Looking for Cubano sandwiches and Cuban cuisine? New Lexington restaurant coming
A new restaurant wants to bring a taste of the Cuban countryside to Lexington.
Hola Havana is expected to open in November at 115 N. Locust Hill, the former Athenian Grill location. The Greek restaurant closed earlier this year as it consolidated catering operations.
Hola Havana co-owner Dr. Elizabeth Martinez said when she and her husband, Antonio Palma, moved to Lexington from Louisville for her pediatric residency at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, they noticed there was not a whole lot of Cuban food in the area.
There’s Old San Juan on Surfside, pop-up caterer IP& J Cuban, and The Cuban Corner Grocery Store on Leestown and that’s about it these days.
In visits with her Cuban family in Louisville, they’d often see Lexingtonians who’d driven more than an hour to eat at the Cuban restaurants there, she said.
“So we decided to open one here,” Martinez said.
Palma will run Hola Havana, but the food will be a family affair using recipes from her mother Alina Hernandez, and from her father, Fernando Martinez.
“My mom is from the city side of Havana and dad is from the country side of Havana, so they have kind of a different approach to food,” Martinez said. Both versions are delicious, she said.
“Her recipes have been in the family a long time.”
The restaurant plans to offer a full menu of Cuban favorites, including sandwiches and coffee, as well as less familiar traditional foods. But they also will offer flexibility, including build-your-own rice and bean bowls for lunch.
The menu is still is flux as the attempt to source ingredients that are more familiar in Miami than Kentucky, she said.
For dinner, they plan to offer sit-down menu and a full bar with mojitos, Cuba libre and other classic drinks.
They expect to be open for dine-in with hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 3 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with takeout, delivery through third parties and catering for large orders.
