Las Tunas Province
With a plant-festooned patio and quiet downtown location, the offerings at this local spot skew toward seafood specialties. Spaghetti, mutton, pork and…
Must-see restaurants in Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
In a conducive setting amid Vista Alegre's mansions, this spacious, inviting shady patio serves above-average food (pay in pesos) alongside live music at…
Granma Province
The cheapest seafood in Cuba comes straight out of the Caribbean behind this restaurant that lies in the shadow of the Vargas lighthouse. Expect fresh…
Matanzas
Another artistic surprise on awakening Calle Narváez (aka Calle 97), Pompón is an ice cream–biased cafe that doubles as an art gallery, workshop and…
Las Terrazas
On a terrace beside her home in an apartment block beneath Hotel Moka, Mercedes has been serving up vegetable soup and hearty home-cooked meat and fish…
Sancti Spíritus Province
Situated 3km back down the road to Trinidad, Restaurante Mi Retiro does fair-to-middling comida criolla (Creole food) served against a backdrop of…
Holguín
A hub of locals slap-bang in the central square (Parque San José) with mismatched paint and uniformed servers. The menu is nothing fancy, but this is…
Cayo Coco
This thatched-roof snack bar is halfway along the causeway into Cayo Coco. After a coffee, beer or sandwich, you could climb the adjacent lookout tower…
Santa Clara
This staunchly Cuban bakery amid the austere shopfronts on Calle Maceo has plenty of tables available in an adjacent cafe where you can relax with a piece…
Cuba
The best state-run eating option at El Nicho is this open-sided rustic restaurant offering the standard round of rice, beans, meat and root vegetables,…
Holguín Province
Salt-of-the-earth, meet-the-locals private restaurant where you can discover the other side of Cuba over some pretty decent seafood less than 30 minutes…
Varadero
A modest private place that's family-run and rightly lauded for its thoroughly decent food. Seating is half inside and half out. The lobster tails are…
Playa Ancón
On a lovely beach, this open-air restaurant serves fresh seafood, with the daily menu displayed on a chalkboard. Strict vegetarians will be disappointed…
Artemisa & Mayabeque Provinces
Cute paladar (privately-owned restaurant) serving unusual (for Artemisa) dishes including crab, tamales and bistec uruguayo (Uruguayan steak). Favored by…
Artemisa & Mayabeque Provinces
Unsignposted, thus hard-to-find, private restaurant a block from the main drag (Av 28 de Enero) that serves unadorned Cuban dishes featuring mucho rice…
Holguín
Havana's famous ice-cream parlor. Lose an hour underneath the striped red-and-white awning overlooking pedestrianized Calle Manduley and enjoy peso treats…
Habana del Este
When the Guanabo pizza gets too much, head to this thatched-roof, beach-style restaurant about 50m from the sands of Playa Santa María. It specializes in…
Cienfuegos
This is the most ambitious of the eating options at Club Cienfuegos. It's a refined place on the top floor, where you'll pay CUC$12 and up for a steak or…
Pinar del Río Province
The open-sided Restaurante Cayo Jutías right on the beach specializes in local seafood.
Habana Vieja
Mama's is run by Fidel Castro's ex-chef Erasmo, whose CV lists a veritable who’s who of celebrity 'lefties' he's cooked for, from Hollywood actors to…
Santiago de Cuba Province
Siboney's only real dining option serves no-frills comida criolla (Creole food) with friendly service and good beach views. It's in the former house of…
Outer Havana
Once the only example of vegetarian dining in Havana, El Bambú has long been a leading advocate of the benefits of a meatless diet (a tough call in Cuba's…
Santiago de Cuba
El Barracón tries to reignite the roots of Afro-Cuban culture and cuisine with mixed results. The state-run restaurant's interior, a mix of atmospheric…
Habana Vieja
A good idea that started well but has since gone a bit mouldy, this specialist cheese shop serves cheese boards accompanied by glasses of Chilean wine –…
Sancti Spíritus Province
An ambient setting where Cuban food that's just OK is served (slowly) under a traditional open-sided sitting area. Bananas, papayas, avocados, oranges and…
Cienfuegos
The elegant restaurant in the Hotel La Unión has food that doesn't quite match the lush furnishings. Most days there's a buffet with à la carte options…
Santiago de Cuba
Positioned like a whitewashed theater box overlooking the unscripted cabaret of Parque Céspedes, the Casa Granda's Parisian-style terrace cafe has to be…
Guantánamo Province
A celebration of Guantánamo's remarkable Olympic Games performances, this bar-restaurant displays baseball shirts, athletics memorabilia and the boxing…
Varadero
Next to a statue of Cervantes' famous Don who seems to be making off rather keenly toward the all-inclusive resorts, this restaurant is one of the eastern…
Holguín
Typical of such cafes across Latin America: Cristal's reliable and affordable chicken meals are dished up by formal waiters whose elegance prepares you…
Bayamo
On Bayamo's main square, head to the rear terrace overlooking Río Bayamo, fringed by a bucolic backdrop worthy of an isolated country villa. Set menus…
Bayamo
The Hotel Royalton hosts one of the town's best restaurants; nothing legendary mind you, but with an excellent setting including the option to sit outside…
Habana Vieja
With a mediocre menu but a top-class location, state-run La Mina graces a shady corner of Plaza de Armas (so every tourist walks past it at some point)…
Trinidad
Here's a rarity for Trinidad: a no-frills eatery with stand-up tables filled by locals engaged in quick-fire gossip. The fried rice is good, or opt for a…
Trinidad
Setting Cubita apart from Trinidad's other higher-end restaurants is the complimentary amuse-bouche commencing the dining experience. This is where its…
Ciego de Ávila Province
A bartender named Eladio invented the Cóctel Don Pepe here (two shots of orange juice, 1.5 shots of white rum and half a shot of crème de menthe, stirred)…
Las Tunas
A Palmares state-run joint, meaning that it's a better bet than the usual peso parlors and is likely to be open when others are not. You'll get checkered…
Vedado
Not tempted to go modern and pretentious, Los Amigos sticks to the basics, offering traditional Cuban fare with lashings of rice and beans in a family…
Trinidad
A cafe-restaurant with a friendly ambience and a revolving lineup of local musicians, including the best trovadores (traditional singer-songwriters), who…
Sancti Spíritus
Long a solid option, this state-run restaurant occupies a 19th-century mansion that once belonged to a rich Spanish tycoon. You can tuck into classic…
