Havana
 

Just went by Havana Restaurant. There is a note on the door that they are closed Temp. for maintainance. Bottom line said hope to see you soon. Hope it reopens soon, our favorite place.

Hope it is only a temporary situation.....

Good news - it needed a good cleaning - hope that is what they are referring to. Maybe the new manager got an eye-full!

I have heard from one person that works at Havana CC that Kris is gone from the restaurant but have not been able to confirm that.

My hubby was working there today.
Kris is still there. Can't imagine who or why anyone would say he is gone.
Rumors, rumors. :sad:

Went by one hour ago. Sign outside read, closed today, repoen Wednesday at 11 A.M.

Well I do have faith in the person who told me that he was gone and that she is not spreading rumors. But time will tell and his lease is up soon.

Again, who ever is telling you this really has no idea what they are talking about.

...Could that be the result of state inspection perhaps? Just curious. Don't see many restaurants needing to close for "a good cleaning" after only 4 - 5 years operation. Makes no sense, INMO. More to it than that I suspect.

Bonny - someone I know was in the restaurant and the new manager introduced themself as the new manager - the plot thickens!!!

Yes, that would have been Charlie.

They had a broken pipe, thats why it was closed. Talked to the guy fixing it monday afternoon. No idea on the management issues.

Chris is the owner.

ggggeeeeezzzzz. Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you go to this club for food before Chris and Charlie are both gone, enter at you own risk. After years of the same old BS, I see no change in site. Keep me posted if it get tolerable.

Click on the date of inspection to see violations. I see the inspectors were there 3 days in a row. https://www.myfloridalicense.com/ins...ID=&id=3930557

Had lunch there today, met the new manager, Charlie Brown. He spent several minutes at our table. According to Charlie, changes are coming. Lunch was very good.

Yep

He bringing in Lucy and Linus?

Just Snoopy.

Just another case of people saying crap that they have no real idea is the truth. I trust Bonny - when it comes to TV restaurants, she's the only authority you need. Thanks Bonny for bringing sanity and facts.

Really?
Guess the inspectors have no clue, nor do many of us who have repeatedly tried the place since opening and been disappointed every time. Too bad 'cause the facility really is beautiful.
Hope someone comes along who can make a go of it one of these days.

Yes really - The OP said it was closed for a day and some jump to: it's dirty check out it's inspection report or "The plot thickens" or "the lease was up".

It was closed for a quick repair.

No one asked about opinions on their food or their management. The OP asked if anyone knew why it was closed and we get speculation instead of fact. So YES REALLY.

Thanks Russ. I really try to make sure I have some correct info before I post.

I agree, Bonny has always been spot on.

Havana Disaster
 

I did look at the link "Elevator Man" provided in his post. There certainly was a lot of inspection activity that took place. I"m not an expert but it seemed that there were several "major violations."

Six of us ate there on Saturday, June 1. Our first impression was that there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. We were discussing whether the restaurant was closed (about 7:30) when a very friendly waitress told us that the restaurant was indeed open and if we sat on the patio she guaranteed exceptional service! She also mentioned that there was a new menu and that we'd all be happy with our food! Big mistake....we were alone on the patio and there were only two groups in the dining room and both had already eaten.

Finally at shortly after 9:00 our food came out with great apologies from our waitress who was really trying. Of the six meals three were "comped" since two were cold and the person with the salad had dressing that had turned bad. The manager was very apologetic but nevertheless our dining experience was a disaster. All of us tipped our waitress as though we were charged for our meals. The disaster wasn't her fault but surely rested in the kitchen.

We had tried Havana that evening after all of us had a prior bad experience. We all agreed that we would not be returning. Now with these inspection reports, we will never return. Too bad since this is a convenient and nicely appointed dining room. Someone needs to make serious changes there.

I regret having to write such a negative post but sometimes things need to be said (and heard) for change to take place. Let's hope this happens.

When is the owner going to wake up and smell the coffee???

A manager is a manager. The key here is the OWNER. :beer3:

The Browns
 

Charlie Brown? Ha! That's not his real name. He uses that name because he owned a restaurant years ago called Charlie Brown's. I guess he could use Peaches too. But that's not too macho, is it?

If anyone can fix this restaurant, he can. That is, if Kris and Diana Brown (owners and no relation to Charlie) gives him a free hand at running it. It had a lot of promise when George Stella was involved when it opened in November of 2008. It went downhill from there.

We look forward to the changes.

Skip

I heard it was closed by the Board of Health after an inspection...who knows...it certainly has had it share of problems...perhaps a new owner would be best..

Doesn't suprise me..Went there after golf. Sat outside as the manager said we could. Then had waitresses argueing that they were tired and did not want to wait on any more tables. After talking to two managers we finally got service after 30 minutes. Food was OK. Management made offending waitress apologize.Place has gone downhill since our previous visit. So hope they do change management!

Weak management! Apologize? They should have been fired.

The " facts "
 

If anyone is interested WHY Havane was shut down go to the link above and click on the relevant dates and you will see why. I realize many here try to support our local businesses and I do also but the facts are the facts. That said lets hope the new manager can turn this club around so we all can honestly enjoy it.

https://www.myfloridalicense.com/ins...ID=&id=3930557

Yes a good cleaning is what they needed. I heard that the health department closed them down until they pass inspection.

5 minute update lol. They did pass inspection and are now open. Forget my previous post.

All the roaches gone, wonder if the food will lose any flavor

Didn't have any to begin with

Thank you
 

Thanks for the great information. We had a large group heading there this morning, but now diverting for another place. Once they get management who can see this stuff (that anyone could spot) we might go back, but to many other good places to take any chances.

to JBlum
 

Maybe there were some sort of bugs or critters:shrug:

The inspection report said he had not called an exterminator yet.

That was not the latest though....it sounded like the report said this was now

taken care of.

After reading the ispection reports I regret that I gave this place a second chance.

Being around the restaurant business in a previous life it was known you couldn't wait for a roach to be seen you had to have ongoing pest control.
That cost money and if you aren't making any the business will cut corners.
A CC owner that I'm friends with said any eating establishment in Fl. can have "a" roach from time to time but if you let it get to the infestation stage than it can put you out of business.
Also at my friends CC all of the wait staff has to pass a food handling certification and the kitchen staff have a more stringent certification to meet.
I think the lack of these were also mentioned in Havana's report.

I have to say we ate there the first week they opened and the menu sounded great but the food had very little flavor. We went back numerous times throughout the years each time we were told it has changed but were disappointed to find that it hasn't.
I believe most of the restaurant owners, managers read these blogs so they're not oblivious to how the patrons feel about their establishment.