{"id":61057,"date":"2023-06-30T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T06:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=61057"},"modified":"2026-04-03T10:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:23:13","slug":"havana-restaurant-albuquerque-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=61057","title":{"rendered":"Havana Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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Havana Restaurant Just East of San Mateo on Menial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Cuba has bread and pork, but not enough vegetables. <\/em>
\nThe food we were served was never warm enough. <\/em>
\nCuba is not a place for vegetarians, picky eaters, or the gluten free.”
\n<\/em>~Elinor Robin, PhD<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 26 April 1954, CBS-TV aired the 93rd episode of I Love Lucy. \u00a0Watching the rerun decades later was essentially my introduction to Cuban food…sort of. \u00a0In the memorable episode Ricky decides to quit show business and open up a diner in which Cuban food would be the featured fare. \u00a0The Ricardos enter into a precarious partnership with their friends and neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz. \u00a0Because Fred and Ethel have the diner savvy and Ricky has the name that brings in diners, unequal division of labor ensues. \u00a0Fred and Ethel are stuck behind the counter churning out and plating food while Ricky and Lucy run the front-of-the-house where they glad-hand with guests. \u00a0Ultimately Fred and Ethel weary of being treated like hired hands instead of partners and storm out.<\/p>\n

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Havana Restaurant Dining Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Without the Mertzes know-how, the diner’s early success quickly dissipates. \u00a0Ricky continually confuses Lucy with incorrect diner jargon and Lucy messes up every order she gets. \u00a0The Mertzes return triumphantly to discover a completely empty diner. \u00a0When Ricky and Lucy refuse to agree to share the work, the fighting foursome decides to split the diner down the middle and see which couple brings in the most business. \u00a0Ricky and Lucy’s half retains the name “A Little Bit of Cuba” while Fred and Ethel’s half is sarcastically christened “A Big Hunk of America.”<\/p>\n

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Cuba Plates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Come to think of it, the only food I can recall being offered at Ricardo and Mertz restaurant was a hamburger and some cream pies (which predictably the Ricardos and Mertzes ended up tossing at one another). \u00a0Until discovering a Cuban restaurant outside of Boston some years later, I assumed Cuban food was the same as New Mexican food which was the same as Mexican food which was the same as Spanish food. \u00a0Obviously I didn’t equate the diversity<\/strong><\/a> of Latino American cuisine to breakfast tacos as a more enlightened public personality recently did.<\/p>\n

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Vintage Automobiles Are Integral to Cuban Culture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from the food, what I recall most about my first experience at a Cuban restaurant was that thematically it centered around vintage American automobiles, the type of which are surprisingly common in the Albuquerque area. \u00a0Memories of that first experience with Cuban cuisine flooded back when we visited Havana Restaurant at the Daskalos Shopping Center in Albuquerque.\u00a0 Olfactory memories were triggered by the distinct and delicious aromas of fried pork.\u00a0 Then there were custom car plates depicting those beautiful and surprisingly pristine vintage American automobiles.<\/p>\n

According to anywhere.com, “American cars were imported into Cuba for about 50 years, beginning near the early 20th century. After the Cuban Revolution, the U.S. embargo was erected and Castro banned the importation of American cars and mechanical parts. That\u2019s why Cuba is the way it is today\u2014essentially a living museum for classic cars. The old American autos are often kept running with parts and pieces that were never intended for them<\/em>.”\u00a0 “These days, there are around 60,000 classic American cars in Cuba. Experts estimate that about half of these cars hail from the 1950s, while 25 percent are from the 1940s and another 25 percent are from the 1930s. The cars are often family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

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Left: Mango Shake; Right: Papaya Shake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were no vintage automobiles parked in front of Havana Restaurant on the day of our inaugural visit.\u00a0 Perhaps like us, the car owners arrived at the Daskalos Center and saw only a sign that read “Restaurant” not noticing that a somewhat smaller sign on the window did read “Havana.”\u00a0 Havana Restaurant seems to be one of those restaurants that subscribes to the Will Rodgers axiom “Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far<\/em>.” Though Havana does have a Facebook page, it hasn’t been updated since 2011.\u00a0 There are numerous online reviews that sing the praises of Albuquerque’s sole Cuban eatery.<\/p>\n

