New Cuban restaurant now open in downtown Sarasota

A Cuban restaurant that recently announced it would take over a prominent space on downtown Sarasota's Main Street has opened its doors.

Cuba 1958 is now open at 1766 Main St. in the former space of Italian restaurant Flavio's on Main, which originally opened in 2015 as Beulah, before changing its name in 2020 and closing earlier this year. (Flavio's original location in Siesta Key Village remains open.)

The new restaurant is an offshoot of Westfield, New Jersey's 1958 Cuban Cuisine, with both restaurants taking their name and concept from the last year in Cuba before Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959.

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"We’re trying to emulate an 1958 theme inside the restaurant," Cuba 1958 co-owner Danny Jimenez previously told the Herald-Tribune. "You’re going to get the chandeliers, the colors, and the courtyard, we’re going to make it Havana club-style out there."

The menu features entrees such as ropa vieja (shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce), lechon asado (roasted pork in a citrus garlic marinade), and bistec de palomilla (thin-cut sirloin steak with sautéed onions), with choice of sides including white or yellow rice, black beans, congri, sweet plantains, tostones, or yuca con mojo. The restaurant also offers sandwiches — including both a traditional Cuban or a Cuban Special 1958 that adds chorizo cantimpalo — bowls, soups, salads, appetizers and desserts.

Cuba 1958 has a liquor license, as well as a happy hour, 4-6 p.m. in the bar area. The happy hour also offers deals on appetizers such as ham or cod croquettes, Cuban sandwich sliders, chicken or sandwich empanadas, plantain chips with guacamole and pico de gallo, and cod fish fritters.

The restaurant currently seats around 75 people indoors, Jimenez said, and seats about 160 including the patio. While the patio is currently not open during Cuba 1958's soft opening, it should be in time for the restaurant's grand opening, which Jimenez estimates will take place around the end of July.

Cuba 1958's initial hours will be 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. lunch, 4-6 p.m. happy hour and 4-9:30 p.m. dinner Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday. For more information, call 941-280-1958 or visit cuba1958.com.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New restaurant Cuba 1958 now open in downtown Sarasota