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A Cuban identified as Yuliet Rojas posted a video on Facebook recounting her experience at a restaurant in Matanzas where, she claims, she spent 16,000 pesos on a meal rife with mistakes, incorrect charges, raw meat, and even a fly.
"We spent 16,000 pesos on a meal that came with surprises," the young woman summarizes at the beginning of the video, which garnered almost 100,000 views in just a few days.
The problems began right from the starter: Yuliet ordered tostones from the Cuban menu, a variant filled with ropa vieja and cheese, but the dish arrived with ham instead.
She decided not to complain and ate the tostones just as they were, but the bill did not reflect that condescension: "In the end, they charged me for it as if it were ropa vieja, which costs a bit more; I still didn’t say anything."
The main dish, a large special from Uruguay, was even worse.
"Not only was it surprising, but it was also undercooked, with parts of the meat being red, and I didn’t like the breading," Yuliet explains, who tried to eat it unsuccessfully: "I really tried a lot, but I couldn’t eat it, and I was really hungry."
With an empty stomach, he had to order an extra pizza to go so he wouldn't leave the place without having eaten.
The list of "surprises" didn't end there: upon inspecting the untouched food, he found a fly.
"We took off that part, where the fly was. And the other part, well, there it is, look, it's complete. The congrito is complete for my pestilent one," he says in the video, referring to his pet, to whom he handed the remains of the plate.
Despite everything, Yuliet chose not to complain at the restaurant: "Obviously, I didn't complain or say anything," she admits, channeling her discomfort solely through social media.
The amount spent takes on a particular dimension in the current Cuban economic context.
The 16,000 pesos in that account represent more than two average monthly salaries in Cuba, which, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information, is 6,930 pesos, equivalent to about 12 dollars at the informal exchange rate.
The minimum wage, raised to 3,210 pesos this June, remains insufficient to cover the cost of living: covering the basic basket requires at least 96,060 pesos per month, about 14 times that minimum wage, according to estimates by economist Javier Pérez Capdevila.
Complaints about the quality of Cuban cuisine are becoming increasingly frequent on social media.
In September 2025, another Cuban found a cockroach in a restaurant dessert, and in July of that same year a customer reported a similar terrible experience at another establishment.
The decline of both state and private gastronomy reflects the scarcity of supplies and the economic crisis facing the island, where dining at an affordable restaurant in Havana now costs around 13,000 pesos per person.
"I honestly don't know if it will get any better, but I don't think so," Yuliet concluded about the restaurant in Matanzas, making it clear that she has no intention of returning.
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