Little Havana for lunch: Calle Ocho without the bus tour
Where to eat on SW 8th Street between 10 am and 4 pm, what it costs, and which places are worth staying for when the music starts. No tour bus, no pre-booked show.
In breve
- Cheap and quick: Sanguich, 2057 SW 8th St, 10 am to 6 pm.
- The institution: Versailles, $ on Google, a short drive west of Domino Park.
- A sit-down with music: Old's Havana, 1442 SW 8th St, from 11 am.
- The coffee: La Colada Gourmet, 1518 SW 8th St, 10 am to 10 pm.
- If you stay: Ball & Chain for the band, no cover most nights.
Lunch on Calle Ocho is a coffee window, a sandwich counter and one sit-down with a band, all within a few blocks of Domino Park; Versailles is the exception you drive to.
Quanto costa
a Cuban sandwich, a colada to share, or a full plate in the mirrored dining room
sit-down plates to share and the band, with no cover most nights at Ball & Chain
the dressed-up dinner at 971 SW 8th St, from 4 pm; not a lunch place
Versailles
You cannot say you did Little Havana without it. The dining room is big, bright and vintage, with mirrors and chandeliers, the menu is the Cuban canon, and the walk-up window outside pours the coffee that has fueled the neighborhood's arguments for decades. Politicians stop here; so do grandmothers; so should you.
Google lists it as $, which is honest: it is one of the cheaper proper meals in Miami. Open 8 am to midnight most days, 1 am on Friday and Saturday, 9 am on Sunday. Lunch is the crowd; the coffee window works any hour the place is open. The address is 3555 SW 8th Street, about twenty blocks west of Domino Park, so plan a short ride rather than a walk. There is a parking lot and the bakery next door for pastries to go.
Old's Havana
Right in the middle of the Calle Ocho stretch, across from the cigar rollers and a minute from Domino Park, and it does the full Cuban afternoon in one room: plates to share, mojitos, and a band most evenings. The crowd is a mix of neighbors and visitors and nobody minds.
Open 11 am to 11 pm Sunday to Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. $$ and generous portions, so order to share. Weekday lunch and early dinner seat walk-ins; Friday and Saturday nights need a booking.
Domino Park is at 1444 SW 8th St, next door. Watch a game, do not try to join one.
La Colada Gourmet
The colada, the little cup of sweet Cuban espresso meant to be shared, is the neighborhood's handshake, and this is a place that makes it well and sells the beans to take home. There is Cuban food and pastry too, but you come for the coffee and stay for the street.
Any time from 10 am to 10 pm, every day. It is a counter place, so there is rarely a wait of more than a few minutes. $ and cash is handy. A few doors from Ball & Chain and Domino Park. Ask for a colada if you are with people and a cortadito if you are alone.
Sanguich
The quick option: a Cuban sandwich place at 2057 SW 8th Street with $ on Google and 4.6 from more than four thousand people. Open 10 am to 6 pm every day, so it is lunch, not dinner, and it is the stop to make when you want to eat in fifteen minutes and keep walking.
Prima di andare
- Versailles is at 3555 SW 8th St, about twenty blocks west of Domino Park: ride or drive, do not walk it in the heat
- Cash is handy at La Colada Gourmet; cards work everywhere else on this list
- Sanguich closes at 6 pm; Old's Havana, Ball & Chain and Cubaocho run into the night
- Ball & Chain has no cover most nights; special events are ticketed on the website
- Cubaocho at 1465 SW 8th St is free to walk in for the art; closed Monday
- Parking on the main Calle Ocho block is street or paid lots; Versailles has its own lot
Non andare se
Dove sono
Domande frequenti
Where to have lunch in Little Havana?
Sanguich at 2057 SW 8th St for a quick Cuban sandwich, Old's Havana at 1442 SW 8th St for a sit-down with live music, Versailles at 3555 SW 8th St for the institution, and La Colada Gourmet at 1518 SW 8th St for the coffee after.
Is Versailles walking distance from Domino Park?
Not really. It is about twenty blocks west of Domino Park on SW 8th Street. Take a short ride or drive; there is a parking lot.
What is a colada?
A larger cup of sweet Cuban espresso served with small cups to share. At La Colada Gourmet it is the house specialty; order a cortadito if you are alone.
What is there to do on Calle Ocho after lunch?
Watch the dominoes at Domino Park, walk past the cigar shops, look at the Cuban art at Cubaocho (free to walk in, closed Monday), and stay for the band at Ball & Chain, which runs until 1 am on weeknights and 3 am on Friday and Saturday.
Altre guide
Hours, prices and ratings from Google Places, checked nightly. Street photos are ours; place photos by Google contributors.