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NYC's Best Restaurants For Cuban Food

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credit: Habana Outpost / Facebook

Cuban cooking draws inspiration from African, Caribbean, Spanish, and indigenous peoples, taking ingredients and preparations from each to create a wholly original way of preparing food. The restaurants listed below range from traditional to innovative, from the perfect place to take your honey to where to go with your multi-generational brood. By Jessica Allen.

arroz-con-pollo
credit: Kobako / Wikipedia

Amor Cubano

2018 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10029
(212) 996-1220

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Amor Cubano spreads the love. Helmed in part by a couple, this East Harlem restaurant makes for an ideal date night, pairing great food with entertainment. Other spots on this list serve grilled pork, sure, but only Amor Cubano marinates it with "love [plus] Papi's secret bitter orange mojo." Its tres leches cake is straight from a beloved aunt's kitchen. Did we mention the mojitos? This cozy restaurant offers some 10 different choices, from champagne to cojito to ginger.

habanaoutpost
credit: Habana Outpost / Facebook

Café Habana

17 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012

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Legend has it that owner Sean Meenan modeled Café Habana on the lunch counter in Mexico City where Fidel Castro and Che Guevara allegedly planned the Cuban revolution. The Soho institution serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch, offering a dizzying array of eats like molletes (a hero roll topped with mozzarella and refried black beans), a Cuban sandwich (featuring ham, citrus-marinated roasted pork, chipotle mayonnaise, and Swiss cheese), and shrimp in garlic sauce. A celeb favorite!

calledao
credit: Calle Dão

Calle Dão

38 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018
(212) 221-9002

For a different take on Cuban food, head to Calle Dão. In the 19th century, Havana had a thriving Chinese community, so a cuisine that fused Cuban and Chinese flavors was born. Everything about Calle Dão seeks to take its guests back to that time, from the atmospheric décor to the food, including Peking-style half chicken with a tomato de árbol sauce; grilled skirt steak seasoned with Chinese spices; black rice seafood paella with daikon radish and a chimichurri-sofrito sauce; and, for dessert, an apple and Asian pear cobbler with green tea ice cream.

coppelia
credit: Coppelia / Facebook

Coppelia

207 West 14th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 858-5001

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Here's where to come to get your fix of nachos at midnight, your huevos rancheros for breakfast, your sopa del dia at dinner. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Coppelia caters to club-goers and bar-hoppers, families, singletons, and everyone in between. The menu at this upscale Latin diner includes several well-known favorites, among them pernil (roasted pork) with mojo, chicharron, and yucca; ropa vieja (slow-cooked and shredded beef with peppers, chiles, and salsa); and mazorca (corn on the cob with chipotle mayo and cotija cheese.)

rinconcriollo
credit: Rincon Criollo / Facebook

Rincon Criollo

40-09 Junction Boulevard
Corona, NY 11368
(718) 458-0236

In 1976, two brothers opened Rincon Criollo in Corona, drawing on family recipes used at the original Rincon Criollo in Havana. The recipes weren't the only thing brought from the old country—like its sister establishment, this one features a warm, convivial atmosphere, fun for families and big groups, where people who grew up eating Cuban delicacies feel as welcomed as those who don't know their mojitos from their mojos. Daily specials include lechón asado (grilled pork), bacalao (salted cod), and arroz con pollo (rice with chicken.)

Jessica Allen is a New York-based writer.

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