A video posted on Facebook by user Evelio Valdés showcases the absolute state of ruin in which the restaurant Los Siboneyes is found, one of the most popular creole food establishments in the municipality of La Lisa, in Havana.
The building, characterized by its curved or semicircular architecture, appears with its windows boarded up with wooden planks, the roof damaged, and wild vegetation growing uncontrollably around it.
Cubans who frequented it remember nostalgically its black beans, roasted pork with juice, cracklings, and fried ribs.
"It was one of the places in Havana where the best creole food could be found. Everything was exquisite; I dare say that even the restaurant 'El Cochinito' had to have a line, but today it’s nothing but a memory. Another part of our ravaged land," wrote one of the commenters.
"The flagship restaurant of La Lisa, a cozy place with exquisite Creole food, but like everything else, it's all pure destruction; it’s very sad to see how our entire country is destroyed," lamented an internet user.
"The Atomic Bomb dropped on him. What a horror! He is not even a shadow of his former self," another person remarked.
Near "Los Siboneyes," the Autopista restaurant also operated in the 1970s, famous for its tasajo, but it has also disappeared.
The restaurant "Los Siboneyes" was part of the state-run gastronomy network in Havana at least until 2018. Its deterioration fits into a systematic pattern of neglect regarding the island's infrastructure.
Other similar cases include the famous Chinese restaurant Lai-Lai in Varadero, which has been closed for over five years under the pretext of repairs that never took place, and the iconic Mirador de Guisa, in Granma, which ended up burning down in March 2026 after years of deterioration.
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