Inside Little Havana (photo: Rey Lopez/Eater DC

The latest restaurant to open on 14th Street is Little Havana, offering Cuban-style cuisine from owner Chefs Alfredo Solis and Joseph Osorio. Doors open tonight, August 10th!

Eater DC has run a couple of great articles on the opening:

Color-Soaked Little Havana Brings a Taste of Cuba to Petworth This Week (Aug 9 2018)
Petworth’s Neon-Hued Little Havana Will Serve Beef Tongue, Liver, and Tons of Rum (Aug 1, 2018)

Located at 3704 14th Street NW, just a few doors down from Chef Solis’ Mezcalero Cocina Mexicana, Little Havana serves Cubano cuisine, including traditional and new interpretations of Cuban food. Expect both Empanadas and Cuban Rolls—basically, a Cubano sandwich in egg roll form—and made with pork, pickles, swiss cheese, ham and served with a garlic-mustard aioli, as well as Caribbean-inspired dishes like Caribbean Corn Soup, a mixture of fresh corn, yellow lentils, dumplings, carrots, and sweet potato in a coconut pepper broth.

At the helm of Little Havana is Chef Joseph Osorio, a chef trained at the French Culinary Institute and at the Queens, New York home of his Godmother, Mimi, a Cuban immigrant who is the inspiration behind Little Havana. Chef Osorio, who has worked in kitchens at Clyde’s, Watergate Hotel, and Passion Food Hospitality where he met Solis, also manages the day-to-day operations of the kitchen and the entire restaurant.

Little Havana’s bar program is led by Heriberto Casasanero, who cut his teeth at Founding Farmers, Reliable Tavern, and Copycat. Tropical fruits and fresh juices with artisanal ice and an emphasis on rum and other classic Cuban cocktails are the focus of the program. Qualia Coffee is the restaurant’s exclusive coffee partner.

The 60-seat restaurant features several murals by local muralist Ernesto Zelaya depicting Havana stunning scenery and iconic Cubans including the Washington Nationals own, Gio Gonzalez, performer Celia Cruz, activist Che Guevara and more. When warm, a patio fit for up to 16 people is available for seating. The open kitchen is in the restaurant’s center welcoming diners into the fullness of the experience at Little Havana.

“What I’m most excited about is doing my part to further share the expansive influence of Latin cuisine and helping other Latin chefs and immigrants with the opportunity to have gainful, meaningful employment. I was given several opportunities to rise from a dishwasher to owner of now three restaurants and want to pay it forward,” says Chef Solis.

Little Havana opens Friday, August 10 at 3704 14th Street NW in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. The bar opens at 3pm with dinner service beginning at 5:30pm. Brunch, lunch, and breakfast will soon follow.

For more information, visit www.littlehavanadc.com or follow @LittleHavanaDC on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.