Havana pays homage to the city which gave the habanero chile its name.\u00a0 The chile used to feature heavily in trading in Cuba despite the fact that habanero chiles and other piquant peppers are rarely ever used in traditional Cuban cooking.\u00a0 That’s something I discovered in Boston decades ago and perhaps the reason Cuban food has never been a favorite among Latin cuisines (back then, I was desperately missing New Mexico’s characteristically enchanted piquancy.)<\/p>\n

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Cuban Sandwich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

15 July 2022<\/strong>: Predictably Havana Restaurant’s menu includes no entrees or appetizers which use New Mexico’s sacrosanct chile to imbue them with a piquant personality.\u00a0 Instead, the menu is replete with porcine and beef products, plantains, rice and beans.\u00a0 Specials of the day are listed on a small slate board.\u00a0 Regardless of what you order to eat, make sure to wash it down with a batido, Cuban milkshakes\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>in such delicious flavors as mango and papaya.\u00a0 They’re packed with the refreshing flavors of the fruits from which they’re made. \u00a0Among the non-fruit batidos is the chocolate shake. \u00a0It’s just about the most chocolatey shake you’ll find in the Duke City area.<\/p>\n

17 March 2023<\/strong>: Almost de rigueur when you visit a Cuban restaurant (and many American and sandwich restaurants) is the Cuban sandwich.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 The “Cubano” as we know it today is a mash-up of Spanish and Italian ingredients with traditional Cuban ingredients.\u00a0 That means lightly buttered Cuban bread; mild, smoked ham; roast pork marinated in a citrusy sauce; mustard and pickles.\u00a0 That’s the way Havana prepares the island nation’s eponymous sandwich.\u00a0 Not surprisingly it’s one of the very best you’ll find in New Mexico. \u00a0 As a paramour of pungent and piquant flavors, Havana’s Cuban doesn’t have enough pickles or mustard, but that’s probably not a universal sentiment.<\/p>\n

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Palomilla (Marinated grilled steak with onions)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

15 July 2022<\/strong>: Bistec de palomilla\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(meaning “butterflied beefsteak”), a Cuban dish consisting of beef round or cubed steak marinated in garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper then topped with pearlescent onions is a specialty of the house.\u00a0 The “steak” itself is rather thin and just a bit tough, but it’s pretty tasty.\u00a0 Best of all, it’s served with Moors and Christians, a rather unique sobriquet for a mix of rice and black beans seasoned with garlic, lime, cumin and aji pepper.\u00a0 It’s surprisingly good.\u00a0 The plate also includes maduros, sweet plantains that are only fried once (as opposed to tostones which are twice-fried).<\/p>\n

17 March 2023<\/strong>: My Kim practically ran to the kitchen to order the special of the day, fried pork ribs<\/strong><\/em>, before I could do so.\u00a0 Good move!\u00a0 Though my arteries are clogging as I type this, fried pork ribs are a revelation, one we first discovered in the Mississippi Gulf Coast where everything edible is fried.\u00a0 Health food this is not.\u00a0 It should, instead, be a rare treat.\u00a0 As we quickly found, every portion of the pork rib is fried–including the pork fat.\u00a0 That fat is perhaps the most delicious (and certainly most unhealthy) part of the pork rib.\u00a0 It’s crispy and delightfully mouth-watering with a pronounced saltiness.\u00a0 Elsewise, these ribs are meaty and delicious–more than reason enough to return to Havana.<\/p>\n

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Pork Ribs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

17 March 2023<\/strong>: \u00a0As of this writing there are 1,323 restaurant reviews on Gil’s Thrilling… \u00a0Those reviews are updated with every repeat visit. \u00a0You would think that with such a prolific record of pigging out, there would be numerous mentions of fricasseed food. \u00a0A quick search could turn up only two. \u00a0Does this mean fricassee has fallen out of favor? \u00a0Do chefs even know how to fricassee meats any more? \u00a0Do they even know what it means to fricassee? \u00a0Do you? \u00a0Fricass\u00e9e is a dish where poultry or meat has been cut into pieces and stewed in a gravy or sauce. \u00a0 The difference between a stew and a fricassee is that in a stew, ingredients are boiled. \u00a0In a fricassee, ingredients are smothered or pan-fried first, then boiled.<\/p>\n

