Little Havana and Calle Ocho through my family’s eyes

My family isn’t Cuban. Our roots run across the African diaspora, and I grew up in Miami Gardens, a city in the north of Miami-Dade County. But Little Havana has been part of our Miami for as long as I can remember. My mom, who’s a nurse, has worked alongside Cuban colleagues her whole career, and when I was little, a trip to Calle Ocho was her favorite Saturday treat for me and my little brother, Jaylen.

So this isn’t an insider’s guide. It’s a guide from a family that fell in love with a neighborhood, and the way my mom taught us to visit it.

A little background

Little Havana is the neighborhood just west of downtown Miami and Brickell, Miami’s downtown financial district. From the 1960s onward, it became the heart of Miami’s Cuban community, as families arrived after the Cuban Revolution. Today it’s home to people from all over Latin America, but Cuban culture still sets the rhythm.

Calle Ocho is Southwest 8th Street, the neighborhood’s main street. Most of what you’ll want to see is along a walkable stretch of it, roughly between 12th and 17th Avenues.

Domino Park

Máximo Gómez Park, which everyone calls Domino Park, is where my mom always started. Older men play dominoes at the shaded tables, and the click of the tiles and the friendly arguing are the soundtrack of the street. Look for the mural of world leaders from the 1994 Summit of the Americas.

My mom’s rules: watch from the edge, keep your voice down, and never take close-up photos of people without asking. It’s their park, not a set. Jaylen and I used to stand there for ages trying to work out the scoring. I still can’t.

Walk the Walk of Fame

Along the sidewalk on Calle Ocho you’ll find stars honoring Latin music, film and TV legends, a little like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, has one, and so does Gloria Estefan. My grandmother, Grandma Dee, loves Celia Cruz, so finding her star was always the highlight of our day.

Murals, roosters and color

Little Havana is full of color: painted walls, bright storefronts and murals celebrating music, family and Cuban history. Keep an eye out for the colorful rooster sculptures around the neighborhood; roosters are a symbol of the area. For someone who thinks about color all day for my label, it’s endlessly inspiring.

The Tower Theater, a historic cinema that opened in 1926, is another landmark worth stopping for. It’s run by Miami Dade College now and still shows films.

Cuban Memorial Boulevard

Just off Calle Ocho, on Southwest 13th Avenue, Cuban Memorial Boulevard is a quiet, tree-lined stretch with monuments to Cuban history, including an eternal flame for the veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion. My mom always slowed down here. She’d tell us that every neighborhood in Miami was built by people who left something behind, and that it’s our job to listen to their stories.

Music everywhere

What I love most is the music. Salsa, son and rumba drift out of shops and open doors, and you’ll often find live music on weekends. These rhythms carry deep African roots, brought to Cuba by enslaved Africans and their descendants, and I can hear the connection to the Afrobeats and Amapiano I listen to every day. It always makes me feel at home in a place that isn’t technically mine.

If you can, plan your visit around Viernes Culturales, or Cultural Fridays, a monthly evening of art, music and dancing in the street. And every March, the Calle Ocho Music Festival turns the whole street into one giant block party. Check the dates before you go.

What to eat

Food was always my mom’s reward for a good day out. My Little Havana order:

• A Cuban sandwich. Roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on Cuban bread, pressed until it’s crisp. It’s the best sandwich in Miami, and I will not be taking questions.
• Croquetas. Small fried rolls, usually ham, crispy outside and creamy inside.
• Pastelitos. Flaky pastries. Guava and cheese is the one to get.
• Fresh sugarcane juice. Pressed right in front of you, sweet and cold.
• Something frozen. A scoop of tropical-fruit ice cream for the walk back.

How to visit with respect

• Go in the late afternoon, when it’s cooler and the street gets lively.
• Learn a few words of Spanish. “Hola”, “gracias” and “por favor” go a long way.
• Shop at small, family-run places when you can.
• Remember that people live here. Keep your voice and your camera polite.

Little Havana taught me early that Miami is a city of many homes, and that you can love a place without it being yours. More of my favorite Miami moments are in the gallery.

If you visit, come tell me what you ordered in the chat. I’ll only judge you a little if you skip the croquetas.