Coppelia, HavanaCoppelia
- Best time
- A weekday afternoon; there will be a queue regardless
- Getting there
- On Calle 23 — La Rampa — at the corner of L, in Vedado
Why it’s in the log
Coppelia opened in 1966, a project led by Fidel Castro and named by his secretary Celia Sánchez after her favourite ballet. It started out with 26 flavours. It still sells ice cream in Cuban pesos from a modernist pavilion in a park on La Rampa, to habaneros queuing round the block — and these days the board usually shows one or two flavours.
It is also where Fresa y Chocolate begins: the film's two leads meet over ice cream at one of its tables, the strawberry and the chocolate of the title.
Be ready to find it shut. Coppelia has closed repeatedly in recent years when the milk, sugar or ice cream ran out, and reopened in February 2025 at sharply higher prices. When it is open, the local queue is the experience; the separate area aimed at visitors is quicker and noticeably more expensive.
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