Must-see restaurants in Havana

  • Lamparilla 361 Tapas & Cervezas

    Habana Vieja

    Havana’s best tapas bar might also be its finest all-round eating establishment, with food, presentation and service down to a fine art. Inside the loungy…

  • Doña Eutimia

    Habana Vieja

    The secret at Doña Eutimia is that there is no secret: just serve decent-size portions of the best Cuban food. Expect the likes of ropa vieja (shredded…

  • La Fontana

    Havana

    La Fontana, encased in a hard-to-find but beautiful house in Playa, is one of the best restaurants in Havana, a position it has enjoyed pretty much since…

  • El Rum Rum de la Habana

    Habana Vieja

    Not every restaurant has a wine sommelier and a cigar sommelier, but this is Havana, and El Rum Rum (the name references both the drink and Cuban slang…

  • La Guarida

    Havana

    Only in Havana! The entrance to the city's most legendary private restaurant greets you like a scene out of a 1940s film noir. A decapitated statue lies…

  • Ajiaco Café

    Habana del Este

    There are, arguably, two reasons to come to suburban Cojímar: 1) to pursue the ghost of Ernest Hemingway and 2) to visit this farm-to-table restaurant…

  • El del Frente

    Habana Vieja

    When the owners of O'Reilly 304 wanted to expand their increasingly popular restaurant a few years back, they opened another one directly across the…

  • Lo de Monik

    Habana Vieja

    Eschewing colonial splendor for a French bistro feel, the Monk blends seamlessly into the increasingly chic Loma del Ángel quarter, with a bright-white…

  • Restaurante San Cristóbal’s interior decoration is fully loaded with old photos, posters, signs, artifacts and animal skins.

    San Cristóbal

    Havana

    San Cristóbal was knocking out fine food long before the US president dropped by in March 2016, although the publicity attending Barack Obama's visit…

  • Paladar Los Mercaderes

    Habana Vieja

    This private restaurant in a historic building has to be one of Cuba's most refined paladares (privately run restaurants) for ambience, service and food,…

  • D'Next

    Habana Vieja

    On the cusp of trendy Plaza del Cristo, the much-loved D’Next is ridiculously cheap, ridiculously busy and ridiculously good. Decorated sports-bar style…

  • Trattoria 5esquinas

    Habana Vieja

    Best Italian restaurant in Havana? There are a few contenders, but 5esquinas makes a strong claim. It has the full trattoria vibe, right down to the glow…

  • Donde Lis

    Habana Vieja

    The Lis' interior is like a modern love letter to Havana: iconography from the Rat Pack era of the 1950s, reproduced 20th-century tropical art, and bright…

  • El Café

    Habana Vieja

    There are many cafes in Havana these days, but only one El Café, a delicious mix of tight service, exceptional coffee and homemade sourdough sandwiches…

  • La Casa del Gelato

    Havana

    One of a small number of privately run ice-cream makers in Havana, this was one of the first in on the act and it's still one of the best. Unlike those…

  • 5 Sentidos

    Habana Vieja

    The romantically named five feelings (5 sentidos) ought to excite at least three of yours. The open kitchen allows for the free circulation of inviting…

  • Más Habana

    Habana Vieja

    There are multiple reasons you may request más (more) of Havana once you’ve visited this new culinary institution. There’s the effortlessly cool interior …

  • La Cocina de Lilliam

    Havana

    One of the oldest private restaurants in Havana (since 1994) and one that seems to have survived all the aches and pains of Cuba’s economic roller coaster…

  • Nazdarovie

    Havana

    Cuba's 31-year dalliance with bolshevism is relived in this popular restaurant in prime digs overlooking the Malecón. Upstairs, the decor is awash with…

  • O'Reilly 304

    Habana Vieja

    Fill a small bar-restaurant nightly with a buoyant crowd all happy to be enjoying potent cocktails, delectable food and Havana's tastiest plantain chips,…

