Trader Vic's/Polinesio, Havana, Cuba (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

L LaHabana57 Member Anderson, SC Joined: Feb 28, 2018 Posts: 4	L LaHabana57 Posted posted on Wed, Apr 10, 2019 7:57 PM Update on the Polinesio... Tonight a circa-1958 image of three Habana Hilton bartenders popped up on one of the Cuba Recuerdo pages on Facebook. I immediately recognized the gentleman (thanks to bongofury's 2012 post) on the left as Enrique Sainz, the father of current Polinesio bar manager Osvaldo Sainz. Last October I went back to the Polinesio (the Habana Libre is three blocks from my casa particular) and met Osvaldo Sainz, who's been discussed at length here. I wanted to see the cool picture album with the Trader Vic's opening night pictures, the images of Conrad Hilton, Mitzi Vera-Ellen, Hedda Hooper and the other luminaries in attendance that glorious evening. I mentioned that I'd seen the images of his padre, and he delighted in sharing the album as I sat at the bar during Happy Hour. In no time he lined up some of the old mugs for the specialty drinks for a photograph... (The legendary blue photo album is at far right on the back bar). As the evening progressed, so did the photographs... I had a gift for Osvaldo, as back in June, 2018 the Buick Club of America published a special Buicks In Cuba issue of their monthly magazine, the Buick Bugle. They gave me 22 pages(!) including the cover for my photography, writing and history of Buicks on the island, and Osvaldo beamed as I signed a copy for him. Here's a link to it if you feel like some light reading, including some travel tips... https://issuu.com/buickclub/docs/bugle_june_2018_web Over the three weeks I was there, I spent a number of Happy Hours at the Polinesio, and Osvaldo is now a good friend. He works 12-hour shifts every other day so, if he's not there one day, he will be the next. The entrance, more like a time portal, to the Polinesio is on La Rampa (Avenida 23) in the photo below, where the two cars are in the middle of the block. Lunch and dinner are great, and Happy Hour is from 4-8, featuring 1CUC shorty Mojitos, Daiquiris, Cuba Libres and Rum Collins. Get there early as the booths fill up quickly, usually with locals and nary a turista in sight. Make sure you ask mi amigo Osvaldo to show you the photo album! Salud, Tom Gibson [ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-10 20:04 ] [ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-10 20:08 ] [ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-11 08:21 ] [ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-11 08:53 ]

Update on the Polinesio...

Tonight a circa-1958 image of three Habana Hilton bartenders popped up on one of the Cuba Recuerdo pages on Facebook. I immediately recognized the gentleman (thanks to bongofury's 2012 post) on the left as Enrique Sainz, the father of current Polinesio bar manager Osvaldo Sainz.

Last October I went back to the Polinesio (the Habana Libre is three blocks from my casa particular) and met Osvaldo Sainz, who's been discussed at length here. I wanted to see the cool picture album with the Trader Vic's opening night pictures, the images of Conrad Hilton, Mitzi Vera-Ellen, Hedda Hooper and the other luminaries in attendance that glorious evening. I mentioned that I'd seen the images of his padre, and he delighted in sharing the album as I sat at the bar during Happy Hour.

In no time he lined up some of the old mugs for the specialty drinks for a photograph...
(The legendary blue photo album is at far right on the back bar).

As the evening progressed, so did the photographs...

I had a gift for Osvaldo, as back in June, 2018 the Buick Club of America published a special Buicks In Cuba issue of their monthly magazine, the Buick Bugle. They gave me 22 pages(!) including the cover for my photography, writing and history of Buicks on the island, and Osvaldo beamed as I signed a copy for him. Here's a link to it if you feel like some light reading, including some travel tips...
https://issuu.com/buickclub/docs/bugle_june_2018_web

Over the three weeks I was there, I spent a number of Happy Hours at the Polinesio, and Osvaldo is now a good friend. He works 12-hour shifts every other day so, if he's not there one day, he will be the next. The entrance, more like a time portal, to the Polinesio is on La Rampa (Avenida 23) in the photo below, where the two cars are in the middle of the block. Lunch and dinner are great, and Happy Hour is from 4-8, featuring 1CUC shorty Mojitos, Daiquiris, Cuba Libres and Rum Collins. Get there early as the booths fill up quickly, usually with locals and nary a turista in sight.

Make sure you ask mi amigo Osvaldo to show you the photo album!

Salud,
Tom Gibson

[ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-10 20:04 ]

[ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-10 20:08 ]

[ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-11 08:21 ]

[ Edited by: LaHabana57 2019-04-11 08:53 ]

Post #794415 by LaHabana57 on Wed, Apr 10, 2019 7:57 PM