowned dance troupe Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba. Opened in 1997, it has its origins in the Patio de la Rumba, founded in 1982 by folklorist Rogelio Mar …

    La Bodeguita del Medio

    La Bodeguita del Medio  LH 4+

    Back 1942, this well-known restaurant was a small grocery store. Its owner, Ángel Martínez, began to sell food as the number of customers increased. One day, journalist Leandro Garcia, a regular costu …

    Tropicana Cabaret

    Tropicana Cabaret  LH 5-

    Opened in 1931, the Tropicana has played host to Benny More, Nat King Cole, Jack Nicholson and ‘Lucky’ Lucian–and many, many more. This is a Vegas-style extravaganza with seating for 1,400 people and …

    « 2 of 8 pages »