Great Cuban food in Chicago
My wife and I joined a couple friends at Habana Libre located on Chicago Ave, just east of Ashland, for some Cuban eats. The restaurant had been on my list for some time since it’s BYO and we live in the neighborhood and walk past its storefront every week.
From the outside Habana is a pretty modest looking place, and upon entering you won’t be blown away by the interior decor (although it’s not terrible either). The real focus here is the food for sure.
I called and made early Friday evening reservations for our party and boy was I glad I did when I saw the line of customers waiting outside the restaurant around 8pm. For appetizers we ordered a few empanadas, including chicken and a guava and cheese, which I highly recommend! In addition to the empanadas we had plantain chips with garlic sauce and pappas rellenos - little fried mashed potato balls with beef inside. Very tasty!
I ordered the Cuban sandwich, my wife had the chicken sandwich (pan con pollo) and our friend had the Pan Con Ropa Vieja (shredded beef sandwich) and informed us its literal Spanish translation is dirty laundry. Every dish was fantastic. In fact on our second visit to Habana I actually ordered the Ropa Vieja because after tasting my friend’s sandwich the first night I thought it was even better than the Cuban I had. All the sandwiches are served on a toasty French-like bread and come with black beans and rice for a bit extra, and I’ll also note were some of the best black beans I’ve had in some time.
The best part of the evening was the price - after a couple bottles of wine and an extremely satisfying dinner with our friends we walked out of the place after paying a mere $55 bill between the 4 of us. Needless to say we’re starting to become regulars at Habana Libre.
