Where’s to eat in Havana

[Jembeccatoo]

I have one day in Havana and I want to make the most of it. So..... where should I go for a reasonably price dinner?

[victory2020]

Strawberry tours has a free food tour 3 times a week at 9:30am. Look them up - they walk you around to several different food stops. Eat whatever you feel you want to eat. People say if you try everything it's about $10. 

[Jembeccatoo]

Thanks, but since they don’t run that tour on Tuesday, we opted to use them for the full day private tour. Trying to figure out if there is a specific place I want to go for lunch and dinner.

[pbenjamin]

San Cristóbal Paladar gets great reviews.  We went there for lunch and it was great.  You would probably need reservations for dinner.  On or more of these numbers should work.  You will probably get an English Speaker.

 

 

+53 7 8601705 

+53 5339 4017 

+53 5403 1553 

+53 78679109

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d2042638-Reviews-San_Cristobal_Paladar-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

[Jembeccatoo]

Thanks for the recommendation. I believe our tour coordinator suggested that as well.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

We ate at Dona Eutimia near Cathedral Square for lunch this past Monday (taken there by our guide) and it was fabulous .  Great food at a very reasonable price.

 

#53 of 918 places to eat in Havana on TripAdvisor

[marty's mom]

Hi Jembacatoo

unusual seeing someone from Metuchen!  I'm heading to Cuba in June with my friend that I grew up with since we were 2 in Metuchen!

 

 

[Jembeccatoo]

38 minutes ago, marty's mom said:

Hi Jembacatoo

unusual seeing someone from Metuchen!  I'm heading to Cuba in June with my friend that I grew up with since we were 2 in Metuchen!

 

 

Hi Marty’s mom,

We don’t actually live in Metuchen, just use their mailing address. Menlo Park Terrace, really. Still, I’d consider us neighbors. 

[cpayne]

We learned this tip while in Cuba recently...restaurants with table clothes are govt affiliated and those with no table clothes are not.   Those with no table clothes will often be much less expensive. For example drinks will often be about 1/2 the price.   Hope this helps as you explore! 

[pbenjamin]

3 hours ago, cpayne said:

We learned this tip while in Cuba recently...restaurants with table clothes are govt affiliated and those with no table clothes are not.   Those with no table clothes will often be much less expensive. For example drinks will often be about 1/2 the price.   Hope this helps as you explore! 

 

That was not our experience.  Here are pictures from two paladars (privately operated restaurants).  The first is from San Cristóbal Paladar in Havana and the second from El Gourmet Paladar in Santiago.  Both have tablecloths.

[Jembeccatoo]

I was under the impression we were not able to go to government affiliated businesses. 

[cpayne]

That is correct or at least my understanding too.  However, what my understanding was before we left and after having been there is that this is not “monitored”.  

[cpayne]

1 hour ago, pbenjamin said:

 

That was not our experience.  Here are pictures from two paladars (privately operated restaurants).  The first is from San Cristóbal Paladar in Havana and the second from El Gourmet Paladar in Santiago.  Both have tablecloths.

Hmmm interesting.   I wonder if this applies to bar/restaurants and not “official” paladors?  We were told this “rule of thumb” by some other tourists.  As we walked along Obispo we spot checked drink prices at a few table clothed places compared to non table cloth places where we were stopping for drinks and the prices were definitely about double.  Not sure????

[Jembeccatoo]

1 hour ago, cpayne said:

Hmmm interesting.   I wonder if this applies to bar/restaurants and not “official” paladors?  We were told this “rule of thumb” by some other tourists.  As we walked along Obispo we spot checked drink prices at a few table clothed places compared to non table cloth places where we were stopping for drinks and the prices were definitely about double.  Not sure????

Maybe it’s like any other restaurant anywhere... you pay more for food at upscale restaurants ( those with tablecloths), so drink prices are probably higher too.

My father used to say, “You can’t taste ambiance, so why pay more for it?”

[Luckiestmanonearth]

6 hours ago, Jembeccatoo said:

I was under the impression we were not able to go to government affiliated businesses. 

 

Who’s honestly really going to know where you had lunch

[victory2020]

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:00 PM, pbenjamin said:

San Cristóbal Paladar gets great reviews.  We went there for lunch and it was great.  You would probably need reservations for dinner.  On or more of these numbers should work.  You will probably get an English Speaker.

We had a very  nice experience here. Went at about 3pm & were the only ones there. They gave us a tour of the restaurant after lunch.

 

+53 7 8601705 

+53 5339 4017 

+53 5403 1553 

+53 78679109

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d2042638-Reviews-San_Cristobal_Paladar-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

 

[MistyRo76]

I was researching restaurants for our upcoming day in Havana and here is the list I put together for our group: 

El Cocinero – Vedado Neighborhood 4.5 Stars on Trip Advisor – 

                http://www.elcocinerocuba.com/en/#/14

 

Los Naranjos – Vedado Neighborhood 4.5 Stars on TA – 

                https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d8368421-Reviews-Los_Naranjos-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

 

Dona Eutimia – Old Havana 4.5 Stars on TA - 

                https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d2182294-Reviews-Dona_Eutimia-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

 

Atelier – Verdado Neighborhood 4.5 Stars on TA – 

                https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d2373205-Reviews-Atelier_Restaurante_Paladar_en_Habana_Cuba-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cu.html

 

La Guardia – Miramar Neighborhood 4.5 Stars on TA - 

                http://www.laguarida.com/en/

Ivan Chef Justo – Old Havana 4.5 Stars on TA - 

                http://www.lahabana.com/guide/ivan-justo/

La Esperanza – Miramar Neighborhood 5.0 Stars on TA 

·         Also, one of only 13 paladares that have survived from the Special Period (time of devastation and near famine where Cubans opened hundreds of illegal restaurants out of their homes in a effort to survive).

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d2470790-Reviews-Paladar_La_Esperanza-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

Decameron – Vedado 4.5 Stars on TA

                http://restaurantedecameron.com/ -

 

I think we are going to go with El Cocinero for lunch and Los Naranjos for dinner. I'm excited to try both. El Cocinero is a bit trendier and upscale and while Los Naranjos seems to be more traditional. Our tour guide did say that reservations are required most places. 

[LaCal]

We’re looking as well for the Best place to have Lobster 

Edited March 21, 2019 by LaCal