Looking for a taste of Cuba? This Kentucky city should be on your radar.

I walked into Sweet Havana, instantly transported to the Miami of my youth. The bakery-restaurant owner, Carmen Margarita Coro, told me how she had built her business into a central hub for Louisville’s Cuban community in just five years. Hearing stories of the Highview neighborhood’s colorful characters—like Officer Vlad, who created TikTok and Instagram accounts to help Spanish-speaking immigrants understand Kentucky laws.  

What I found most heartwarming in Louisville, Ky., was connecting with my own Cuban heritage, in the most unexpected of places. Louisville is best known for the Kentucky Derby, bourbon distilleries, and the birthplace of pro boxer and civil rights activist Muhammad Ali. The city is also home to more than 50,000 Cuban immigrants, creating one of the fastest-growing Cuban populations anywhere in the United States. The community thrives with Cuban restaurants, nightclubs, and cultural celebrations, making it a lesser-known destination for travelers eager for Latin experiences. 

A growing Cuban community in Louisville 

Cubans are the largest immigrant group in the city, with a significant increase in population in the last five years. But how did Cubans end up in Louisville?

Since the 1990s, Louisville has actively presented itself as a resettlement city for immigrants, initially attracting Cubans who had no family in the U.S. or who felt South Florida was too saturated for advancement opportunities. In 2000, Louisville created the Office of International and Cultural Affairs, which was later renamed the Office of International and Immigrant Affairs in 2023, to meet the needs of the growing population.

Louisville’s population had been declining, and as major companies, such as United Parcel Service (UPS), built their headquarters in the city, the need for employees became apparent. 

“One of the things that establishes Louisville as an attractive [resettlement] destination is the fact that we have growing industries that require a workforce. And the cost of living is low. We have a small town-big city vibe, and as we grow the population, we become more cosmopolitan. And I think that’s one of the biggest attractions,” says Amos Izerimana, the director of International and Immigrant Affairs for Louisville Metro Government. 

Louisville becomes a destination for Cuban cuisine

Cubans are influencing Louisville’s culture and revolutionizing its restaurant scene. “Talk to anyone here and they will tell you they love Cuban food because it brings a different flair to the city. It creates a totally different environment for visitors to these restaurants and grocery stores. I’ve taken colleagues from the mayor’s office who’ve lived here for 30 to 40 years, and they’re like, ‘This exists in Louisville? I had no idea,’” says Izerimana. 

One of Louisville’s first Cuban restaurants was Havana Rumba, opened by Marcos Lorenzo in 2004. Today, Lorenzo owns four Cuban restaurants throughout the city.

In 2020, Sweet Havana began its transformation into the multifaceted eatery and event space it is now. In July of that same year, La Bodeguita de Mima opened, bringing Cuban flavor to the trendy NuLu neighborhood. Today, the high-end Cuban restaurant is a popular destination for dining, date nights, and celebrations, also attracting a non-Cuban crowd.

“When you enter La Bodeguita de Mima, you feel like you’ve entered a Cuban restaurant in the 1950s. It reminds you of the prosperous Cuba we had before communism,” says Darién Barrios Moreno, who arrived in Louisville in 2007. 

In summer 2025, Nachely Martinez opened Sweet Colada in the Shelby Park neighborhood. The new café and bar is an extension of Sweet Havana. She took inspiration for the name from the whipped espresso (colada) that keeps Cuban conversations quick and lively.

“Sweet Havana is kind of the Miami version of a Cuban bakery, but we’ve opened Sweet Colada in a very hipster part of town. It’s only the second ethnic restaurant in the area. My dream is to make pastelitos and croquetas part of the culture in Louisville—to make Cuban food as popular as tacos,” says Martinez. 

Today, Louisville has more than 30 Cuban restaurants and places to eat, according to El Kentubano, a monthly publication catering to the city’s Cuban and other Spanish-dominant communities.  

The Latin music scene in Louisville

More than meals, Louisville’s been moving to a new Cuban beat. Three of the four restaurants owned by Lorenzo—Havana Rumba, Havana Rumba & Tapas Bar, and Mojito in Havana—feature live music nightly. 

La Bodeguita de Mima also features live music, and you can expect spontaneous eruptions of conga line dances snaking through the restaurant on any given night. 

