Skip to main content"Festive" is a difficult quality to grasp; all too often, restaurants striving for a fun, party-like atmosphere instead deliver forced jollity and insincere hospitality. No such problem for this diminutive, appealingly cramped Cuban outpost. From the eye-catching—or eye-peeling, depending on your taste—walls to the sparkling flavors on the plates, it's nearly impossible to resist the high spirits here. The menu is almost mind-bogglingly extensive, ranging from delectable snacks like salt-cod croquettes and garlic-spiked taro fritters, to traditional Cuban sandwiches like adobo-marinated pork with salsa, to massively filling dishes like ajiaco, a stew of pork and beef, corn dumplings, and tropical tubers. Save room, though. The traditional desserts and pastries arrayed in the deli case are special indeed. If you're the drinking kind, do yourself a favor and try the white-wine sangria, a veritable explosion of mint and lime. (SL)
WWeek 2015