A Taste of Cuba . . . in Florida

Details: Cuba in Florida

IN MIAMI:

El Pub (1548 SW Eighth St. ) offers hearty meals at diner prices ($5 to $13 per entree). There's an extensive list of daily specials and even American selections (hamburgers, tuna salad, BLT) for the faint of heart.

Yuca (501 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach ) is a great restaurant for people-watching with large windows looking out over Lincoln Road Mall and outdoor tables. Decor is stylish and minimalist while food is complex, delicious and pricey. Dinner entrees range from $24 to $40. In addition to a mojito, try Hatuey, a Cuban beer named after a Taino Indian chief. It's light but not "lite."

For shopping, Calle Ocho (Eighth Street), the heart of Little Havana, is the place for excellent Cuban art. There are several galleries and studios, including

Maxoly (1600 SW Eighth St. ,

www.maxoly.com)

, a well-lit space with a permanent collection and a current exhibit of Cuban masters.

Domino Park (SW Eighth Street and 16th Avenue), formally Maximo Gomez Park, is worth a stop. It's a meeting place for retired residents, where a game of dominoes is a social event.

Memorial Boulevard (13th Avenue, off SW Eighth St.) is a parkway dotted with monuments, including an eternal flame honoring the heroes of the Bay of Pigs, a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, a memorial to poet and revolutionary Jose Marti, and an enormous ceiba tree where offerings to saints are often placed.

IN KEY WEST:

El Siboney (900 Catherine St.), named after a Cuban Indian tribe, is as close to Cuban home cooking as it gets.

B's Restaurant (1500 Bertha St.) isn't named for the street it's on but for the matriarch in the Cubria family, Bertha, who still makes the desserts (flan,