Marakas

Style of food: Italian

Cost: Cheap

Type of place: Paladar (private)

Food
Ambience
Service
Value

Best for: Decent pizza around La Rampa

Worst for: Too bright lighting. Air conditioning too strong. Lack of cure décor.

Calle O No. 206 entre 23 y 25, Vedado

(+53)7833 - 3740

Open noon-midnight daily

Once upon a time this used to one of the best pizza places in Havana. Nowadays I don’t know. Certainly it is better than it looks–don’t be put off by the cheap tables and the pictorial map of Italy on the wall. Real olive oil, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, plus a firewood oven, mean that the pizza in this Vedado Italian trattoria is still pretty good. There is also Greek salad, tortellini with red sauce, and spinach-stuffed cannelloni on the menu all at a reasonable price.

This is located just down from the Hotel Nacional on the other side of La Rampa (23rd St). I have not been here for a while; since the competition heated up, there never really seems to be the need to go. This is not somewhere especially to seek out (there is not enough ambience for it to really be a destination place) but if you are looking for a good quality no-fuss dinner and you are around this neck of the woods, you could do a lot worse.