La Zaragozana, Havana. Cuba

• ( 1 reviews)
• Monserrate No. 351 e/ Obispo y Obrapia, Havana City. Cuba
• Daily
• (537) 8608817
• Destination: Havana

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When the Spanish lady Ana López arrived from Zaragoza in 1830 and founded in Havana the inn La Zaragozana, she was far from imagining that it will become the luxury restaurant it is nowadays, the oldest of the Cuban capital. With an excellent location in the Old Havana Historical Site, it offers a wide variety of dishes —fish, lobster, shrimps, pork, beef, and chicken— and prices going from moderated to expensive ones. Lobster and shrimps cocktail, oysters, chickens, Spanish omelette, fried chickpeas with sausage and Serrano jam are some of its propositions, where the Spanish style prevails.

The Zaragozana rescued a menu with traditional receipts that impressed the table companions of all over the world since the 19th century. Chefs and other employees of the place had reinforced the taste of travellers, mainly Europeans, interested in their dishes. This is the case of the calamari rings, flounder steak, the family’s Paella, battered frog legs and several kinds of skewers. It is said they cook the best Galician soup in all Cuba. Its record of famous clients has the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, who visited La Zaragozana in 1930, the American novelist Ernest Hemingway, the boxer Rocky Marciano and the outstanding athlete Javier Sotomayor. The restaurant is animated by guitarists, singers, and trios who make the visit more pleasant.

La Zaragozana Map

La Zaragozana is located in Havana

Capital of Cuba and the country's administrative, political, cultural and scientific center, it is also the capital of two provinces: City of Havana and Havana. Though only around 280 square miles (727 square kilometers) in size-0.65 percent of the archipelago's total area.

The Old Havana and system of forts led UNESCO to declare it a part of world heritage in 1982. Founded on its present site in 1519, the settlement of San Cristobal de La Habana prospered mainly due to its bay, which was a natural port of call for ships sailing to and from the New World. Starting in 1634, because of its strategic location, San Cristobal de La Habana was considered the key to the New World-as attested to by royal letters patent-and the main defense of the West Indies.

The Cuban capital consists of an immense number of buildings in a wide range of architectural styles, built in the course of nearly five centuries. These styles range from the pre-baroque to the baroque, neo-Gothic, neoclassical, eclectic, art noveau and art-deco, to the modern.

Alejo Carpentier, one of Cuba's most famous authors, called it "the city of columns" and focused attention on its streets, which he considered a perennially rich show of life, humanity and contrasts that was bound to entertain any observer.

Over 14 kilometers of excellent beaches lie to the east of the Cuban capital. To the south, a green belt contributes to a healthful atmosphere.