Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Historic bar in Old Havana, Cuba
Sloppy Joe's Bar is a three-story neoclassical brick building on the corner of Zulueta and Animas streets in Old Havana, Cuba. The bar occupies the ground floor and retains its original mahogany counter, which runs the full length of the room.
The bar was founded in 1917 by Spanish immigrant José García and became one of the most visited spots in Havana over the following decades. It closed after the 1959 Cuban Revolution and stayed shut for over 50 years before reopening in 2013 after careful restoration.
In the 1930s and 1940s, film stars, writers, and musicians from around the world stopped here, and photos of many of those guests still hang on the walls today. The long mahogany bar counter that runs through the room gives a clear sense of how the place would have looked in those years.
The bar sits at one of Old Havana's main intersections and is easy to reach on foot from most of the surrounding sights. Visiting in the afternoon or early evening tends to be quieter than later in the night.
The bar's name reportedly comes from its early days when the place looked messy and unkempt, much like a loose American sandwich. Despite that simple origin, the name has stuck for over a century.
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