On the Little Havana Food Tour, the tour guide covers, not only the ingredients of the food, but the cultural background, art, and history of the food and community. The first restaurant on the tour is El Pub where the tour guide explains Little Havana’s street food culture. Inside, the tour observes the making of the Media Noche sandwiches that will be served. This sandwich has pork, ham, and swiss. It is always served with crunchy shredded fries.
“Lots of butter. No South Beach diet on this tour,” the guide says and everyone chuckles. The 25 year old restaurant is a classic to visit when in Little Havana, especially if you want to try the espresso-like coffee brewed by the Godmother of Cuban coffee, herself.
Next, the tour stops at Mister Bello’s cigar shop where the guided explains the process of making Cuban cigars, and the process of exporting the tobacco from Cuba to Honduras where it is grown and then imported to the Miami.
At Exquisito, the tour stops for a snack and everyone takes their chicken empanadas to go as we walk over to Domino Park, the Parks and Rec departments homage to the national Cuban game, Dominos.
At the elegant Ball and Chain, the tour sits for a bite of contemporary Cuban cuisine. This is followed by a guava pastelito. Guava tastes just like a strawberry, but a little bit more tart. After this sweet bite, the tour continues at Los Pinarenos Fruteria where the tour guide explains Guarapo juice. It juice straight from the sugar cane.
At the sixth and final stop on the tour, everyone says their goodbyes over a cup of Passion fruit, Mamey, or Abuela Maria ice cream at Azucar Ice Cream.
