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# A Street Artist's Remembrance of Cuba in a Pop-Up Coffee Shop
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/a-street-artists-remembrance-of-cuba-in-a-pop-up-coffee-shop/
- Published: 2012-12-06T14:01:35.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:35:59.000Z
- Description: MIAMI — Street artist José Parlá, known for his energetic paintings of figures, animals, and abstractions that explode into swirls of twisting ribbon, has turned into a restaurateur. At The Standard spa and hotel in Miami Beach, he has helped transform a leftover hotel room into a fully-functioning,
- Author: Kyle Chayka
- Tags: Art, Art Basel Miami Beach, Street Art, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:51 (2012, 2013, part 1)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe11.jpg)

Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno at The Standard (All photos by author)

MIAMI — Street artist [José Parlá](http://www.joseparla.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), known for his energetic paintings of figures, animals, and abstractions that explode into swirls of twisting ribbon, has turned into a restaurateur. At [The Standard](http://standardhotels.com/spa-miami-beach?ref=hyperallergic.com) spa and hotel in Miami Beach, he has helped transform a leftover hotel room into a fully-functioning, 24-hour-a-day replica of a Cuban coffee shop transplanted into a corner of Little Havana.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe02.jpg)

Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno at The Standard

The “Cafecito” is a collaboration between Parlá and the proprietors of the local restaurant chain David’s Cafe, known for its Cuban food. The shop, which serves a potent Cuban coffee alongside a slew of fried snacks and fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, was inspired by a trip to Cuba, where Parlá’s parents lived before they fled to the United States. After extensive research (which must have included a lot of caffeine), Parlá brought back artifacts and family photos to decorate the pop-up, which opens up onto the hotel’s outdoor patio.

A neon “Cafecito Neptuno” sign adorns a shabby-chic pocket-size space that features a collection of textual murals from Parlá — the hot food case is labeled with a red and yellow “Caliente.” The walls and floor of the shop are adorned with what looks like colorful, patterned ceramic tile but turns out to be a photo mural, based on Parlá’s Cuba snapshots. Photographs of family are sprinkled throughout the space and even the styrofoam cups are hand-labeled with the cafecito’s name.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe04.jpg)

Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno at The Standard

The project is a kind of [*gesamtkunstwerk*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesamtkunstwerk?ref=hyperallergic.com) that forms an experience of a culture that’s still officially blocked from the United States, though its presence is unavoidably felt in and around Miami and elsewhere. The renovation of the hotel room into a coffee shop took just two weeks, but thankfully, the cafe is likely to stay a permanent feature of the hotel rather than an ephemeral pop-up. It seems only proper. Plus, they serve a really great espresso, and that sugar cane juice, our barista informed us, is great for hangovers.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe08.jpg)

Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno at The Standard

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe10.jpg)

The sugarcane juicer at Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe09.jpg)

The hot food case at Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/12/parlacafe05.jpg)

Jose Parla’s Cafecito Neptuno at The Standard

*José Parlá’s Cafecito Neptuno is located at* [*The Standard*](http://standardhotels.com/spa-miami-beach?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(40 Island Avenue, Miami Beach).*