El Cocinero

CA5
Top Pick
Style of place: Contemporary Bar
Style of music: Electronic music / DJ
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service
Best for: Fabulous industrial chic alfresco rooftop with a buzzing atmosphere, great service & good food.
Worst for: Climbing up the three flights of winding stairs.
Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado
(+53)7832 - 2355
12m to 2am
  • El Cocinero opened in February 2013 and has instantly become a smash hit. Located underneath the imposing brick chimney of the same name (which used to be a vegetable oil factory), this bar/restaurant is reached via 3 flights of circular stairs, which go up vertiginously lighthouse style. It is worth the effort to reach the sunken roof, which has ample space for drinks and food. This place has a renovated industrial space look, good music, nice décor and has attracted a mixed crowd of affluent young Cubans, expatriates as well as families for dinner which is also (for now) served on the roof terrace.

    The open space at El Cocinero This is one of the big “ups” of the last months in Havana. El Cocinero is a cool and trendy bar located in Vedado in the building close to the iron bridge with the big chimney. The space is totally open, which may present a problem during the rainy season, but the owners are planning to open another dining space in a closed area on the premises. One can have a full meal at El Cocinero, but the place is better for tapas and drinks. Don’t miss it!

    
  • Al Medina

    Al Medina  LH 3

    Al Medina (The City) opened in 1983 as a Middle Eastern restaurant housed inside a lovely 17th-century building, which was formerly a boys’ school. The menu features a large collection of dishes, gril …

    Doña Blanquita

    Doña Blanquita  LH 3

    Overlooking the Prado boulevard, this has a great location and a pleasant relaxed ambience. Although it could probably do with something of an upgrade, it has been in business for many years and has a …

    Razones

    Razones  LH 3

    Razones is a mid-tier place, which attracts a middle class Cuban crowd, and tourists staying nearby in this residential neighbourhood. Even mid week there is a busy feel to the place, which is explain …

    Las Ruinas

    Las Ruinas  LH 3

    Las Ruinas melds offbeat modern architecture–including some eye-catching stained glass by Cuban artist René Portocarrero and immaculately decayed stonewalls–onto the ruins of an old sugar mill, givi …

    Café Taberna

    Café Taberna  LH 3

    This is a very lively restaurant on the corner of Plaza Vieja, which is dedicated to Benny More and the home to good son bands, notably Son del Trópico, Sonido Son and the Septeto Matamoros who perfor …

    La Chuchería

    La Chuchería  LH 3

    Tourists often seem somewhat conflicted between finding a place that authentic real Cubans go to and somewhere where there is toiler paper in the bathrooms and the food is reliable. La Chuchería tick …

    Doña Juana

    Doña Juana  LH 3

    This friendly paladar hides out in a newly painted but crumbling Vedado building. The place itself has a revamp in 2011 and now is a lot more upmarket than in the past. The terrace up top is huge done …

    El Tocororo

    El Tocororo  LH 3

    When it was opened, the Tocororo was one of the first upmarket restaurants in Havana. This is an old style Havana state-owned restaurant. Lots of greenery and a piano player do at least give some atmo …

    Meliá Cohíba Hotel – Habana Café

    Meliá Cohíba Hotel – Habana Café  LH 4-

    This is where Vincent Vega would get his ten-dollar shake in Havana and although you cannot actually sit inside the Chevy, Pontiac and Buick, which grace the interior; they do add 1950’s chic to the p …

    Conde de Villanueva Hotel – Vuelta Abajo

    Conde de Villanueva Hotel – Vuelta Abajo  LH 3

    This building was once the house of Claudio Martínez de Pinillos, a 19th-century celebrity who played an important role in the Island’s economic, scientific and literary growth of the time, now home t …

    « 9 of 14 pages »