In the comments below our friend Lynn Garner described the chicken fricassee as “chicken freakin\u2019 fabulous.” \u00a0Chicken fricassee was one of the daily specials when Lynn joined us for lunch during a wintery “two\u00a0hour delay” snow day. \u00a0 Another special was pork fricassee<\/strong><\/em> which both Lynn and I just had to try. \u00a0Medallions of pork were so tender they would have fallen apart with a cross look. \u00a0Those medallions were presented in a light tomato sauce broth seasoned with cumin, garlic, onion and green pepper. \u00a0The broth penetrated deeply into the pork, imbuing it with flavor and tenderness. \u00a0Pork fricassee is a Cuban favorite that would be a Cooking 101 exemplar of the rare culinary technique of fricassee.<\/p>\n

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Pork Fricasse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

29 June 2023<\/strong>: Milanesa bears a remarkable similarity to schnitzel (Germany), \u00a0chicken fried steak (Texas with a German influence) and veal Parmesan (Italian immigrants). \u00a0 As is typical in culinary history, its origin is in dispute. \u00a0Several claimants contend Milanesa originated in their respective countries. \u00a0Regardless of origin, there’s no disputing that Milanesa is a very popular dish in everything from Mexican restaurants to sandwich joints, especially in Latin American countries. \u00a0It’s often referred to as Argentina’s unofficial national dish. \u00a0Milanesa is simply a thin slice of beef, chicken, fish, veal or pork sheathed in bread crumbs and fried.<\/p>\n

>We’ve had numerous versions of Milanesa over the years, but surprisingly had never sampled a Cuban version. \u00a0Havana Restaurant’s version is your choice of pork or chicken topped with thinly sliced ham and melted shredded cheese and a single pineapple. \u00a0Pork was my choice. \u00a0For me it called to mind a pork Cordon Bleu sandwich (sans bread) thanks to the ham and cheese. \u00a0Perhaps because of the ham and cheese, we found the Milanesa very salty sandwich, making the pineapple a necessary element. \u00a0Frankly, the Milanesa would have been even better covered in pineapple chunks.<\/p>\n

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Pork Milanesa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are many reasons diners have been blowing Havana Restaurant’s horn. Even if it wasn’t Albuquerque’s only exclusively Cuban restaurant, it would probably be its very best.<\/p>\n

Havana Restaurant<\/strong>
\n5331 Menaul, N.E.
\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico<\/strong>
\n(505) 830-2025
\nFacebook Page<\/strong><\/a>
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 29 June 2023
\n1st VISIT<\/strong>: 15 July 2022
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 3
\nRATING<\/strong>: Very Good<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Cuban Sandwich, Palomilla, Fried Pork Chops, Mango Shake, Papaya Shake, Chocolat Shake, Pork Milanesa
\nREVIEW #1283<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Cuba has bread and pork, but not enough vegetables. The food we were served was never warm enough. Cuba is not a place for vegetarians, picky eaters, or the gluten free.” ~Elinor Robin, PhD On 26 April 1954, CBS-TV aired the 93rd episode of I Love Lucy. \u00a0Watching the rerun decades later was essentially my introduction to Cuban food…sort of. \u00a0In the memorable episode Ricky decides to quit show business and open up a diner in which Cuban food would be the featured fare. \u00a0The Ricardos enter into a precarious partnership with their friends and neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz. \u00a0Because Fred and Ethel have the diner savvy and Ricky has the name that brings in diners, unequal division of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[440,431,141,5631],"tags":[2798,2799,3205,2125,2121,2122,2128,2127,2124,2129,2123,2801,2800,3204,2126],"class_list":["post-61057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-albuquerque","category-cuban","category-new-mexico","category-very-good","tag-batidos","tag-chicken-fricassee","tag-chocolate-shake","tag-cuban-coffee","tag-cuban-food","tag-cuban-sandwich","tag-habanero","tag-havana","tag-mango-shake","tag-palomilla","tag-papaya-shake","tag-platanos","tag-pork-fricassee","tag-pork-milanesa","tag-vintage-automobiles"],"yoast_head":"\nHavana Restaurant - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=61057\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Havana Restaurant - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Cuba has bread and pork, but not enough vegetables. 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