Friday’s Latin Night at The Hub Louisville, in the nightlife-centric Highlands neighborhood, has become quite the hotspot since launching three years ago—not only with Cubans but anyone who loves Latin music. The night’s soundtrack is resident DJ Seizure’s mix of reggaeton, dembow, bachata, and Latin house. On select Sundays, The Hub’s recently added Pink Lounge turns its Sunday Funday drag shows into a Latin party with a queer sensibility.

In April, the Latin-owned Midnight Club opened in downtown’s Fourth Street and has live Cuban music featuring Masflowband on Fridays. On Saturdays, guests enjoy a mix of hip-hop and Latin club beats in the main room. In contrast, the “Baila Conmigo” room typically caters to couples dancing, featuring styles such as salsa, merengue, and cumbia. 

Beyond specific club nights, it’s not uncommon for Latin bands to pop up at annual events, such as Jim Beam’s “La Caja China” block party in NuLu, and salsa cruises on the Belle of Louisville Riverboats.

Cuban celebrations in Louisville

Cuban cultural celebrations are also growing in Louisville. In 2024, the owners of Sweet Havana launched Carnavales de Sweet Havana, a block party modeled after Miami’s Calle Ocho Music Festival, the largest Latin music and culture festival in the country.

“Carnavales are a Cuban tradition that barely exists anymore on the island. Our first carnival was phenomenal. We cleared all the cars and had it here at the Sweet Havana parking lot. From kids to retirees, all dancing and enjoying themselves. We had older people crying because they remembered their old Cuba of the 50s and 60s,” says Coro. 

Last year, they welcomed 2,000 guests in one day. Now planned as a yearly event, this year’s Carnavales expanded to a two-day celebration with more than double the crowds at Fourth Street Live!, one of downtown Louisville’s most popular entertainment spaces.

On a larger scale, Louisville has been celebrating its diversity for almost a quarter of a century. This year marked the 23rd annual World Fest, the city’s premier international festival, spanning four days over Labor Day Weekend. 

“You get to see what our city’s diversity looks like over World Fest. We have over 150,000 attendees, and the majority of them are Louisvillians who were born here; many are fifth and sixth generation. It just shows that the community here really values the cultural diversity that we have. They welcome it and they want to engage with that diversity,” says Izerimana.  

Cuban culture: An essential part of Louisville’s culture

One thing is clear: the Cuban community’s contributions are becoming an integral part of the city’s fabric. Since 1999, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, the presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby, has released an annual limited edition “Kentucky Derby Bottle” with an artist’s one-of-a-kind painting. This year’s 151st Kentucky Derby bottle featured the artwork of Humberto Lahera, who emigrated to Louisville just three years ago. He’s the first Cuban artist ever chosen.

“It’s amazing that as a Cuban, in just a few years, I could be impacting Kentucky culture and American culture. I could never have imagined that. Two million bottles are featuring my art on their label. Two million! That’s an impact. I’m going to be part of the story, part of the history. I’m leaving my mark forever,” says Lahera. 

He’s not the only Cuban whose art is finding a welcoming reception in Louisville. Carlos Gamez de Francisco has pieces in several permanent collections, including 21c Museum Hotels and the Muhammad Ali Center. Both he and Lahera were featured in this year’s “Artistas Cubanos Chévere” at Louisville Visual Art, a gallery that hosted an exhibition showcasing the work of Cuban artists in Louisville. Art lovers visiting Louisville now should consider heading to the Frazier History Museum to see the “Aflora” exhibition, which includes work by Cuban artist Kina Matahari, among other Latinx artists, and is open through March 2026. 

The popular Miami dance school Baila con Micho opened a Louisville studio this year. Locals and visitors can now improve their salsa dance skills, with multiple classes available at both basic and intermediate levels. 

With Cuban-owned businesses in nearly every industry throughout the city, the Cuban community is an integral part of Louisville and its culture. For Martinez, it all points toward a growing, multicultural Louisville. “Our mayor [Craig Greenberg] is interested in looking at how to best celebrate Latin culture in the city,” she says. “There’s an appetite there from the community and the city government to say, ‘We are a melting pot. Let’s showcase this. We’re not just horses and bourbon, there’s so much more to us.’”