“Oh, oh, I love it so…”

When Havana Chelsea closed last summer for “remodeling,” Geoffrey and I mourned and pouted for months that our favorite Cuban food diner/dive was lost to us forever. During our extended grieving process, we dined several times at the also-good-and-considerably-more-gay-friendly Cuba Cafe just a few blocks up the street, but the trade-off in ambiance/gayness/liquor license versus super low cost/actual taste of the food just didn’t cut it. We were ever so saddened.

But fortunately Geoffrey lives in the neighborhood and he, being ever vigilant, reported to me just last month that our former favorite haunt for cheap eats had finally reopened as Casa Havana. Yay! Last night we made our first return visit and let me just say right now that “IT’S BAAAAACK!!” Although the place is reportedly under a completely new ownership, the food is just a great if not better, the prices went up maybe $1 per dish, and the service…well, the service is as ass-bitingly bad as ever. But for two complete meals coming in at under $30, with tax and tip, I can seriously live with shitty service.

Update: Sadly, Casa Havana Has Closed Permanently

Casa Havana is located on 8th Avenue between 19th and 20th streets, on the East side of the Avenue.