Chattanooga’s newest restaurant looks for all intents and purposes like a Cuban bodega at first blush, which is appropriate since its owners say their goal is to bring a taste of Cuba to the Scenic City — complete with the Caribbean nation’s traditional pork sandwiches and more than 70 rums from around the world.
The owners have dubbed it Embargo 62, a nod to ex-President John F. Kennedy’s trade ban, which has been ongoing for 53 years at this point. But with relations now on the mend between the ailing Castro regime and the United States, it’s as good a time as any for the cantina and rum bar to open Monday in the space at 301 Cherokee Bvld. formerly home to wine bar Brix Nouveau.
“Everything here is to replicate the nostalgia of what Cuba looks like,” said Brittany Alcala, who co-owns Embargo 62 with her husband, Danny Alcala. “We want to bring Cuba to Chattanoga.”
She’s a Tennessee native, but he’s a Cuban-American whose parents emigrated to Chicago before moving down to Miami, which has a large Cuban-American community.
The Alcalas have collected a bevy of old furniture, tin cups and mementos from the sea, stripping down and then rebuilding the space in John Wise’s Mary Locke building to more closely resemble a cafe in Havana among the brick edifices of Chattanooga’s upscale North Shore. They’ve paid attention to the details, down to the freshly weathered paint.