Atlantic City: Cube Libre (July 2018)



My spouse and I visited Cuba Libre on a Saturday afternoon in mid-July 2018. The bar/restaurant is open daily from 4:00 pm until 11:00 pm (with early opening hours of 11:30 am on weekends and extended closing hours until 4:00 am on weekends). In addition, the restaurant offers late-night Latin floor shows and dancing on weekends after 11:00 pm. You can book a spot using the online Open Table reservation system.

The restaurant’s name, which means “Free Cuba” in Spanish (it also describes a cocktail of rum, Coca-Cola, and lime juice), refers to the hope for the future of the island. Cuba Libre opened in The Quarter at the Tropicana Casino in 2004. It was a natural fit for the restaurant in the Old Havana-themed enclosed shopping mall that contains nearly 20 other bars and restaurants and almost 40 stores. Note that it is neither necessary to walk through the casino, to enter from the Boardwalk, or to pass through the entire shopping mall to reach Cuba Libre; you can enter The Quarter directly from the city streets (try either Pacific or Iowa Avenues). Besides the Atlantic City location of Cuba Libre, you can find the restaurant in Philadelphia (the flagship venue that opened in 2000), Washington DC, and Orlando. 

Within The Quarter, you are immediately drawn to the 1951 Buick Super Convertible parked in front of the restaurant’s entrance, immaculately restored and painted with the restaurant branding in the colors of the Cuban flag. As you enter the space, another eye-catching feature is the 12-seat chef’s counter within view of the open kitchen and its massive wood-fired grill. You can also sit at the separate drinks bar, or in the seemingly open-air, multi-story atrium dining room. Tropical vintage décor, foliage, and Latin music provide the feel of Old Havana. 

The menu at Cuba Libre features Latin cuisine. We sampled only the empanadas, ordering two different kinds (chicken [which was more delicious] and steak), which arrived plated in a tiny wire dipping basket, alongside an accompanying sauce and a green salad. We also sampled a signature grilled pineapple mojito, which although tasty, was the quickest mojito we have ever received; regrettably, the bartender did not muddle the mint leaves as is usually done, nor did he garnish the drink with one of the grilled pineapple spears that we saw piled high on a tray on the chef’s counter.
Although we enjoyed the Old Havana theming at Cuba Libre within The Quarter, we wish that the drinks had been better.


















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