Las Vegas and Havana have been minimize from the identical cultural fabric. Each cities skilled a Golden Age of glitz within the Nineteen Fifties, drawing the likes of Liberace, Nat King Cole and the Rat Pack to their posh nightclubs and splendid accommodations. Havana had the legendary Tropicana cabaret membership. Las Vegas had the Copa Room. They each had the mob.
With that little bit of historical past to chew on, it’s no marvel Havana 1957 on the Flamingo feels so distinctly like house. The Cuban eatery, a Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group staple within the Miami space since 2010, opened on the Strip in 2024, becoming a member of 5 different outposts on the East Coast.
By vivid flavors and genuine recipes, Havana 1957 recaptures the essence of Havana in its heyday. All the trimmings of a tropical paradise are right here: swaths of palm bushes painted on the partitions, gorgeously framing the area; crimson accents and checkered flooring distinguishing the stage, the place reside jazz bands and Latin lounge singers croon us again to the glory days of Cuba. It’s horny, and so is the meals, if you happen to can imagine it.
Chef Julio Martinez suggests kicking off dinner with a broad style of Cuba. The Cuban Combo ($38) samples a little bit of all the pieces—deep-fried ham croquettes, truffled yuca fries, savory pork chunks—however the contemporary mahi-mahi tropical ceviche ($26) rocked the desk.
The crispy ropa vieja empanadas ($18) additionally shined as finger meals. Martinez says the kitchen slow-cooks flank steak for 3 to 4 hours, simmered in a zesty mix of tomato criolla sauce to pack in taste. Havana 1957 presents a bigger entree of that meat as effectively, paired with white rice and black beans.
“We’re doing the beans from scratch. We don’t purchase something from cans. We’ve a bunch of workers that prepares all the pieces twice a day, so all the pieces is made each day on the restaurant,” Martinez says. “What we’re attempting to do is assure that the visitors coming from Vegas to [Miami] or from right here to Vegas, they at all times discover the identical taste.”
The menu does a advantageous job of preserving its Cuban delicacies easy and flavorful. The Pollo Havana 1957 ($38) cribs from a Cuban household recipe with spicy Caribbean notes. Cuban sandwiches ($26) include a beneficiant mountain of mojo pork. And the seafood actually looks like a catch, particularly when ordering Faroese salmon ($38) that’s been drizzled in herb oil, or pineapple-glazed lobster tails ($70).
The restaurant’s cocktail program additionally sings with sophistication. A number of sorts of mojitos—from the Hennessy Blueberry ($22) to the spiced-rum Mojito Royal ($21)—activate trip mode, whereas signatures just like the Spicy Guava Margarita and Cuban Mule ($21) provide a well-recognized repair.
If you’re finished feasting, pop over to Cortadito Espresso Home subsequent door. V&E opened it at the side of Havana 1957, and the restaurant’s breakfast choices pair properly with it. The hospitality group additionally owns Cafe Americano inside Caesars Palace, so the java’s legit.
Havana 1957 tastefully represents its roots, in each taste and really feel. And whereas the Golden Age is lengthy gone, this restaurant appears centered on forging a brand new one.
HAVANA 1957 Flamingo, 702-733-3111, havana1957.com. Every day, 8 a.m.-midnight.
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