Unearthing the Aromas of Cuba in Miami

In Little Havana, sample cafecitos, cigars, and ice cream

Ball & Chain has existed in some form since the 1930s, when this stretch of road was a dirt track and the only thing out west was farmland and everglades. Photos: Ivan Flores

The southern segment of Florida’s US-41 runs from coast to coast, east to west. It starts in Naples and snakes its way through the Everglades, eventually ending at the Atlantic Ocean.

In Miami, US-41 becomes 8th Street and transforms again into the main artery to Little Havana, Calle Ocho, a small neighborhood dotted with statues of colorful roosters, murals, and ventanitas — windows that serve Cuban coffee, a potent blend of espresso and sugar.

Decades ago, when the first waves of exiles began to arrive in Miami after the Cuban revolution, they settled in this neighborhood a stone’s throw away from downtown Miami, and a few miles from la Torre de la Libertad — the Freedom Tower — Miami’s answer to Ellis Island. The government used this facility to process migrants who arrived in Florida, many of whom never left Miami-Dade County. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the county hosts over 800,000 people self-identifying as Cuban, making it the home to the largest Cuban population outside Cuba.