Relationships have been forged here, fledgling novels drafted, birthday parties celebrated and Miami-bound escape plots hatched. The ultimate accolade came in 1993, when the Coppelia served as a location and major plot device in the Oscar-nominated Cuban film Fresa y chocolate (the title alludes to two flavors of Coppelia ice cream: strawberry and chocolate).

Although there are better privately run ice-cream makers in Havana these days, the Coppelia remains part of city folklore, a place where you're guaranteed to meet Cubans at their leisure, either in the queue or at one of the compulsorily shared tables inside. Pay in moneda nacional.