90 Miles Cuban Cafe

Review Highlights

90 Miles Cuban Cafe is an authentic Cuban restaurant in Chicago's Roscoe Village, run by Alberto Gonzalez — a Cuban exile who arrived via the 1980 Mariel Boatlift and opened the restaurant in 2008 using his grandmother's recipes. Guy Fieri visited for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to try Alberto's signature slow-braised chicken and roasted pork, both built on classic Havana flavours.

• ·Fricase de Pollo (Chicken Fricassee) — chicken rubbed with achiote, oregano, and seasoned salt, seared then slow-braised in a sofrito of peppers, garlic, cumin, tomato paste, potatoes, and green olives; served with yellow rice and sweet plantains; "you get the brine and the acid of the olive, then you get the chicken, the pan drippings, that sauce that it cooks in — oh, outrageous"
• ·Sweet plantains — fried alongside the fricassee and used to round out the plate; "if you grab a piece of sweet plantain and mix it all together, that seals it — the olives are the key, that's what seals the deal"
• ·Lechon Asado (Roasted Pork) — pork butt rubbed with prunes, guava, sugar cane, ham, and sour orange, slow-roasted for 5 hours at 350°F then shredded; served with white rice, black beans, plantains, and caramelized onions; "the pork has so many complex flavors — you built flavor upon flavor"
• ·Black beans — Alberto's grandmother's recipe; "a very rich dish, a little bit on the sweet side... you need this balance of the rice and the beans to parlay it all together"

Guy's verdict: deeply authentic Cuban comfort food that makes you feel transported straight to Havana. He called the Fricase de Pollo "outrageous" and "money," crediting the briny green olives as the ingredient that ties the whole dish together. The slow-roasted pork — built up with prunes, guava, and sugar cane — drew a one-word verdict from Alberto: "divino." A rare DDD visit where the food matched the story behind it.

About

90 Miles Cuban Cafe is a beloved Cuban comfort food restaurant in Chicago's Roscoe Village, founded in 2008 by Alberto Gonzalez — a Cuban exile who arrived via the 1980 Mariel Boatlift. Built on his grandmother's recipes, the restaurant serves classic Havana-style dishes in a warm, neighbourhood setting, earning a loyal following and a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives feature.