Walking through the city of Holguin, you come across cafes or simple stalls advertising Cuban pizzas.
The first thing I notice is the place, the vendors, and the producto. But my desire to buy them vanishes when I see how unattractive and unprofessional the service is. So the waiters are unkempt, their clothes are sloppy, they’re sweaty, and they handle money and pizza without protection.
Furthermore, they demand cash and haven’t modernized. Ignoring electronic payment methods, although some now accept Transfermóvil to make purchases easier for customers.
The truth is, selling pizzas is a profitable business in Cuba. Where consumers eat them as a kind of fast food to get on with their daily errands without having to go home for lunch. I’ve seen places that are incredibly rustic, tiny cafes without tables or chairs. Others where the ambiance is luxurious and the prices even more so.
I love Italian food, but even a simple Cuban pizza costs 150 CUP. Which is expensive, like all food products in this time of rampant inflation. However, with that same money, you can buy half a pound of tomatoes or three pounds of squash in Holguin, which are much more nutritious.
In upscale restaurants like Fajardo’s Pizzas, located on 12th Street, number 2, between 7th and 9th Streets in the Peralta neighborhood, prices are high. But the quality of the food makes it one of the most popular spots in Holguin. It’s a great place to enjoy a variety of Italian dishes. As well as Mexican tacos with malt beverages or the best Cuban beers like Cristal or Bucanero.
I laughed when I heard a pizza vendor’s call near my house, where the only thing they emphasized was that the pizzas were hot. They didn’t mention the quality of the product. Good flour, the best cheese, the exquisite tomato sauce, and the best professional preparation.
But you can’t expect much from someone who only knows how to knead dough and has no training in advertising or marketing. Because simply saying the pizza is hot isn’t enough to encourage sales.
Other sales options now include mobile ovens mounted on carts. Other ovens have been installed in bicycle taxis. Or some people go around the streets with a kind of box where they store the pizzas to sell them in the traditional format or small ones (pizzetas).
With the arrival of social media, vendors are also offering Cuban pizza on Facebook with home delivery service. You can order from the US, Spain, or France for your family in Cuba. So payments are accepted via bank transfer in US dollars or euros, depending on the informal exchange rate. A cafe in Plaza de La Marqueta even accepts cryptocurrencies.
These offers from restaurants, paladares (privately owned restaurants), and cafes in Holguin are in high demand online due to the quality of their food. Cuban pizza is a favorite among Cubans, often served with cheese balls, spaghetti, and lasagna.
In Holguin, there are restaurants called Venecia and Pizzeria Roma. Traditional establishments where locals have always gone to enjoy traditional Italian dishes. However, with the current economic crisis in Cuba, the quality of their offerings has declined. Or they have changed their menus due to shortages of high-quality cheese, flour, and tomato puree.
Some private establishments have also managed to surpass Holguin’s state-run restaurants in quality and variety, but they are few and far between. This is because most products are name brands, like Vima, and must be purchased in stores that accept US dollars or from small businesses. Both of which have high costs, further increasing the price of pizza for the customer.
I don’t want to mention all the places I’ve been to, because most are privately run and I don’t want to give free advertising. But these already surpass, in most cases, the so-called socialist state-run pizza companies. The fact is, in Holguin, when you’re looking for fine Italian cuisine, the roads don’t always lead to Rome.
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