16 Best Restaurants in Havana, Cuba

In a quiet corner next to the Hotel El Comendador, this restaurant offers an array of tapas, which includes various seafood offerings. On top of that, it also offers grilled fare such as vegetables, chicken, pork, and fish. Tapas servings vary from CUC$1 to CUC$3, a great deal in any destination. Seafood tapas menus can be had for CUC$12 for two persons. Service is rather slow, but friendly.

One of the most sophisticated-looking eateries in Havana Vieja, this upscale restaurant sits on the atmospheric Plaza de San Francisco. Try for the upstairs corner table, which overlooks the plaza and has a view of the Sierra Maestra boat terminal, the Iglesia y Convento Menor de San Francisco de Asís, and the Lonja del Comercio (Commerce Exchange) across the way. The food is overpriced and only fair, but the suave decor does offer a nice ambience. Tempting dishes here, prepared by head chef Ernesto Rosario, include seafood à la crème or prawns sautéed with rosemary.

Located near the seafront in the open air, this is one of Havana's best seafood restaurants. Shrimp, crab, lobster, grouper, snapper: every type of seafood available in the Antilles seems to find its way through this bustling kitchen. At night, the restaurant turns into one of Miramar's most popular nightclubs, with a host of live bands and DJs.

One of the better state-owned restaurants, El Aljibe offers a pretty open-air setting and live music while you dine. The criollo fare here is reasonably priced and served gracefully, and the place is always filled to the brim with clued-in diners (including such celebrities as Omar Linares, Cuba's finest former baseball player), as well as bus loads of tourists. The roast chicken in bitter-orange sauce, served with black beans and rice is famous, and it's worth coming here just to try it.

Another popular addition to Callejón de Peluquerros (Barbers' Alley), El Figaro's tagline is comida sin pelos (food without hairs). The menu, which was set up by the grandson of Cuba's celebrity chef Gilberto Smith Duquesne, is full of gourmet, stylized Cuban dishes, as well as international favorites such as ceviche or gazpacho. Try the signature dish of lobster cooked in coffee, cream, white wine, and cognac.

Come later in the evening to watch old movies projected onto the outside wall (like a drive-in movie theater), while sampling one of their 15 varieties of mojitos.

Opened on the site of a warehouse that was frequented by Spanish sailors in colonial times, this little hideaway serves such creditable Spanish specialties as tortilla de patata (potato omelet) and gambas al ajillo (shrimp sautéed with garlic). The flamenco performances (nightly at 9) provide a bracing shot of atmosphere, although the Café Taberna just a couple hundred meters on tends to attract the crowds these days.

Although prices are on the high side, the romantic location makes them worth it. Standing at the foot of El Morro, this restaurant offers splendid views over Havana and is a good spot for dinner after the cañonazo at La Cabaña. Your best bet is lobster; kept alive in an on-site tank, it's guaranteed to be fresh.

Set in a scenic garden, around small ponds and fountains, this is one of Miramar's best paladares, which also functions as a bar and lounge with good cocktails and some great live bands. Specializing in a variety of grilled meats, which are cooked on an outdoor charcoal grill, this place will definitely satisfy the carnivores among you. Other excellent dishes include shrimp teriyaki and fish fillet with clams in a green herb sauce. Vegetarians meanwhile will be happy with the starters of eggplant or fried chickpeas and mains of grilled vegetable platters, risottos, and pastas. Sometimes there is an extra cover charge for the music.

In the Hostal Valencia, this restaurant specializes in paella, just as its name suggests, and has won high praise for its Valencian dishes. House suggestions include grilled Caribbean seafood, Yoruba lobster with béchamel sauce, and buttered shrimp. In keeping with the cuisine, the large, airy dining room has a terra-cotta floor, a rustic feel, and is dressed in traditional Spanish furnishings. A signed image of a notable bullfighter, another of the running of the bulls, and even a memento to former president Fidel Castro Ruz dating from 1989 adorn the walls here.

Formerly named El Patio, Restaurante Paris is still a romantic and atmospheric option for a meal. It might be hard to pick a spot here: tables are either out on the Plaza de la Catedral or in the patio of the colonial house in which the restaurant is located. The criollo menu is complete, and although the food and service fall short of the spectacular settings, the quality of the ingredients is good. Most notable are the array of seafood dishes, such as lobster in salsa criollo or grilled fish.

An elegant, intimate spot in the Hostal Conde de Villanueva, this restaurant specializes in dishes from Vuelta Abajo, Cuba's best tobacco-growing region. Try the pollo yumurino (in a criollo sauce) or the colonial-trapiche fish fillet, which is garnished with a piece of sugarcane dressed in a ginger sauce.