An Alhambra architect is hoping to open a Cuban restaurant in
Westwood next spring, but he may face an uphill battle because of a
dance floor drawn into the plans.
The history of dancing in the Village is a turbulent one, with
homeowners and other community leaders butting heads with store
owners who believed they could manage the hoards of students
looking for entertainment on the weekends.
Leo Prats, who owns Cuban Bistro on Alhambra’s Main
Street, said his vision for a Westwood store infuses upscale dining
with a homemade taste and a splash of Latin culture.
Live salsa music and dancing, along with classic drinks such as
mojitos and margaritas, are an integral part of that concept, Prats
said.
“If we don’t get the music and entertainment part of
it, we probably will not take that place,” he said.
The restaurant is planned for Weyburn Avenue next to
Jerry’s Famous Deli and would have a capacity of between 150
and 200 people, Prats said. It would have two bars ““ one
adjacent to the main dining room at street level and a second in
the basement.
Prats said Saturday the date for a public hearing to determine
what uses will be allowed has not yet been scheduled. Dancing
establishments in the Village are prohibited unless a zoning
administrator approves them.
Sandy Brown, president of the Holmby-Westwood Property Owners
Association, said establishments that offer dancing in Westwood
tend to get “out of control.”
The closure of Duet Restaurant and Nightclub in the Village four
years ago serves as an example, she said.
Duet sparred with community leaders repeatedly after allowing
dancing without a permit and closed after being cited for
overcrowding on multiple occasions.
“There is no enforcement; there is no crowd control. Even
though all of these things are supposed to happen, they
don’t,” Brown said.
While Alhambra’s Cuban Bistro is nestled in an area dotted
with night clubs, the restaurant’s atmosphere is subdued,
said Prats, who lived in Cuba until he was 14.
This past Saturday, the crowd at the bar was mixed, with older
patrons sipping colorful drinks as young dancers took to the
floor.
Alex Ramos, a third-year pre-med student at Pasadena City
College, was one of the first to arrive for Saturday’s salsa
scene. He said Cuban Bistro is “totally different than other
nightclubs” and that the atmosphere is lively but
respectful.
Salsa dancing and drinks with names such as “Hurricane
Leo,” named after Prats, contribute to the ambiance. But they
serve mainly to complement the food, which is the
restaurant’s real focus, Prats said while sitting in an
office behind the kitchen as sounds of frying, clinking plates and
salsa music wafted through the doorway.
“We don’t sell mojitos by the pitcher. We
don’t sell draft beer. We’re not that kind of bar. …
We’re not going to be the place full of students at happy
hour, drinking,” he said.
Servers card all customers who look young and want to buy
alcohol, and bartenders check identification for every patron,
Prats said. He adds that he plans to raise drink prices at the
Westwood location so students won’t feel encouraged to visit
just for the alcohol.
For Prats, Cuba is “the island,” and the restaurant
business is about culture.
A Cuban flag is draped against one wall in Alhambra, and the
menu is a mix of dishes intended to taste like those his mother
cooked. They are the flavor of the island’s west side, Prats
said.
Entrees are priced between $11 and $18, and include cuts of meat
from skirt steak to pork touched off with fried plantains, white
rice, black beans and a variety of sauces such as a citrus juice
blend.
Two of Prats’ three daughters help manage the business.
They recently closed a second Cuban Bistro located in Glendale and
are hoping to transfer the staff who worked there to the Westwood
location, which would have a different name and a shorter menu.
Prats lives on the west side and remembers frequenting the
Village with his wife in the 1970s. He said he believes in a few
years, Westwood will be “the happening place it was”
then.
But while renovations on the Village store may begin within the
next month, he said he’s being careful not to invest too much
in a project that may not see fruition.
“Westwood is where we want to be. (But) it’s so
conservative there, so hard to do anything in that part of
town,” he said.
“It’s going to be tough convincing them that
it’s not a night club,” he added.
Brown has been involved in Village planning for decades and
believes even restaurant owners with the best intentions
can’t mold Westwood’s character to fit their visions.
She said she “absolutely would oppose” a restaurant in
Westwood like the one Prats is proposing.
“I don’t think they work in Alhambra the way they do
in Westwood Village … The minute you put it in Westwood Village,
it’s just a different animal,” she said.