Shopping in Havana
I was aware of about food shortages and shopping difficulties before I came to Cuba and was, in fact, advised to bring at least a couple of boxes of breakfast cereal and dry soups as well as whatever clothes I no longer wanted, especially brands, to sell or exchange for accommodation. I didn’t bring either. Not sure how cereal would help me, unless I ate it dry, as there is no yogurt in Havana. The soups wouldn’t be of much use either as I had no way of “bringing them to boil and simmer for a few minutes”. The clothes? Well, I toyed with the idea – need to downsize my luggage – however, I am not that “business oriented” and didn’t want to carry more than I had to should I fail as a businesswoman. (I left all my luggage in Mexico and came to Cuba only with a backpack).
Food Challenge
Long lines for to get a hamburger.
Blandly put, there is hardly any food to buy in Cuba. Not if you are a tourist and, not the one you’d like to eat. Even if you were lucky enough (or queued long enough) to get something eatable you couldn’t cook it anyhow as hotels and Airbnb:s don’t allow kitchen access. After all, the Airbnb hosts make money off the lack-of-food situation. 5 USD for breakfast and about 10 for dinner. Typically, they buy the food from next (or next next) door neighbors who run tiny shops from home. I have no idea where the shop owners get the food from. Perhaps from the relatives living in the country.Â
Food is served in small cardboard boxes. No bags, no plates, no utensils.
However, if you’re so called “rich American” (Westerner) having breakfast, lunch, and dinner in one of the three fancy five-star hotels you most probably won’t even notice any food shortages or any other food-related issues. Cheap (12 USD) lobsters will be served to you on a silver platter and once you get back home, you’ll be telling everyone what a wonderful time (and food) you have had.
But if you are a backpacker on a budget, you may and will face some serious challenges… unless you are prepared to survive on pizza sandwiches during your entire stay or hot dogs depending on the area. You’ll get back home mentally drained in need of a vacation.Â
Restaurants
No shortage of cigarettes. 1.50 USD a pack
Not only is there a shortage of food there is also a shortage of restaurants. There are some in the Old Town and around the Central Park but this is pretty much it. If you live in other parts of town, you may be wasting lots of time looking for food. On Malecón, for example, which is a few kilometers long Corniche I only saw one ice cream parlor and one restaurant opened during the day. At night, on some nights, a few more bars/restaurants open, and also a few stalls.Â
 As in all other cities around the world, the bouncers yell out the menus to get customers in the bouncers in Havana yell “restaurant/bar” just to let you know there is a restaurant/bar… so that you wouldn’t miss it. Interestingly, the presumptive customers never come in, sit down, ask for the menu, order… and so on… but study the menu before they decide to enter… only to leave awhile later as half of the dishes that are on the menu are not available. Restaurants may run out of chicken, meat, vegetables or practically anything else.Â
In this restaurant, you either eat right on the curb or bring your own plate for takeouts.
Some restaurants are so popular with locals and attract such crowds that people stand in long lines for hours in the middle of the day just to get in. And they aren’t even fancy restaurants or super hot clubs but very regular eateries.
