City: West Palm Beach, FL

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (561) 547-9799

Address: 6801 S. Dixie Hwy.

Description: Havana calls its cuisine “the best Cuban food in town.” And an awful lot of Palm Beach County residents will agree. This place has the feeling of a street in Old Havana, with its stucco earth-tones, its tropical plants, its brown-tile floor, the old photos on the walls, and its overhanging balcony, complete with wrought-iron railings. Owner Roberto Reyes (a native of Cuba) and his family owned a successful ice cream shop in Miami until 1992’s Hurricane Andrew basically blew it away. The family left Miami for West Palm Beach. But once there, they missed the wonderful Cuban food that had been so readily available in Miami. So they did the natural thing—started up their own restaurant. Since 1993, they’ve been serving dishes such as chicharrones de pollo (deep-fried chicken chunks topped with sautéed onions), bistec especial (grilled skirt steak), and enchilado de camarones (shrimp in a wine Creole sauce). Also try a side dish of tostones con mojo (green plantains with mojo). The food here is spiced to perfection—although many long-time patrons like it hot! You can wash it all down with a café Cubano, and some flan, a wonderful caramel custard. If you’re the type that gets hunger pangs late at night, and only Cuban food will do, don’t worry; Havana has a 24-hour walk-up window.