La Bodeguita del Medio is one of the tourist destinations in Old Havana. It owes its popularity to the maxim of Ernest Hemingway:"Mi mojito en La Bodeguita, mi daiquirí en La Floridita (My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in La Floridita)”. Meanwhile, the place increased its fame by the visits of some international names like Salvador Allende, Pablo Nerudo, Agustín Lara, Brigitte Bardot, Nat King Cole, among others.

The story of the Bodeguita del Medio began in 1942, when Angel Martínez bought the small Bodega La Complaciente (Complacent Winery) on the Empedrado street. In Spanish-speaking countries the name bodega was used for a small store or market that sells groceries and wine, mostly located at the corner of a street. Even though, Angel Martínez changed the name of the place to Casa Martínez, it continued to serve as a small grocery store, where typical Cuban products were sold. But from time to time, he served also dinner to the regulars. In fact, people are going to there to drink his new cocktail mojito that he was preparing with rum, mint, sugar, club soda and lemon, and to spend good time with their friends. Since that time, La Bodeguita del Medio introduces itself as the birthplace of the popular Cuban cocktail mojito, but this is not true.

In 1949, Angel Martínez employed the cook Silvia Torres, nicknamed La China, and converted the place into a fully-fledged bar-restaurant with convivial ambiance.  One year later, he changed the name of his restaurant-bar to La Bodeguita del Medio.

The charismatic editor and publisher Félix Ayón is attributed to be the father of the new name, as he was describing the address of the restaurant as “the little store in the middle of the street”, when he was sending his friends to this place. This expression, Bodeguita del Medio, was adopted by the regulars of the place in a short time. Gradually, La Bodeguita del Medio became a place where the writers, choreographers, musicians or journalists met and hung out.

Several factors and persons played a role in the jump of the place from a bodega for locals to a restaurant-bar known internationally. The journalist Leandro Garcia, a regular costumer, put his signature on one of the walls and initiated a movement that still continues. The Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén wrote a few verses about the talks held by Martínez. The novelist Cabrera Infante sang the praises of his mojitos. The studio of the sculptor Sepy Dobronyi became a tourist attraction, as the sculptor gained international fame after he sculpted a nude statue of Anita Ekberg for Playboy Magazine. The restaurant-bar Bodeguita Medio, just around the corner, was the preferred place for these wealthy tourists, attracted by the bohemian charm of the place. Some say that Martínez hired the Cuban journalist Fernando Campoamor, also a friend of Hemingway, to put the Bodeguita del Medio on map. Hence, a lengthy article about Bodeguita appeared in the US press one year later.

The Bodeguita del Medio is still a small restaurant-bar with few tables, where you can taste Creole food, try the Cuban cocktails including the famous mojito and listen to live music (even dance with Cuban rhythms). The myth that has been built around Hemingway draws people to this place.  In fact, even though, Ernest Hemingway liked the mojito of Bodeguita del Medio, he was never a regular of the place.

A big, framed autograph, attributed to the writer, is displayed on the wall with his famous maxim about Bodeguita del Medio underneath it. However, according to biographer Philip Greene, it is unlikely that this autograph belongs to Hemingway, as Hemingway usually signed his name without loops in the "g" and "y", while the signature in the Bodeguita includes loops.

The walls, particularly on the upper floor, are covered with framed photos of the personalities that visited the place and by hundreds of signatures of famous customers, as well as unknown people. It is also possible to put your signature on the wall, going downstairs. The restaurant-bar has a saloon door style and ceiling fans rather than freezing air conditioning.

The restaurant serves typically Cuban food, such as boiled rice, black beans, pork shank, manioc, pig shank roasted in its juice, pork rinds and toasted fried plantains.

You may want to experience the place, if you are on a Hemingway trail, but it takes long time to find a free table due to the small size of the popular restaurant. Some people would prefer to wait to be able to have a photo inside of this historical restaurant or to put their signatures on the wall. On the other hand, you may also choose the sidewalk outside to sip the famous mojito of the Bodeguita del Medio that is more expensive than those in other bars of Havana.

In 1997, dozens of people were injured, and an Italian tourist was killed by a bomb explosion in the Empedrado street. Just moments before the explosion, the barman in the Bodeguita del Medio had accepted to have a photo taken with a tourist. Later, it was understood that this person was a Salvadorian mercenary, so that he was convicted of placing the bomb. 

The restaurant has several establishments outside of Cuba, including Mexico, the United States, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Lebanon, and China. In Spain, there are four Bodeguitas del Medio.