El Pub Restaurant, Miami

If you’re in Little Havana, at some point you will undoubtedly end up at El Pub, one of the most famous restaurants in the neighborhood, especially so if you intend to dine Cuban style, i.e. standing, eating and chatting, just like the locals do. This doesn't mean, however, that you can't stop at Le Pub for a regular sit-down meal.

The signs telling you have found the right spot are the six-foot rooster guarding the entrance and the air smelling like fry oil and espresso. While less than memorable on the inside, this Little Havana mainstay has all the markers of a community touchstone — from the black and white newspaper articles laminated on wood, written about the restaurant’s early days, and posters of a Havana-gone-by to the framed photos of the owners with celebrities. But you shouldn't expect a palace here really.

A sweet, steamy café con leche, that you won't soon forget, along with the authentic Cuban cuisine are the way of El Pub. Tucking into the bite of Cuban stand-bys here, like fried chicken-stuffed plantains, ham croquettes and sammies, is a safe bet anytime. Otherwise, you may nosh on Cuban empanadas (each Latin American country has its own version) filled with beef, onion and pepper, and top it off with some Café Cubano (Cuban coffee) – a shot of espresso sweetened with demerara sugar and served in plastic thimbles each containing the same amount of caffeine as a regular coffee. NOTE: if you drank it from a normal-sized cup, you’d be consuming more than five Americanos’ worth of caffeine, hence it is sometimes referred to as “crack” because of the jolt it gives!

Why You Should Visit:
No one goes to El Pub just because it is famous, but because the restaurant serves fantastic food and excellent Cuban Coffee and, like so much of the neighborhood, is thrumming with energy morning, noon, and night.
Other than sipping some cafecito and speaking some Spanglish to the locals here, you may simply revel in an experience not possible to find in any other American city.