Havana Harry's, the Cuban restaurant that has fed Coral Gables families since 1995, reopens on Monday, Oct. 19, at 4612 South Le Jeune Road, after more than a year with its doors shut. The restaurant's own homepage now carries the date in big letters, along with a promise of a new look and the same Cuban soul.

A long year for a Le Jeune Road regular

For a lot of Miami-Dade households, Havana Harry's was never a special-occasion splurge. It was the default: the place for a Sunday lunch, a graduation dinner for twelve, a cafecito on the way to somewhere else. The restaurant went dark in late summer 2025, and on Aug. 26 of that year it posted a short note on its website telling regulars it planned to come back. For most of the year that followed, that note was about all anyone had to go on.

That changed this fall. A coming-soon post pinned the return to fall 2026, and on Oct. 2 the restaurant published a longer piece, titled Havana Harry's Returns, describing the renovated room and the menu waiting inside. The homepage now carries the firm date: Oct. 19.

What the renovation changed

The dining room is the headline. According to the restaurant, the refreshed space has green leather booths, a lot more greenery, mosaic details and Cuban-inspired artwork on the walls. The goal, as Havana Harry's describes it, is a room that still works for a quick morning stop and also for a long family dinner or a celebration, with updates made throughout the building rather than a fresh coat of paint at the front.

Anyone who remembers the old room will notice the difference. The restaurant has kept its name, its address and its phone number (305-661-2622), so this is a homecoming, not a rebrand.

The menu that is coming back

The kitchen is bringing back the plates that built the restaurant's reputation. The reopening post lists ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, lechoncita, Cuban sandwiches, tostones and croquetas among the returning classics. It also singles out the chicken vaca frita, crisped shredded chicken cooked down with onions, garlic and the house seasoning, one of the signature plates on the menu.

Dessert is where Havana Harry's has always made its case. The flan, which the restaurant lists among its awards, is back, along with tres leches and the oversized Overdose milkshakes. The bar has its own following too: the restaurant's site notes a spot on a Miami list of the top ten mojitos.

Morning regulars should note one detail. The homepage flags breakfast with a Dec. 1 date, so the full Cuban breakfast spread (café con leche, cortadito, colada and the plates that go with them) appears to be arriving a few weeks after the doors reopen. Lunch and dinner start right away.

Why this one matters in Coral Gables

Coral Gables has added plenty of new restaurants in the past year, many of them on or near Miracle Mile and many of them chasing a crowd that likes a reservation app and a tasting menu. Havana Harry's sits outside that wave. It is a family-style Cuban restaurant on South Le Jeune Road with valet parking and portions built for sharing, and its return restores something the city had been missing: a big, unfussy table where three generations can eat the same meal and nobody needs the menu explained.

It is also a reminder that the restaurants people grew up with do not always disappear for good. A year is a long time in Miami dining, and plenty of places that close never come back. This one did, at the same address, with the same dishes, in a room that has been rebuilt rather than abandoned.

How to go

Havana Harry's reopens Monday, Oct. 19, at 4612 South Le Jeune Road, Coral Gables, FL 33146. The restaurant lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Valet parking is a flat $10, offered from 5 p.m. to close on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to close on weekends.

Expect a crowd in the first weeks. Former regulars have had more than a year to build up a craving, and the opening falls on a Monday, so the first weekend (Oct. 23 to 25) will likely be the busiest stretch. The restaurant takes reservations through its website, and it is worth booking ahead for a group, especially for a family lunch on Saturday or Sunday. For a quieter first look at the new room, a weekday lunch is the better bet.

The restaurant also handles catering and private dining, which matters to anyone who used to book the place for birthdays and showers and has spent the past year finding somewhere else to do it.