Once upon a time in Havana there were many bars and inns of great Cuban simplicity and authenticity, where the poorest people could savor the true essence of Cuba through a drink or a dish.
Traditional inns, known as "fonda", were modest places where typical meals were offered at very low prices, prepared with the same care as at home. These establishments, very popular, offered Creole cuisine at a lower cost and were considered slightly above Chinese canteens, but well below more refined restaurants.
They mainly offered a ration, called "Completa", which included different dishes at various prices, but always affordable. These popular places emerged from the beginning of colonization, responding to the need to feed and house sailors and travelers arriving in Havana.
The first fondas were established by Chinese immigrants, followed by Spanish inns, giving rise to the famous fondas criollas, dear to our grandparents. Designed for workers and low-income families, they allowed the owners to live decently, but few of them could invest to grow, except in rare cases.
Among the luckiest, José Sobrino opened in 1945, with his wife Elvira, the restaurant "Puerto de Sagua", specializing in seafood, an establishment now regretted.
Another example, the Bodeguita del Medio, started modestly with Armenia, the wife of its owner, serving meals to only two or three customers a day. Unfortunately, these inns only survived until the 1960s, when the revolution completely abolished private property.
These establishments were then relegated to oblivion, or survived as state bars and canteens, where the average Cuban could make do with cheap rum and a little-known beer, perhaps while nibbling on a bread with cheap croquettes.
Strolling through the streets of Old Havana, you can discover those places not listed in the tourist guides, where you can still feel the magic of yesteryear, the unique atmosphere of the city and the warmth of its inhabitants.
I invite you to taste the cheapest Cuban rum, whose label I don't even remember, accompanied by an anonymous cigar and an excellent oyster cocktail, characteristic of today's bars and canteens, vestiges of a very much alive Cuban gastronomic tradition: the bares y fondas de la Habana.
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