Timba
Social Club · Est. 2009
Est. 2009 · Habana Vieja
From a single piano in a converted colonial salon to two stages and an eleven-piece orchestra, the story of Timba Social Club is the story of contemporary Havana nightlife itself — written one set at a time.
The Timeline
Four turning points — an opening night, a record deal, a second stage, a gold award — that built the venue you can book tonight.
A converted colonial salon on the corner of San Pedro becomes Timba Social Club. The first night is a single Steinway, a trio, and ninety-four guests who arrived because someone told them in a whisper.
Pianist Rafael "El Chivo" Mendoza and his eleven-piece timba orchestra sign a residency that has never been broken. Nine consecutive years, more than 2,800 sets, and the venue finds its signature sound.
Adjacent patio becomes La Escalera — an intimate 60-seat stage for son cubano and Latin jazz. The cocktail bar doubles, and bartender Yaima Rodríguez is invited to write the first proper house program.
The Caribbean Hospitality Awards name Timba the region's best cocktail program — a title the venue would defend again in 2024. Private events begin arriving from Bacardi Cuba, Havana Club, and the French Embassy.
A Note From The Founders
"We never set out to build a club. We set out to build a room where the music arrived early, the bartender remembered your name by the second visit, and the night finished later than you planned. Everything else — the second stage, the orchestra, the awards — was the city telling us we had."
— Lourdes M. & Rafael Mendoza, co-founders
In Print & On Air
Three editorial mentions that did the most to put Timba on the map for international visitors — and the conversations they started.
A long-form feature in the magazine's Latin America edition placed Timba on the short list of "bars that justify the flight," citing the eleven-piece orchestra and the absence of a tourist-trap register.
Feature, April 2021 →
The local edition's annual 50-best list named Timba its headline venue for live music, calling out Los Hermanos Mendoza's residency as "the closest thing the city has to a permanent orchestra."
50 Best List, Summer 2023 →
Monocle's "The Monocle Weekly" aired a forty-minute live set recorded at the venue during their Havana reporting trip, with a host introduction that named Timba "a national institution hiding in plain sight."
Broadcast, February 2024 →People & Craft
Three faces a regular guest will know by name — and by the sound of the room when they arrive.
From Reading To Being There
Two ways in — a table for tonight, or a room of your own. Both confirmed, on average, in twelve minutes during business hours.
Reservations hotline +53 7 860 4128 · answered 364 days a year, including Cuban holidays.