Bayamo
Real comida cubana (Cuban food) fashioned on reviving traditions rarely known to visitors. At wooden picnic benches, try cassava bread originally consumed…
Must-see restaurants in Cuba
Trinidad
Fine 18th-century china, grandfather clocks and even an antique bed: Sol Ananda in Trinidad’s Plaza Mayor is, on first impression, more museum than…
Las Tunas
Proof that things are changing in Cuba, this swanky cocktail bar/cafe/restaurant attempts to bring the taste of Miami to Las Tunas. The dimly lit, air…
Baracoa
Served on a spotless and breezy upstairs terrace, meals come with salad, soup and side included. You can expect the best of Baracoan cuisine at this…
Camagüey Province
With a prime beach setting, this thatched seafood hut is in its own class. Call it simple and fresh. The house special of lobster and prawns is enhanced…
Camagüey
This elegant restaurant offers an affordable fine-dining experience in a typically refined Camagüeyan residence. It is places like this that have put…
Baracoa
Cooled by Atlantic breezes (and the occasional full-on gale), the Gaviota-run La Punta aims to impress with well-prepared, garnished food in the lovely…
Cayo Coco
Eat exquisite seafood, drink cold beer, swim, sunbathe, drink more beer... you get the picture. The Flamingo guards a small scoop of public beach in the…
Ciego de Ávila Province
Not staying on Playa Pilar? Worry not – Pilar beach also has an excellent bar-restaurant with fresh lobster and boneless chicken fillets as spectacular as…
Las Tunas Province
Keen-to-please local restaurant serving delicacies such as crab, octopus and swordfish on a breezy upstairs terrace. The best deal in town and friendly to…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Santa Clara
A love child of Havana’s original Bodeguita, this carefully branded ‘dive’ bar has a couple of advantages over its big-city mentor: 1) Hemingway never…
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…
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 …
Viñales
A sophisticated new entry into Viñales' overcrowded dining scene, Cubar hits all the right notes with a smart dark-wood interior advertising the joys of…
Vedado
Hitting the high notes of Cuban-Italian cuisine, Opera is housed in a colonnaded villa with a billiard table in the front room and the strains of Carmen…
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…
Vedado
Family-run farm-to-table restaurant and social project that hosts evening peñas (music and dance performances), organizes cooking classes, and oversees an…
Vedado
Rather than blinding you with fancy decor, clean-lined Casa Mia, abutting the Malecón, saves its surprises for the food, a simple menu that rests proudly…
Vedado
Arriving like a breath of fresh air half a decade ago, Biky helped reinvent Havana’s evolving brunch-lunch scene with its affordable quick-fire food,…
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…
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,…
Habana Vieja
A place to satisfy your whims (antojos), particularly if you’re feeling whimsical about daiquiris, generously stuffed pulled-pork baguettes or chunky…
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…
Vedado
The first thing that hits you at Atelier is the stupendous wall art: huge, thought-provoking, religious-tinged paintings. Equally arresting is the antique…
Vedado
Nondescript from the outside, but far prettier within – thanks largely to its famous collection of antique clocks (don't be late, now!) – the Decameron is…
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…
Varadero
Veteran Cuba visitors will remember an era when the word 'pasta' was a euphemism for ‘mush.' But times have changed and, thanks to inspired new…
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…
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…
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…
Habana Vieja
Inhabiting a beautifully curated mansion on Plaza Vieja, Café Bohemia – named for a Cuban culture and arts magazine – manages to feel appropriately…
Vedado
A great place to dine if you can find it (there’s no sign), hidden in a faded mansion turned private restaurant with a revamped interior that is…
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…
