14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 26 November 2023 — After being closed for several years due to the pandemic, the state restaurant Europa, on Obispo Street, reopened its doors in Havana. The establishment, however, looks different from how its customers remember it: the menu has shrunk, the service is careless and the prices – as is now common in the historic center of the city – are impossible to pay.
A dozen diners fail to fill the 20 tables at the Europa. From a corner, and without being able to dissipate the heat, a fan scares away, as far as it can, the flies, while some tourists half-heartedly snack on some squares of cheese.
“Mold is invading Europe,” a woman sarcastically comments, as she looks in horror at the black stains on the ceiling. Her companion – who already predicted that the food would not have much charm – distastefully shreds some fish steaks. “The menu said fish with vegetables, but the vegetables never arrived,” she complains.
“It’s a widespread problem, all state restaurants are l
