Café La Habana CDMX

Café La Habana on Bucareli 42, near the junction with Morelos in central Mexico City, is one of the capital's most storied cafés, operating since the 1950s and carrying a historical significance that extends well beyond its role as a coffee shop. The café occupies a prime corner position in a colonia that was once one of the city's most animated intellectual and political hubs, and the walls are decorated with black-and-white photographs that gesture toward its history as a gathering place for exiles, writers, journalists, and political activists. Among the most frequently recounted stories is that Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara met here in the 1950s during the planning phases of the Cuban Revolution — a claim that has become part of the café's mythology regardless of its precise historicity. The interior is a time capsule of mid-century Mexican café culture: marble-topped tables, cane-backed chairs, fluorescent lighting, and a coffee counter that has changed little in decades. The coffee is strong, dark, and typically served Cuban-style — café cubano, café con leche, or café de olla. Sandwiches, tortas, and Mexican breakfast plates round out a simple but reliable menu. The clientele is a mixture of nearby office workers, elderly regulars who have been coming for decades, students from local schools, and visitors drawn by the historical reputation. Prices are among the lowest in the city for a sit-down café experience, reflecting La Habana's resolutely non-touristy pricing structure. Cash is preferred.