OK, you gotta meet this mom and her son. And eat that chicken.
Marinated 24 hours in Cuban spices and roasted, it’s one of the things that made Sandra Cardet the most popular mom on her block. Her house was the one you passed slower, did some roasted-chicken breathwork. Also the ripe plantains, fried until sweet and sticky and fluffy inside like a caramelized french fry with more heft and gusto.
This is Havana Grill. Cuban comfort food done right in San Diego.
And this is SDM‘s Guide to San Diego Food + Drink. Favorite dishes, drinks, places, things found across the city by food editor and longtime Food Network judge, Troy Johnson. From moms and pops to Michelin stars and city icons—the stories of the people who make the food + drink culture hum.
“We’re not gimmicky,” says Sandra, whose family moved from Cuba to Pacific Beach when she was 12. “This is not like Disneyland kind of stuff. We wanted people to feel like they were eating on a patio in Havana.”
One night during the pandemic, she and her son Alex Guevara were watching a chef movie, and he said, “You could do that.” Sandra—who became one of the only women stockbrokers allowed on the top floors at one of New York’s most famed firms, then formed her own construction company—seems to wallop challenges.
Only slight hiccup is they had no idea what they were doing. “It was terrifying, I had to sell my car to finish the construction,” she says. “We made all the mistakes,” says Alex. “It was like painting a moving bus.”
But Sandra’s food was too good (also try the lechon). And she and Alex as hosts—funny, alive, hilarious bickerers—are kind of a show on their own.
Their first location in Kearny Mesa became a runaway hit. Fresh out of challenges, they doubled down in Mission Valley. Sandra headed up the design and construction. They added fancy designer desserts that look like Chef’s Table art and don’t abuse the sugar bowl.
“It’s brought us closer as a family, which is strange because I thought we’d just end up fighting like cats and dogs,” says Alex. “But the final product was better food and a better relationship with my mom.