  • Restaurante Antojos

    Habana Vieja

    A place to satisfy your whims (antojos), particularly if you’re feeling whimsical about daiquiris, generously stuffed pulled-pork baguettes or chunky…

  • El Aljibe

    Havana

    Aljibe is a legend in Havana: a restaurant whose original incarnation predated the revolution and whose second coming in the 1990s revived its most…

  • Castas y Tal

    Havana

    Finding a balance by attracting Cubans (with economical prices and traditional recipes) and tourists (with creative 'fusion' touches), hip C&T is a bistro…

  • La Corte del Príncipe

    Havana

    An out-of-the-way location has never seemed to hinder this restaurant, which has developed a loyal following over the years. The reason? It’s probably the…

  • Paladar Vista Mar

    Havana

    The Vista Mar is one of half a dozen or so Havana paladares (private restaurants) that have been around since the 1990s, and it continues to excel despite…

  • Helad'oro

    Habana Vieja

    Back when Fidel Castro was 'king,' the government had a monopoly on many things. Controlled by the legendary Coppelia, ice cream rarely strayed beyond…

  • Café Bohemia

    Habana Vieja

    Inhabiting a beautifully curated mansion on Plaza Vieja, Café Bohemia – named for a Cuban culture and arts magazine – manages to feel appropriately…

  • Il Rustico

    Habana Vieja

    With a Sicilian owner at the helm, furniture craftily made out of recycled wooden pallets, and a wood-fired pizza oven, Rustico can plausibly claim to…

  • La Esperanza

    Havana

    La Esperanza recalls those old-school paladar (private restaurant) days when you felt you were dining in someone's home, and here you essentially are. The…

  • Il Piccolo

    Habana del Este

    This Guanabo private restaurant has been around for eons and is an open secret among habaneros, some of whom consider its thin-crust wood-oven pizzas to…

  • 3 Chinitos cafeteria in Playa, Havana.

    3 Chinitos

    Havana

    A popular place to eat well-loaded pizza, with cozy, old-fashioned touches such as vintage radios and old sewing machines that double as outdoor tables…

  • Café Lamparilla

    Habana Vieja

    Crowding the cobbled street with its alfresco tables, the Lamparilla is perennially popular – your best bet for a seat is in the air-conditioned…

  • Sandwichería La Bien Paga

    Habana Vieja

    If you're down to your last few Cuban convertibles, want something quick and simple, or fancy a proper Cuban sandwich without the Miami glitz, drop into…

  • Chacón 162 combines Harley Davidson motifs with retro decor from the 1950's, Old Havana.

    Chacón 162

    Habana Vieja

    On Havana’s answer to Route 66, corner spot Chacón 162 features motorcycling motifs mixed with 1950s memorabilia on the bar and inviting alfresco tables…

  • Los Nardos

    Havana

    Belonging to one of several Spanish aid societies in Havana (in this case the Asturianos), Nardos looks like another distressed Havana tenement from the…

  • Flor de Loto

    Havana

    Popularly considered to be Havana's best 'Chinese' restaurant, Flor de Loto has one major caveat: it isn't actually that Chinese at all. Sure, the…

  • Buena Vista Curry Club

    Habana Vieja

    Aiming to lure in spice-starved tourists (especially curry-loving Brits) and educate Cuban palates in the nuances of Indian food, the Buena Vista Curry…

  • Casa Miglis

    Havana

    There are many unusual juxtapositions at this Swedish-Cuban restaurant, hidden inside a battle-scarred tenement, where the cool Scandinavian-style…

  • Castropol

    Havana

    Spanish cultural societies have long had special legal status in Cuba, meaning that their restaurants (even in tougher times) have been able to offer…

  • Amir Shisha

    Havana

    Lebanese food has recently gained traction in Havana, with several new openings, including this restaurant in a tranquil glass-fronted house that evokes…

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