Miami's little Havana Calle Ocho

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 2003 by Frank Figueroa

In Miami, Florida, Southwest 8th Street is a long thoroughfare stretching from the Florida Turnpike on the west to Highway No. 1 on the east. However, once it reaches the area between 27th and 12th Avenues it becomes "Calle Ocho" or "La Southwesera" in the heart of Little Havana. Cubans have been living in this subdivision of downtown Miami since the early part of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, it was not until the early 1960s, when large numbers of Cubans fleeing their country after Castro's revolution settled there that the neighborhood developed a distinct Cuban flavor.

Today, once you step into Calle Ocho coming from the east you begin to find a variety of restaurants offering such Cuban delicacies as ropa vieja (shredded beef in sauce), bistec empanizado (breaded steak), lechón (roast pig), and tasajo (jerked-salted beef). A few steps further you can enjoy the nectarous aromas emanating from a Cuban pastry shop. Looking through the window you can see the sopa borrachas (moistened cake), pasteles de guayaba (guava pastry), and besitos de coco (coconut macaroons). Should you like to partake, all you have to do is point to what is tickling your taste buds and a smiling clerk will put it in a box for you.

Your stroll down Calle Ocho is one delight after another. You may want to try some guarapo de caña (sugar cane juice) or a tropical fruit ice cream including such flavors as zapote (sapodilla), tamarindo (tamarind) or real coconut. Perhaps you may wish to witness the rolling of cigars in one of the tabaquerías (cigar factories) on Calle Ocho. All that, plus a full complement of variety stores and gift shops full of imported items from Spain and Latin America can be found here. If herbal medicine is your thing, you will find several botánicas (medicinal herbal stores) with all kinds of exotic remedies. You may even find some santería paraphernalia.

Calle Ocho also has some cultural centers such as the Tower Art Center, which has been recently renovated. The building itself is a beautiful example of Art Deco architecture. Spanish movies and cultural events are regularly scheduled at that location. There are also several art galleries in the area.

If you're looking for local color you must stop at Domino Park (officially called Máximo Gómez Park) named after the famous Cuban revolutionary war hero. The park is full every day, mostly with older men playing dominoes.

On the last Friday of every month, the community turns several blocks of Calle Ocho into one big Latin street party. A typical evening includes live Latin music, Cuban dance exhibitions and street theater. The evening is also a venue for local artists to display their work. One can usually find good bargains on beautiful paintings and ceramics.

Calle Ocho has become internationally famous through its annual Calle Ocho Festival, considered to be the largest annual Hispanic carnival in the United States. The event, held during the first days of March, has attracted millions of people to the area. For the festival, S.W. 8th Street is closed down on S.W. 8th Street from 27th to 4th Avenues, a total of twenty-three Little Havana city blocks. Over 40 stages are placed on intersecting avenues, where some of the biggest names in the Latin entertainment field perform free of charge to the public. The festivities generally begin with "Noche de Carnaval" (Carnival Night) and conclude several days later with the "Carnaval de Calle Ocho" (Calle Ocho's Carnival). This year they will try to break the Guinness Book of Records for the "World's Largest Street Party." The merrymaking will begin on March 1st with "Noche de Carnaval" and will conclude on March 9th with the Calle Ocho Carnaval. Venezuelan salsero Oscar D'León is slated to be this year's Carnival King.

No, it isn't anything like San Francisco's Chinatown or New York's Little Italy, it's uniquely Hispanic. You must experience it to believe it. Where else do you find grandparent types shaking their hips like teenagers and people of all ages eating, singing, dancing and playing an instrument all at once? All Latin Americans living in Miami have adopted the Calle Ocho Festival. Groups from many countries participate in the parade, proudly displaying their nation's flags.

The City of Miami has discovered the magnitude of the tourist attraction represented by Calle Ocho. It is ready to spend millions of dollars to create plazas and walkways in the Little Havana district of Calle Ocho. Among the projects ready to be started is turning Southwest 15th Avenue between the historic Tower Theater and Máximo Gómez Park (Domino Park) into a shopping walkway, off limits to cars and friendly to pedestrians. There are also plans to extend Cuban Memorial Boulevard (13th Avenue) with landscaped plazas and walkways all the way to Coral Way (Southwest 22nd Street).

So, come on down to Miami in March to sing, dance, eat and be merry! Calle Ocho is waiting to welcome you to the Calle Ocho Festival!