Havana comes to Maryland

Ryan Carter

Leo Prats has come a long way since emigrating from Cuba to Florida

in 1966 with his parents. He has gone from designing buildings to

designing food with the opening of his newest Cuban Bistro, Oct. 15

at 112 E. Maryland Ave.

The idea of the restaurant was to mix Cuban food with California

cuisine in a fun, lively place where people can come for

entertainment and food. The menu is all about Cuban fare with a

twist, like the appetizer torta de cangrejo, a large crab cake with

lobster cream sauce topped with a tropical fruit salsa, to the shrimp

sauteed in a Creole wine sauce.

“My concept was to take Cuban food a level up,” said Prats, who

owns a successful Cuban Bistro in Alhambra. “It was to create a nice

ambience, good service and good home cooking.”

Prats said he wanted to offer a more dynamic menu than simply pork

and rice and the more traditional fare of Cuban restaurants. He also

has a lunch menu, happy hour and live entertainment on weekend

nights.

Prats acknowledged he has taken a bit of chance with his venture

in Glendale, but it’s not much more of a chance than he took in

Alhambra. The first-floor space was formerly the Broadway Bar &

Grill, which moved out more than a year ago and was even granted a

$200,000 tenant improve- ment loan by the city. The loan was paid

back. The building itself was built about five years ago by local

developer Bill Holderness, who later sold it. Merchants along

Maryland Avenue and in The Exchange have lamented the low volume of

pedestrian traffic in the block-long shopping area.

“We did well in Alhambra, in the middle of nowhere, and it became

a destination spot for people. So we figured if people were willing

to come visit us in the middle of nowhere, why not Glendale?” Prats

said.

The Cuban native came to the United States in 1966 with his

parents. They got here through a program that allowed immigrants to

come if they had relatives in the States. They came to Florida and he

studied architecture. He ultimately opened Prats Inc., based in

Culver City, where he has practiced for 20 years. But in the

mid-1970s, Prats became frustrated with the lack of Cuban restaurants

in the area.

“I always told my wife it would really be nice to open a Cuban

restaurant,” he said.

A business venture with a partner who owned a restaurant in Los

Angeles got Prats acquainted with the business, and by 2001, he was

ready to open the Cuban Bistro in Alhambra. It has become a family

affair, with two of his daughters helping run the business. Prats

said the Alhambra location has grown to serve about 1,300 people a

month.

“I think we bring a little life to the street,” he said.

Merchants and officials hope so, too.

“We feel that is a key spot for Maryland Avenue,” Development

Services Director Jeanne Armstrong said. “We are very delighted to

the restaurant going in there.”

The restaurant marks the second big opening in The Exchange in

recent weeks. On Oct. 4, The Way to Happiness, an international

foundation that coordinates grass-roots, volunteer-based campaigns to

improve the quality of life in communities, opened in a revamped

historic building at 201 E. Broadway.