CUBA CUBA
CAFÉ AND BAR
A tropical dining delight
in the Golden Triangle
Written by MARY ROSS
Photography by KIMBERLY DAWN
Take a trip to an island oasis right on Delaware Street in Denver. Cuba Cuba Café and Bar, located in a small powder-blue house with yellow trim, just down the street from the new wing of the Denver Art Museum, is home to the best Cuban dishes in Denver.
With its soft tropical paint colors and steel palm tree, this simple but inviting historic house emanates old-fashioned neighborhood warmth in an area bursting with new high-rises.
Owned by Kristy Socarras Bigelow, 34, and her brother, Enrique Socarras, 30, who is the chef, Cuba Cuba serves traditional Cuban dishes with Enrique’s added modern flair. You can almost feel the warm island breezes when you try a mojito, their signature drink, made with rum, soda, simple syrup, lime and mint.
Our group of four entered the bar and was captivated by its Caribbean feeling. It’s lively, friendly and unpretentious, just as a neighborhood bar should be.
With many youngish (30- and 40-something) diners enjoying the Cuba Cuba environment, the restaurant has a large following among Denver’s Cuban, Puerto Rican and other Hispanic communities.
We enjoyed the Cuban music playing in the simple pale green and white dining room. It still has the original plank floors, and white muslin drapes the ceiling. Palm frond fans, given by Kristy’s mother for the restaurant’s opening seven years ago, evoke a tropical feeling. Photographs and artwork from Colorado artists, reminiscent of Cuban scenery and people, decorate the walls. But nothing gave us more of a Caribbean feeling than the food.
For appetizers we ordered the tuna cruda y aguacate, an ahi tuna and avocado dish tossed in ginger ceviche sauce and served with tostones, a plantain dish the restaurant makes. Plantains, a tropical plant resembling a banana, are served with many of the dishes. Tostones are the green plantains, twice fried with lime and salt. Maduros are the ripe sweet plantains sliced thinner and deep-fried to make plantain chips, the second of our excellent appetizers. Cuban food emphasizes the flavors of citrus, onion and garlic, a combination we found to be tangy and fresh.
One of our diners ordered the delicious Lechon Asado, a slow-roasted tender pork shoulder cooked for eight hours until it’s falling off the bone. It’s prepared with sauteed onions and garlic mojo. Mojo sauce is a staple of Cuban marinades, and Enrique makes his own with olive oil, garlic, citrus, parsley and cilantro. It’s also added to Enrique’s Bistec, a New York steak with onions, mojo and yuca fries or white rice and black beans.
One of our guests said his steak was just right, and the sauce added a unique flavor. The original Cuban bistec is served with a pounded steak, but Enrique has improved on this original dish with a higher quality of meat.
For seafood lovers, there are the Camarones al Coco that I enjoyed. The pan-seared black tiger shrimp prepared with ginger, serrano peppers and sofrito in a coconut milk reduction had a fantastic blend of flavors.
Cuba Cuba’s bread is unique. The crust is crispy and flavorful, and the white bread is slightly chewy. The bread is used in all of the sandwiches, including the most popular one, the Sandwich Cubano with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles. Our fourth diner ordered this and enjoyed its combination of flavors and crispy bread.
The restaurant serves Jerome, an Argentinean beer, as well as a variety of other beers, since Cuban beer is unavailable in the United States. One of our guests had an excellent martini instead of beer or wine. The wine list is adequate, but the variety of rum drinks is extensive.
We were full, but could not resist the delicious-sounding desserts. The most popular one is the tres leches, a three-milk spongecake topped with homemade whipped cream. Flan de Queso is their more traditional Cuban dessert. We shared the Creme Brulee de Coco, a coconut-infused Creme Br9El8Ee topped with caramelized sugar. We thought it was one of the best parts of an already great meal. The coconut is a great addition to this traditional dessert.
Kristy, the owner, grew up eating the dishes the restaurant serves on its menu. She had the guava and cream cheese pastry, called pastelito de guayaba y queso, every day after school. Enrique has been working in restaurants in Miami since he was 15 years old and was a sous chef in several well-known Miami restaurants before his sister talked him into moving to Denver and opening a restaurant with her. Their mother and grandmother were great cooks.
Starting a restaurant was quite an undertaking for these two siblings. Because of the house’s historic designation, they were limited in how much they could expand the original structure. The dining room seats 50, and the bar serves another 10 for dining. They have an open patio in the back they can use six months out of the year. They added a separate building for a new kitchen and new bathrooms downstairs.
Kristy lived across the street the first two years and was at the restaurant every night to gain the knowledge and restaurant experience she needed. She had previously used her master’s in social work as a therapist, but did not find that work to be her true passion.
Enrique and Kristy have achieved their goal of creating a dining experience that replicates the great food and lively community where they grew up in Miami. They pride themselves on serving authentic Cuban food from a knowledgeable and friendly staff in a warm, appealing atmosphere.
Cuba Cuba Cafe and Bar is located at 1173 Delaware St. and is open Monday-Thursday 5-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 5-10:30 p.m. Takeout and catering are also available.
Unfortunately, the restaurant does not take reservations. The weekends are very busy, so try a weekday night, as we did, so you don’t have to wait.
