After 9 months of closing, Miguel Karmache would love to go to a restaurant in Havana, but discouraged by the prices, he shares a bottle of tequila with his friends on the rocks. "Even in Dubai the prices are not so high," he says.
"Of course I would like to sit down there," adds the 30-year-old, referring to the Bom Apetite restaurant located a few meters down the seafront, where about twenty customers were sitting and enjoying their meal.
"But I can not (…), my salary does not allow me."
For the past ten days, bars and restaurants in much of the country and in Havana have reopened after being closed since January due to the pandemic.
However, after the joy caused by this good news, came the chill: outrageous prices that even made many people post photos from their accounts on social media, with incredible comments.
Miguel Karache, a construction worker, quickly put it down and preferred to sit on the rocks in front of the sea with his friends. "When I get 3.000 pesos a month (about $ 125) and the beer makes 150 (about $ 6) can I go here (to the restaurant)? No. "It's crazy, even in Dubai the prices are not so high." 
"Somewhat exaggerated"
Carrie Merlin, a 36-year-old doctor sitting at tables outside the restaurant, is enjoying her first outing with her friend Alexis Fernandez, also a doctor, after the restaurants reopened.
"We know very well that there are people who can not afford it, and there are times when we can not," he admits. "The prices are a bit excessive", adds Alexis.
Announcing "a necessary reopening", Interior Minister Betsy Dias underlined the "complexity of the situation" due to the "shortage of basic products" and warned that "prices" would be "different".
Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis since 1993, due to a pandemic that has deprived it of its driving force, tourism, and the strengthening of the US embargo.
As a result, the authorities drastically reduced their imports, which exacerbated food and medicine shortages. Also, the monetary reform adopted in January certainly increased wages, but prices rose even more.
Moraima Canberra, 59, owner of Bom Apetite, admits: its prices are "a bit high". However, "they are not the most expensive" among the restaurants on the beach road, she adds, citing the most affordable dish of her restaurant, Neapolitan pizza, which is charged for an amount corresponding to 8 dollars.
The bottle of tequila that Miguel bought on the street with his friends cost him 700 pesos ($ 29). Beachfront restaurants charge $ 100, or $ 13 less than the minimum wage.
And "prices (…) change every day, unfortunately", so "if today the price (of pork) increases, tomorrow I have to increase my prices", Moraima explains. 
Pork, a kind of luxury
According to official figures, pork, a common dish in Cuban restaurants, has seen its price soar in recent years from 35 to 130 pesos (453,5 grams), a price that is now prohibitive for majority of Cubans.
Pork has become "a luxury food item", economist Pedro Montreal recently wrote on Twitter.
In addition to the shortages, bar and restaurant owners also face a puzzle with currencies: in order to procure raw materials, they have to import them in foreign currency or buy them in wholesale stores, where it is necessary to pay by card in freely convertible currency.
But dollars are hard to find in banks and foreign exchange offices.
"We have to look for dollars on the black market" where they sell for 65 pesos each, while the official exchange rate is 24 pesos, and "then sell (our product) in national currency at a high price," otherwise "we do not go out," he said. Arturo Sanchez, 26, who runs a bar.
This is enough to increase inflation, which is expected to be between 400 and 500% this year.
The only hope on the horizon is the reopening, from November 15, of the country's gates to foreign tourists, who will be able to pay.
"We all count the days until then," according to Moraima.
in.gr