Mythic Cuban bar Sloppy Joe’s, a watering hole for a who’s who of Hollywood stars during Prohibition, reopens its doors today in Havana. The revived bar is in the centre of old Havana, just steps away from Central Park and some of the city’s grand hotels.
“Tomorrow, Friday, we will open to the public and begin to work, even though the official inauguration will be a little later,” a bar manager told us.
Founded in 1920 by Spanish immigrant Jose Garcia, Sloppy Joe’s was restored exactly the way it once stood, down to its long, black mahogany bar, which was immortalized in the 1959 British film “Our Man in Havana” with Alec Guinness and Maureen O’Hara.
In its heyday, it was frequented by Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Spencer Tracy and even Clark Gable.
The bar was nationalised shortly after Fidel Castro took power in 1959, then went into long decline before finally closing 30 years ago.
