New eatery brings Cuban cuisine to C-Street

Cuban cuisine has arrived on Commercial Street with the opening of La Habana Vieja.

The 220 E. Commercial St. eatery opened June 3 and is the concept of chef-owner Michael Frazier and business partners Ted Tabor and Freddie Flores.

Frazier said he relocated to Springfield from his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, in November 2020 with the intent of opening a Cuban restaurant – a longtime interest of Tabor, who also owns the building. The restaurant occupies roughly 6,500 square feet and has a 10-person staff, Frazier said, declining to disclose the venture’s startup costs.

Frazier said he has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry. He most recently owned a Brooklyn restaurant, Curry Modern Caribbean Experience, for nearly two years. He shuttered it early last year, he said, noting the New York City restaurant scene struggled mightily last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“It seemed like things were aligned,” he said, of the decision to exit his eatery. “If we were still opened during the pandemic, it might have been more of a devastating situation.”

A family friend reached out to Frazier last year to have him consider Springfield as a spot to resume his restaurant career.

“I got a call to come check out Springfield and things went from there,” he said, noting he had never visited the city before last year. “At that time with the situation in New York, anything was appealing.”

Cooking Cuban and Caribbean food comes naturally to Frazier, he said, adding his father’s side of the family is Cuban-Jamaican.

“We’re trying to reimagine how Cuba was when it had full access to the rest of the world,” he said, referring to the United States’ ongoing trade embargo with the country. “So our menu is shooting to reflect that.”

Entrees include pescado escabeche diablo, which is monkfish cooked in a spicy broth, and a deconstructed Cuban sandwich, dubbed raclette Cubano. Prices range $17-$31, according to its menu.

La Habana Viejo, which translates to “Old Havana,” is the newest addition to eclectic cuisine served at restaurants on C-Street. Others include Cafe Cusco LLC, That Lebanese Place and Van Gogh’s Eeterie.