Cuban Restaurantes we ate at and enjoyed.

Casa de Confianza Valley of Silence overlook.

OK, what has Cuba got going for it? EVERY meal, I mean every meal! Cuban meals consisted of shredded cabbage-sliced tomatoes/cucumbers without dressing, delicious grilled chicken, lamb, & pork, (Note; No beef!) rice sprinkled with black beans every day of the tour. Many dishes included big pieces of lobster. I fell in love with their lamb. Often in open-air settings. But, just because an item is on a menu, didn’t mean it is available! I was unable to get a certain cocktail every day we were at our hotel bar.
Excluding breakfast, every meal started with at least one Mojito! (Mojito must be the national cocktail of Cuba.) At every home and restaurant we visited we were GIVEN free rum! Cocktails $4, cold, COLD Beer $2. Often we were offered cigars, many times at no additional cost. WHAT A COUNTRY!
85% of the beautiful Cuban homes and mansions that were abandoned because of the Fidel’s 1959 Revolution, are now restaurants called Paladares (translates as palate). Mostly family-run, self-employers businesses, paladares are fundamentally directed to serve as a counterpart to state-run restaurants for tourists.
Until the 1990’s they were illegal, but the fall of Russia and the consequent economic crisis in Cuba forced Fidel to make economic reforms. One of these reforms was the legalization of privately owned small businesses and restaurants. Raúl Castro’s 2010 reforms resulted in a substantial increase in the number of paladares.