I came across restaurants offering different menus for tourists and locals. No, they do not serve better food for tourists but they simply charge more. Much more, which brings me to another Cuban challenge – The Money Challenge.Â
Tha Money Challenge
Long queues to come into the shop selling Internet Cards
There are two currencies in Cuba; for tourists (CuC) and for Cubans (peso)…. but this is a subject for another post. However, if you’re on a budget you can eat “dirt cheap” if you pay with pesos. To get pesos do your shopping in Central Havana, pay with CuC, and you’ll get the change in pesos. Then feast on 50 cent meals in Central Havana.Â
While planning Havana trip make sure your accommodation is located in an area where at least a few restaurants and shops are also located otherwise you may find yourself in real trouble. The best bet is to stay where the tourists stay like Old Havana and around the Central Park or where the locals live like Central Havana. The latter requires some getting used to as you’ll be shopping and eating in hole-in-the-wall places run from private homes. The third possibility is Vedado, 40-minute walk from the Old Havana, which is now becoming an upscale neighborhood attracting many tourists. There are few good hotels in the area, like the famous National hotel, and a few overpriced restaurants. However, there are no grocery shops. Well, there are a couple but they are practically empty. Â
Shops
Local Butcher
Most shops are run from homes and offer 5-10 different items e.g. canned vegetables and ketchup, sold through an iron window grill. There are also butchers selling meat that is not refrigerated but left on display in the sun the whole day, bakeries selling cream-filled pastries and fruit stalls. To get few items together for dinner you may have to go to five different shops and stand in five different lines. Full days job. The longest lines are for freshly baked buns, just made pressed ham sandwiches, sandwich “pizzas”, cakes and hot dogs. Bred, bread and more bread. No wonder people are overweight. Â
Make sure to bring a plastic bag
If there is no line don’t even think you’d struck luck but take it as a red flag. Something must be very wrong with that establishment.Â
Should you ever want to shop the way locals do make sure to bring a plastic bag (or any bag) with you as no such is provided. Instead, the food is dropped as is, incl chunks of butter, in whatever bag/container you bring with you.
Supermarkets
Some “supermarkets” (there are a few) provide bags, most don’t. In the ones that do not, there will always be a few old ladies selling plastic bags. The bags are brand new and branded. Where do they get them from????
Empty shelves in supermarkets
The variety of food in “supermarkets”, as opposed to shops run from home, is not much different: macaroni, tomato cans, oil, and ketchup. Some may have few pieces of frozen meats and sausages. But for the most part, the shelves are empty. Spookily empty. Yet people stand in long lines to get in.
Before you enter supermarkets, (hmmm) malls or most of the other shops you need to strip from all the possessions you carry with you. To do so, both leave and collect, you also need to queue for quite a while. The bigger the shop the longer line.Â
Rum, rum, and more rum. For 5 USD a bottle.
What there is in abundance, however, is cheap rum, vodka, and cigarettes. You can buy alcohol everywhere. And I really mean everywhere including hotdogs stalls, shops selling children’s clothes or shops run from home. No matter where you go there will be a shelf full of bottles within your reach.Â
Just like in Russia during communism. When there was a shortage of food or other goods the government made sure to provide plenty of vodkas to make people happy… or to forget.
Drinking rum is a way of living. As there are no disposable cups or glasses people carry bottles of rum with them quite openly wherever they go. Many start drinking first thing in the morning and then continue as long as they can (manage).
And the women are shopping
Queuing is part of everyday life in Havana. People queue for everything; bread, lunch, Internet card, theater tickets, cinema tickets, even travel tickets. As soon as someone ‘opens a shop’ and starts selling e.g. boxed lunch, the queue is forming in no time. The only item one can get without queuing is rum or vodka.Â
Not sure how many hours a day people waste on queuing but I am guessing it must be a few. Tragically the majority of Cubans do not even know any of any other life as they have lived like that for the past 60 years.
Long line to Delta shop
I was under the impression that things may be getting better. The tourists are welcome to visit and the locals can today buy passports. But apparently, things are not better, everything is the same. They say. For what good use a passport can be put if you cannot get a visa to travel anywhere stamped into it?Â
One day, while walking in Havana, it struck me: Where are all the men? I almost only see women in the streets. Then the lightbulb went off in my head. The men must be working for money while the women are working to feed the family… they are all go shopping instead.
Or should I rather say while the men are working the women are queuing?
Again.Â
People of Havana- slideshow
Murals in Havana – slideshow
Amazing! What a great read. So very informative! those pictures at the end are really really good!
Thank you Rebecca. So glad you enjoyed the post. Much appreciated. Have a great day and enjoy your travels. Eva
Again, wonderful photos!
Thank you Dee. Much appreciated 😉
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