Phillyist.com Tastes the Forbidden Island Last month, we got an invitation to try the "15 Tastes of Cuba" tasting menu at Cuba Libre. It seemed like the perfect excuse to check the restaurant out, and Sunday night, we finally got to cash in on the offer. Clearly, Phillyist has arrived. Although we found "fifteen" to be generous (they counted the bread basket as a "taste"), the meal was solid, if a little inconsistent. Such is the nature of a tasting menu. We were hoping the meal would give us a taste of what Chef Pernot has brought to the Cuba Libre kitchen since his arrival, and that's what we got. Read Full Article »

		Bon Appetit - Feasting in Philadelphia, Rand Richards Cooper "...the food was superb: lemony seafood ceviche in a coconut shell, melt-in-your-mouth papas rellenas - sweet potato croquettes filled with ground beef and an olive and raisin stew. We enjoyed it all. The Friday night action at Cuba Libre - eerily empty at seven, packed and throbbing by ten - typifies Old City, where eating and drinking blur together in a thriving late-night restobar scene." Read Full Article »

		Philadelphia Inquirer: They Do Fish Right Guillermo Pernot, who brought Nuevo Latino cuisine to Philadelphia a decade ago and wrote the book on Ceviche! (Running Press, 2001)...has now added top toque at Cuba Libre, as executive concept chef for its restaurants in Old City and Atlantic City, to his resume...He offered a grilled snapper dish complemented by an oyster seviche. VIEW FULL ARTICLE

		NY Post - Fine Dining at the Shore This upscale Latin-themed restaurant, rum bar and cigar lounge celebrates the romance of this island nation. Visitors can enjoy a drink alongside one of the handcrafted antique bars or savor classic Cuban fare (such as lechon asado, roasted leg and shoulder of marinated pork dressed with orange-lime mojo) amid the movie set-like recreation of a 1940s Havana street scene. Read Full Article »

		Conde Nast Traveler "Following Vegas's example, new hotels are glamming up Atlantic City with hip lounges and celeb-filled casinos. Coming to the Marina District this summer is Tropicana's The Quarter, which recalls, in high-rise form, 1940s Havana. Its restaurants and bars include Cuba Libre..." Read Full Article »

		USATODAY Cuba Libre is "Where insiders go in the City of Brotherly Love." Read Full Article »

		Travel & Leisure After Dark "The rum bar with more than 60 varieties is the top draw at this Cuban spot, though the "cha cha cha" platter...rates a close second. On warm nights the French doors are flung open, giving the place a striking resemblance to a 1940s Havana street scene." Read Full Article »

		Philadelphia Magazine: Making the Chains Could Philly be the birthplace of the next Cheesecake Factory? When Barry Gutin, co-owner of Latin-inspired Cuba Libre, heard about the Tropicana's plans for a Havana-themed addition to the Atlantic City casino, he knew the project would be a perfect fit for a clone of his Old City restaurant. "There was an obvious parallel between the two Cuban themes," Gutin said. But Gutin also sees a connection between his mojito-fueled hot spot and your local mall: he and his partner had plans to expand their successful Old City restaurant long before the Tropicana opportunity came along. If the concept could thrive in Philadelphia, why not elsewhere? Families in malls across the country could be groaning about the Cheesecake Factory-like two-hour waits at a Cuba Libre sometime soon. VIEW FULL ARTICLE

		Shopping Centers Today: Caliente Cuisine Partygoers know a Cuba Libre as a rum and Coke with a wedge of lime. Bartending lore has it that this cocktail was invented around the time of the Spanish-American War. U.S. soldiers fighting to oust the Spanish from the Caribbean mixed rum with Coca-Cola and toasted to "Cuba Libre" (a free Cuba!) Today Cuba Libre is not just a sweet drink with a kick but a restaurant that mixes nostalgia and Latin zest. Actually, it is two restaurants - one in Philadelphia's Old City, the other at the Tropicana Casino & Resort, in Atlantic City, N.J. "You walk in the door and you're transported to another time," said Jason Spillerman, principal of Philadelphia-based Vibrant Development, which helped the Tropicana develop The Quarter, its restaurant-retail zone. "We wanted places, when you walk in, you go, 'Oh, wow." VIEW FULL ARTICLE

		Delta Sky "One of the more evocative new Cuban hot spots..." Read Full Article »

		Philadelphia Magazine: AC Now The Quarter's little Havana has a split personality. Before 10, it's all about the eats. But as the night rolls on, diners push back platters, order flights of guarapo-sweeted mojitos and face chairs to the dance floor, where pro and nearly pro performer's meregngue and salsa until all hours... Read Full Article »

		Chain Leader: What Might Have Been Today Gutin promotes a popular brand of Cuban-style cooking at Cuba Libre, a high-volume restaurant-bar concept with units in historic Old City in Philadelphia and in the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J. Besides being the first Cuban eatery in the City of Brotherly Love, it's also the first to offer European-style bottle service, he boasts. VIEW FULL ARTICLE

		Concierge.com "People who have been in pre-Castro Havana swear this place is a dead ringer." Read Full Article »

		Philadelphia Inquirer: InFood, Rick Nichols Sugarcane is the part of sweet you rarely see - or saw, perhaps I should say, since it's showing up in the raw nowadays, sugar's pale green original packaging, the softer side of bamboo...Only at Old City's Cuba Libre have I found mojitos made from the traditional guarapo, extracted fresh each morning by a machine that crushes the stalks under a series of rollers. Read Full Article »