Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

If you’re a brunch connoisseur, Cuba Libre’s All You Can Eat Tapas Brunch is NOT to be missed… walking inside the restaurant you will feel as if you’re transported back to Old Havana with floor to ceiling decor equivalent to that used on a movie set. Here in Old City, Philadelphia stands the original Cuba Libre restaurant before the chain expanded into Washington DC, Orlando, Florida, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. This spot doubles as a late night attraction drawing a big crowd for salsa dancing on the weekends!

To start I love the Pineapple Guacamole with crispy plantain chips and Breakfast Breads Basket with muffins, a churro, and traditional guava and cheese pastry- try it with the mango butter and guava marmalade. For breakfast items go for the French Toast with sweet plantains, Ropa Vieja hash topped with a poached egg, Huevo Roto fries with egg, chorizo, and tomato hollandaise, Crabcake Croqueta Benedict, or Pork Fried Rice with fried egg. For lunch tapas we loved the Spinach and Manchego Bunelos, Grilled Baby Octopus, Coconut Crab Fritters, Maduros, and Cuban Sandwich. For something light I’d recommend the Black Bean Soup or Cobb Salad. For Seafood lover you should try the ceviche or Seafood Soup with shrimp, scallops, crab, and mussels in a truffle and coconut milk broth. Don’t forget to end your meal with the sweetness of some Churros con Chocolate!

Influenced by Spanish, African, Creole and Asian immigrants, Cuban cuisine offers a mix of robust and soul-satisfying dishes. At Cuba Libre, Chef Pernot highlights traditional cooking techniques with modern dishes based on his recent travels in Cuba. His menu reflects the current innovative culinary happenings in Havana.  Meticulously prepared dishes are full of color, aroma and style. Menus reflect various Latin regions and combines beef, poultry, pork and seafood with exotic fruits and vegetables, herbs and seasonings.

Brunch: Saturday and Sunday, from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm Lunch: Monday thru Friday, from 11:30 am to 3 pm, Happy Hour: Monday through Friday, from 5 pm to 7 pm

Chef-Partner: Guillermo Pernot

Brunch items range from $6 – $17 for a la carte. A prix-fixe option is available for $24.95 and begins with the Homemade Latin Pastriesbasket for the table filled with assorted homemade Latin breakfast breads including banana bread, guava cream cheese hojaldre (puff pastry), crispy churro, a coconut-berry muffin and chocolate muffin served alongside mango butter, guava marmalade and coconut lime preserve.  Then guests are asked to select three items from the featured seasonal brunch menu.  All guests at the table must participate.

Cuba Libre specializes in rum – offering more than 90 premium and flavored varieties of dark, light, spiced, and aged rums. The restaurant’s premium cocktail selection uses a wide variety of fresh ingredients including numerous tropical fruits and juices. Cuba Libre presses, by hand, hundreds of pounds of fresh sugar cane weekly to extract sugar cane juice, known as guarapo, used to sweeten its signature cocktail, the mojito. More than 10 varieties of mojitos are offered, among an expansive menu of handcrafted cocktails, wines, and beer.

Philadelphia is Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar’s first location and features the most architectural salvage of the four restaurants, with facades constructed from antique materials in order to create the most accurate representation of an Old Havana street scene. Two floors of seating are situated under a soaring ceiling of skylights, bringing natural light to guests throughout the restaurant.  The expansive restaurant displays muted colors of brown, orange, yellow and blue conjure up the languid ambience of an al fresco cafe. Colorful exotic foliage and large potted palm trees add to Cuba Libre’s open-air, tropical ambiance. Throughout the restaurant hang framed photos from Chef-Partner Guillermo Pernot’s travels to Cuba, and often the restaurants feature exhibits from Cuban artists, or art depicting images of Cuba.

 Whether you’re planning an intimate party of 10 or a grand reception for 250, CubaLibre offers both private and semi-private spaces, making it the ideal setting for an unforgettable private event.  The private spaces consist of La Galeria, a 45-seat dining room with space for a 55-guest reception, Harlequin Room with seating for 27 guests, La Plaza, a semiprivate space with seating for 50 guests or a reception of 120, and La Terraza, the second-floor balcony with seating for 55 guests or a reception of 80. To enhance and customize an event, a variety of unique entertainment options are offered including cigar rollers, floorshows, salsa lessons, professional dancers and talented musicians. To book private events, guests are encouraged to contact Megan Jaurigue, Director of Sales & Local Marketing, at mjaurigue@cubalibrerestaurant.com or visit http://www.cubalibrerestaurant.com/en/philadelphia/private-events/ for more information including photos of event spaces and additional details.