Cesar (Armand Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas) are popular musicians on Havana's club circuit, but when they make enemies of the wrong people, they are forced to leave for New York City, the moody Nestor leaving behind his true love. In New York. They work as meat-cutters by day as Cesar tries to organize a band and make inroads into the lively New York music scene. As The Mambo Kings, they soon get club bookings and Cesar falls in love with sharp-tongued cigarette girl Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty), and Nestor falls for the beautiful Delores Fuentes (Maruschka Detmers), who wants to be a teacher. Cesar concentrates on singing and managing the band, while Nestor plays the trumpet and writes emotional love songs. All seems to go well until Cesar antagonizes the money men on the Latin nightclub circuit and they finds themselves playing in a bar. But after they're discovered by Desi Arnaz (Desi Arnaz Jr.), the group is prominently featured on "I Love Lucy." Their popularity soars and they cut a successful album called "Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." Cesar glories in his success, but Nestor is disappointed and longs to return to Cuba.