Sergio Perez is busy mingling with guests during the lunch rush at Havana Grill on Eastern Avenue near the 215 Beltway.
He’s quickly pulled away to help in the kitchen, but re-emerges minutes later in another part of the establishment to make a food recommendation. He suggests the pollo frito (fried chicken).
Perez moves to the next table, where he spots a longtime friend, who, like Perez also found a home in Las Vegas after leaving Cuba. Havana Grill is a favorite dining spot for Cuban-Americans, and it’s where many came to celebrate on the night in 2016 when dictator Fidel Castro died.
Being a small-business owner, Perez says, means wearing many hats, some of which aren’t too glamorous. Some days, that means he’s mopping floors and cleaning the kitchen. Other days, he’s spreading good cheer or toying with the menu. He never stops moving.
His sole mission: providing an authentic experience for guests. The commemorative plates that line the walls came from Cuba, the ingredients used to bring that familiar flair to the menu are shipped in from Miami, the music being played is native to the country, and until the pandemic, there was a dancefloor crowded with patrons.
Like many family-owned restaurants during the shutdowns in the spring of 2020, Perez used the downtime to evaluate ways to improve his small business. The biggest change was converting the dancefloor into a bakery that serves some of his mother’s favorite recipes.
Dancing, because of the close contact, wasn’t initially allowed when restaurants reopened, making the decision to install the bakery a no-brainer, Perez said.
He proudly serves staples such as tartaletas de Guayaba, cake fresa and éclair de chocolate. There’s also ice cream, gelato and milkshakes—all of which are authentic.
“Now you smell the Cuban pastries and coffee when you walk in,” he said.
An industry free-fall brought on by the economic crisis affected restaurants and small businesses of all sizes. In total, 110,000 restaurants nationally were temporarily or permanently closed as a result, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Nearby at Stephanie Street and Warm Springs Road in Henderson, chain establishments Miller’s Ale House and Sweet Tomatoes permanently shuttered.
Perez didn’t sense his family-owned restaurant was in trouble, as to-go orders were strong throughout the shutdown. He raves about the support of the community. There are 11,000 Cubans in Nevada, according to the 2020 Census.
Still, he knew a change had to be made because half of the building was going to waste without dancing. Perez looked at the emptiness and began thinking, “How can we better use this space?”
Launching a bakery similar to those found in Havana has been a hit, reaffirming what he suspected: Many people like something sweet with coffee after a meal.
Perez came to Las Vegas in the mid-1990s and cut his teeth in the restaurant industry at the Florida Cafe on Las Vegas Boulevard near Charleston Avenue. He washed dishes for seven years, observing the ins and outs of how to run a business before going out on his own. That was 18 years ago.
“It was risky. It’s a lot of money and a lot of time,” he said. “You just don’t know if people would like it.”
The fact that there aren’t too many places to get Cuban food in the Las Vegas area has certainly helped the family develop business longevity. They also operate Havana Express on east Tropicana Avenue, near Topaz Street.
But longevity had nothing to do with Havana Grill, or any business, navigating the pandemic. That, Lucia Perez says, is where her husband’s work ethic has been the difference.
“He was born that way,” she says of his work-around-the-clock mentality. “He loves it. This is what makes him happy. He lives to share [Cuban culture] with people.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.