14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 6 July 2024 — Sloppy Joe’s Bar, an alcoholic refuge for the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Errol Flynn, used to be one of the culinary temples of Havana but has fallen victim to state apathy. A shortage of bread and other products is impacting its quality of service and the only ones finding anything to eat there are termites, gnawing away at its famous dark wood bar.
On Wednesday, state media finally took note of its decline. Silvia Gómez Fariñas, who writes an unlikely recipe column for Cubadebate, bemoaned the lack of bread there during a recent visit when she was hoping to impress “some Spaniards” who had accompanied her. A 14ymedio staff writer — an avid follower of Gómez Fariñas — immediately decided to pay a visit to Sloppy Joe’s, located just a stone’s throw from Old Havana’s Central Park.
Gómez Fariñas admitted that she did appreciate the politeness of the staff as well as the roast pork finger-sandwiches. “So far, so good,” she noted, but the happy feeling “did not last long.” Things started going downhill when she was unable to order anything from the “selection of ’bocaditos’ and sandwiches,” all around 500 pesos. When she asked why, she was told bluntly, “We’re out of bread!”
Reporters from this publication had better luck than Gómez Fariñas. On Wednesday morning, they were able to order items from the menu that included bread but were warned that, within a few minutes, it would be sold out. The accompanying beverage was an imported Turkish orange juice with a high proportion of artificial ingredients.
The situation at a place that Gómez Fariñas describes as “iconic” and “known the world over” is unsustainable. The government, she says, is “letting it go to pieces ” and wonders if they are doing it on purpose. Of one thing she is certain: private owners would never let this happen.
Prohibition in the U.S, which lasted from 1920 until 1933, forced many famous drinkers — most notably Ernest Hemingway — to look for a bar where they could enjoy a mojit
