Arahi’s Bakery | Cuban Eats in Little Havana

Start Your Day Here

Plenty of Miami’s Cuban cafes stay open very late. But hungry early birds don’t enjoy so wide a choice. El Palacio de los Jugos opens at 6am. Arahi’s Bakery beats that by an hour. It opens its doors seven days a week at 5am. Inside you will find some of the most satisfying, casual Cuban eats in Little Havana.

Bread and Pastries!

One reason I put it high on my list of recommended Miami restaurants is that its bakery turns out very yummy bread and pastries. Not to mention that it serves coffee strong enough to raise the dead. Great, lightweight Cuban bread loaves emerge from the ovens just hours before the shop opens. Hot breakfasts come with lengths of it that are toasted and buttered. These fragile torpedoes want nothing but a few shots of sugared Cuban coffee to become a satisfying two-dollar breakfast.

Among sweet pastries, I love the puffy pasteles, filled with sticky-sweet fruit. Chivaritos (like a crisper churro) flake at first touch. Warning: do not try to eat one in the car! Chivaritos pack enough sweetness that straight black coffee makes a fine companion. No need for extra sugar.

Food Is An International Language

Finally, I love this place because it is so truly hospitable. Despite the fact that the staff does not speak good English and I don’t speak good Spanish, we enjoyed trying to communicate with each other. Even when the morning rush of take-out customers begins to flood the place, waitresses make sure to cheerfully attend to those of us seated at tables. And when they and I hit an impasse and simply can’t understand one another, they search among regular customers and invariably locate one who knows enough of both languages to translate.

All in all, coming to Arahi’s is a wonderful taste of Cuban eats in Little Havana. It’s fun and delicious and ridiculously inexpensive.