After 6 Years, Williamsburg Staple 'Cubana Social' Shuts Its Doors

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — After six years in the neighborhood, or what is essentially an eternity in Williamsburg years, the community staple Cubana Social is closing its doors to sighs of disappointment and heartbreak.

The restaurant and club that offered locally sourced Cuban food and live music performances on N. 6th Street has its last day this Saturday.

It was just too expensive to stay open, Christina Bouza, the founder and owner of the restaurant, told Patch. Cubana Social's lease ended December 31, and Bouza would have had to pay three times the current rent if she renewed the lease, she said.

Bouza explained that a rent increase of 300 percent was actually less of a surge than Bouza and her staff were anticipating because market-rate rents in the neighborhood have lowered in the past year due to the impending L train shutdown.

Cubana Social was established in 2008 in a Williamsburg with decidedly fewer towering condo buildings and a big ugly whole in the ground that had no idea it would eventually become a massive Whole Foods.

Bouza opened the business when she was just 26 with a whole-hearted mission of serving local organic food at accessible prices to everyone, including people of color, and paying good money to musicians who wanted to come and perform live, she said. She wanted the lower income Latinos of South Williamsburg to be able to enjoy her beans and rice as much as new waves of gentrifiers, she told Patch.

But Bouza was ultimately unable to feasibly do that in Williamsburg. It wasn't financially sustainable in a climate of what she calls "extreme gentrification" in New York City to charge an affordable price for food and still be able to pay the landlord.

The point of Cubana Social for Bouza was to cultivate a tight-knit sense of community among locals who wanted to celebrate Cuban food together. Bouza said she's received dozens of letters from people who were regulars at Cubana Social and from customers who said the restaurant was an irreplaceable part of their lives.

"We have a couple who met here, had their first date here, got married here, and they just had their anniversary here," Bouza said. "Those are the people for whom I feel really bad about closing."

Bouza made it a priority to keep Cubana Social a safe space for LGBTQ people and people of all races and religions, she emphasized to Patch. She hired over 100 LGBTQ staff members and made sure they could aesthetically express themselves in whichever ways they felt comfortable, she said.

But the community Bouza cultivated has, for the most part, been priced out of Williamsburg.

"When I opened Cubana Social, I felt like I was here long-term, my family and friends are here long-term, but it's just changed so dramatically," Bouza said. "My friends and staff don't live in Williamsburg anymore. Everyone has moved out to South Slope, Long Island City, Jersey, and the Bronx."

"Certainly I could cater to Australian and European tourists, who are who live in Williamsburg now, but I'm interested in nurturing a community."

The colossal rent increase was compounded by Bouza's many other Williamsburg-related expenses, including new fines imposed by the city's Department of Health, pricey taxes, and insurance, she said.

The 32-year-old entrepreneur is working on what she calls a "new model" for a business that's more financially sustainable. She isn't sure what or where that new model will be, but it's unlikely it will be anywhere in New York City, she said. She believes the cycle of gentrification will happen all over again wherever she moves in the metro area.

"Gentrification is colonialism, and the cycle is happening everywhere."

But whatever Bouza does next, her values go with her, which are to embrace and celebrate live performance, and to figure out how to best preserve and honor cultural Cuban artistic traditions and pass down intergenerational recipes, she said. Most of the food Cubana Social serves are dishes made from her grandmother's recipes, who was born in Cuba.

As Bouza wrote in her goodbye letter to the community, "May the friendships and recipes live on, and the mission of Cubana Social continue to evolve, as we work in new forms to strengthen community and resist oppression through sustainable food sovereignty, radical embrace of joyful music & dance, and wildly diverse interdependent togetherness. From this soil, may we blossom."

Cubana Social will have its official last day on Saturday, Dec. 17, and Friday night will as well be packed with performances and support for local charitable organizations on Friday.

Here is the official schedule:

Friday, Dec. 16: JAVIER EL POLLO w/ Guataca SALSA feat. Charly Schwartz on Timbales, Joshua Levine & Special Guests Live @ 8, 9, 10pm // DJ RIOBAMBA (Apocalypsis) electrópico til Late // *With love for Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls...
Saturday, Dec. 17: SALSONDRIA feat. Obanilu Allende, Marc Torres, & Danny Odria Live @ 9, 10, & 11pm // DJ DANITO & Special Guest! salsa & tropical til 4am // Come early for dinner as we will be standing room only after 10pm // *With love for El Puente - Peace, Justice, Wellness & Sustainability in Williamsburg’s Los Sures

Photo credit: Cubana Social