Havana Harry’s is preparing to reopen this fall after more than a year behind closed doors, bringing one of Coral Gables’ best-known Cuban restaurants back after a turbulent stretch that included two government-ordered shutdowns, layoffs and an extensive renovation.
Centurion Restaurant Group, which acquired Havana Harry’s in 2022, says the restaurant at 4612 S. Le Jeune Road will return with the recipes, portions and approachable prices that have defined it since 1995, but in a renovated dining room with green leather booths, mosaic tile, greenery and Cuban-inspired art.
“Our responsibility was never to reinvent Havana Harry’s,” Centurion founder Carlos Centurion said in announcing the return. The company says the goal was to preserve the restaurant while rebuilding the space for the years ahead.
No reopening date has been announced. Havana Harry’s website continued to list the restaurant as temporarily closed this week.
Two closures in three months
The path to reopening began with two separate shutdowns in the summer of 2025.
On June 16, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation ordered Havana Harry’s temporarily closed after a complaint-triggered inspection found live roaches and other violations in the restaurant. State records show two high-priority and 11 basic violations and ordered operations stopped until the problems were corrected.
The closure also drew attention for how it was presented to customers. A sign on the restaurant said it was “closed for repairs,” while WPLG Local 10 reporter Jeff Weinsier reported that the state’s orange closure notice had been covered by other signs.
The shutdown lasted one day. A follow-up inspection June 17 found that Havana Harry’s met state inspection standards, with no high-priority violations. State records also show the restaurant passed another routine inspection Aug. 18.
Three days after that August inspection, a different regulator stepped in for different reasons.
On Aug. 21, Coral Gables Development Services ordered the restaurant closed. Contemporary reports described a city notice citing building-related problems including electrical issues, repairs to a gas leak performed without required permits and unauthorized interior work. The city action was separate from the state’s restaurant-sanitation enforcement.
Centurion confirmed the city-ordered closure at the time. Havana Harry’s described the shutdown publicly as a temporary closure for “interior upgrades,” including plumbing and kitchen improvements, and said it was working with city and local authorities. That notice remains on the restaurant’s website.
Unlike the June closure, the August shutdown did not last a day. It lasted more than a year.
A shutdown that cost jobs
The longer closure quickly affected Havana Harry’s workforce.
A WARN notice filed Aug. 28, 2025, reported 28 layoffs at the Coral Gables restaurant. Contemporary reporting said Havana Harry’s employed 77 people at the time, with the 28 positions being eliminated in two rounds and remaining employees expected to be reassigned to other Centurion restaurants, including Bulla Gastrobar, Pisco y Nazca and Beehive Kitchen.
For months, little followed publicly.
Customers continued asking online when the restaurant would return, while Havana Harry’s social-media presence went quiet. Earlier this year, Centurion began advertising management positions for a planned reopening, initially describing it as an early-summer 2026 return. That date came and went.
The company now says the reopening will happen this fall.
A new room, familiar menu
Centurion says the extended closure became an opportunity to substantially refresh the dining room while leaving the restaurant’s identity intact.
The renovated space is expected to feature green leather seating, mosaic tile, Cuban-inspired artwork and tropical touches. The company says established recipes and pricing will remain, along with the large portions that have long been part of Havana Harry’s appeal.
The menu is expected to continue spanning breakfast, lunch and dinner, from croquetas, tostones and Cuban sandwiches to ropa vieja, arroz con pollo and lechón. One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is chicken vaca frita, the shredded and crisped chicken variation Havana Harry’s helped popularize after opening in 1995.
Desserts have long been nearly as prominent as the entrées, including flan, tres leches, cakes and oversized milkshakes.
Havana Harry’s was named Best Cuban Restaurant by Miami New Times in 2020 and later appeared in Michelin Guide coverage of Cuban restaurants in Miami.
A 1995 restaurant prepares for another chapter
Havana Harry’s opened in Coral Gables in 1995 under founders Nieves Feal and Arthur Cullen and developed a following around Cuban comfort food with broader Latin American influences. Centurion Restaurant Group bought the restaurant in 2022, adding it to a portfolio that includes Bulla Gastrobar, Pisco y Nazca and Beehive Kitchen.
The reopening will therefore mark more than the end of a renovation. It will be the restaurant’s first service since the city shut it down in August 2025.
For now, customers still have to wait for the date.
If you go…
Havana Harry’s plans to reopen this fall at 4612 S. Le Jeune Road, Coral Gables. The restaurant can be reached at 305-661-2622 and posts updates through its website and social-media accounts. A specific reopening date had not been announced as of publication.
