CUBANA (WATERLOO)

Inspired by Cuban and Latin-American cocktails and cuisine and the mixture of cultures that influenced it, Cubana introduced Mojitos to the UK in the 1990’s. Since then, we have extended what was a drink-led offer to entertain customers throughout the day, with great Street Food, freshly-roasted Cuban coffee, delicious fresh tropical smoothies, home-baked breads and pastries and reasonably-priced, slow cooked food - all prepared with top quality, 100% free-range and sustainable produce

Our food draws inspiration from the sumptuous mix of Spanish, African, Caribbean, and French cooking which make up Cuban cuisine. Slow-roasted Cuban-style free-range pork, traditional Hot Cuban Sandwiches, classic Cuban kitchen dishes like Ropa Vieja, Pollo Criollo and Picadillo are supplemented with tapas, sharing plates, and char-grilled top quality meats and fresh fish. Our yummy after-dinner treats include home-made desserts such as our Fresh Strawberry Cream + Toasted Coconut Cake and a range of home-made gelato prepared with fresh flavours including Choc + Salted Caramel and Fresh Mango + Passion Fruit – of course, our customers can also enjoy a coffee from mountain-grown Cuban beans that mature under the shade of native Caribbean trees.

We are proud to have introduced Mojitos to the UK back in the 90s! We have made more than two million Mojitos since then and we make every one with the highest care and quality – what sets us apart from the competition is freshly-pressed fresh lime juice, genuine Cuban rum and raw, organic cane sugar muddled, of course, with fresh mint. Rum also features in other Cuban classic cocktails such as Cuba Libre, Daiquiris and Sputnik cocktails. We feature live music every night and on Fridays and Saturdays, we transition to a fiery Salsa club with Cuban bands playing ‘til the early hours.

Cubana prides itself on using fresh tropical fruits in its cocktails and fresh, quality produce in its food, which is all prepared in-house. We were also one of the first restaurants in the UK to adopt a 100% free-range policy – apart from our organic, family-farmed Spanish chorizo and free-range chicken from small farmers in the Loire valley, we source of our all other meat and eggs from UK farmers – all of our pork, eggs and chicken is free-range, with animal welfare a primary concern.

Our fish is also MSC-certified as sustainable and our farmed prawns are BAP certified (Best Aquaculture Practices) to ensure high environmental standards. We use LED lights, all of our takeaway coffee cups, street food boxes, cutlery and smoothie cups are compostable and we recycle as much as possible.

Cubana is expanding cautiously - we are developing a new facility close to the forthcoming Crossrail station at Farringdon which will have the ability to prep dishes and bake bread and pastries for several potential new sites, with a view to a very steady build-up of the Cubana brand which stays close to our roots in offering great-value, original and authentic freshly-prepared food and drink with a strong sustainability ethos. New Cubanas will be in high footfall areas where we can develop sales across the day and into the evening.

We also have a very strong focus on management. Many of our key employees have been with us for several years and we have spent the last year over-hauling our financial management systems and working on costs to ensure that we are a tightly run and closely controlled business – something which is crucial in the bar and restaurant sector and central to our expansion plans.

The core bar and restaurant business which we love has been growing strongly for years - now we want to push on to grow the business with another round of funding to ensure that we can entertain more people for years to come.