La Guarida

About this place La Guarida

La Guarida is the most celebrated paladar (private restaurant) in Cuba and one of the most atmospheric dining rooms in the Caribbean. Located on the upper floors of a magnificent but deliberately un-restored colonial mansion in Centro Habana ? the setting for Tom?s Guti?rrez Alea's 1993 film Strawberry and Chocolate, itself a landmark in Cuban LGBTQ+ cinema ? La Guarida is simultaneously a serious restaurant and a theatrical experience. The crumbling grandeur of the building's staircase, the taxidermied animals, the eclectic art, and the rooftop bar create an environment unlike anything else in Cuba. The cuisine is Cuban with sophisticated contemporary influences ? far beyond the rice-and-beans baseline of state restaurants. La Guarida attracts visiting heads of state, film directors, and Havana's artistic community in roughly equal measure. The connection to Strawberry and Chocolate ? Cuba's first film to portray gay experience sympathetically, which screened internationally and was nominated for an Academy Award ? makes it a resonant destination for LGBTQ+ visitors.