Eating at a restaurant in Cuba has become an unattainable luxury for most Cubans. A video posted on TikTok by user @oficialsentelemald on February 25, which garnered over 233,000 views, showcased the bill from one of the more affordable establishments in Havana: 13,000 Cuban pesos, equivalent to about 26 dollars at the informal exchange rate in effect at that time.
The menu for two people included french fries with tomato sauce, cheese sticks with tomato sauce, two natural guava juices, and two dishes of seafood sauce with octopus, lobster, shrimp, and fish. The creator of the video described the place as an Italian-themed restaurant with a good price-quality-quantity ratio by Cuban standards.
However, the author himself acknowledged the paradox: "For many people, this may not be so expensive, but considering that the minimum wage here in Cuba is between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos, 13,000 pesos represent several months of savings."
The numbers confirm this gap. The official minimum wage in Cuba has remained frozen at 2,100 Cuban pesos since January 2021, with no increases announced for 2026. The national average salary is around 6,830 pesos per month. This means that a single meal at this "affordable" restaurant costs between two and six minimum monthly salaries, or nearly two average salaries.
The economic context further exacerbates the situation. The Cuban peso has experienced a depreciation of nearly 48% against the dollar in a year, moving from 345 CUP per dollar in March 2025 to 515 CUP today. The accumulated inflation between 2024 and 2026 exceeds 200%, and the basic basket for two people costs between 25,000 and 27,000 pesos per month, an amount that the average salary barely covers by 20%. Independent economists estimate that surviving in Cuba requires between 40,000 and 50,000 pesos per month per person.
In this scenario, private dining has flourished primarily aimed at tourism and Cubans with access to remittances or foreign currency, widening the gap with the rest of the population. The seafood featured on the menu —lobster, shrimp, octopus— is reserved for export or tourist establishments and is practically inaccessible to the average Cuban.
The phenomenon of sharing restaurant prices on social media has gone viral within the Cuban community both on and off the island. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, the Cuban economy could contract by 7.2% in 2026, accumulating a decline of 23% since 2019, which suggests that the gap between private sector food prices and the actual purchasing power of Cubans will continue to widen.
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