El Cuban Diner brings 1950s Havana vibes to Miami’s Calle Ocho
El Cuban Diner opened late last year in the heart of Calle Ocho in the space that once housed local favorites El Santo taquería and the Spanish restaurant Casa Panza. The concept is a marriage of the quintessential American diner and the 1950s Cuban cafeteria, which was created as a tribute to classic American diners.
At first glance they might seem the same, but they are not. There is the decor —red with black and yellow accents— and the neon lights, that evoke the carefree “Happy Days” era.
But El Cuban Diner aims to channel the cafeterias of Vedado in Havana during their heyday: like the two Carmelos (the one on Calzada and the one on 23rd Street), Wakamba, El Potín and El Jardín. These were more glamorous and cosmopolitan than an American diner, where you could order a sandwich — the kind we now call “cubano” in Miami (which in Cuba was simply a sandwich).
Inspired by Havana
At El Potín or El Jardín diners had a view of Línea Street, but at El Cuban Diner customers watch tourists in shorts and floral dresses passing by with shopping bags on Calle Ocho.
GastronomicaMiami, creators of El Cuban Diner, already had a winning formula for tapping into nostalgia at their other Calle Ocho restaurants. Sala’o Cuban Restaurant & Bar is inspired by El Floridita, the famous restaurant on Obispo Street in Havana that created Ernest Hemingway’s favorite cocktail, the daiquiri.
The group’s other restaurant, Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, evokes La Bodeguita del Medio, the mojito temple in Old Havana that won over tourists and locals with walls covered in visitors’ signatures. A few years ago those were removed, robbing the spot of part of its charm.
Fritas, milkshakes and Cuban-style hot dogs
El Cuban Diner has a simple menu, the kind that’s appreciated by tired tourists taking a break from souvenir shopping by day or partying at night.
Eliestebán Mena, one of GastronomicaMiami’s executives, says that hot dogs are an indispensable dish in any diner. For El Cuban Diner, he drew inspiration from a popular Chicago-style hot dog: “Pure meat sausage, onion, mustard and sauerkraut,” he said.
The hamburger is made with wagyu beef and served on a brioche bun with cheddar cheese and topped with melted cheese sauce and, as a special touch, aioli.
El Cuban Diner also has its own frita, a mainstay in Cuban cafeterias, though in Miami it usually only appears at specialized places like El Rey de la Frita or El Mago de la Frita.
The frita patty combines beef, pork and chorizo and is cooked on the griddle so it stays juicy but not greasy, then is served with thin fries, the classic “frita fries.”
El Cuban Diner also offers fruit milkshakes, including mamey and the “vaca negra,” which is the Cuban take on a root beer float, featuring soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
