Havana is on upper Cuba Street and manages to be both a serious coffee roaster during the day and one of Wellington's most characterful bars by night. The decor runs to Latin American kitsch — mismatched chairs, louche lighting, Havana street art — and the live music programme leans toward salsa and jazz. On Friday and Saturday nights the small dancefloor actually fills up, which is rarer in Wellington than you might think.
The coffee is worth going in for by day: Havana roasts its own beans and the results are reliably good. The bar opens in the afternoon and serves food until late. The Cuba Street location means you can drift in after browsing the nearby boutiques and record shops, which is exactly how the neighbourhood works.