A bit of Havana is coming to an already-established restaurant, Pineapple Ink Tavern in the heart of downtown Augusta.
The Broad Street eatery will have an invitation-only soft opening this week and a grand reopening for the general public on Wednesday, July 6.
Pineapple Ink Tavern is changing to have a more Cuban-inspired menu and design. The new menu has been carefully curated to bring in flavors locals enjoy while also giving a proper nod to owner Allan Soto’s Cuban heritage.
“We are very excited to share Pineapple Ink’s new concept with Augusta. My hope was to create a new experience for our locals while still being the downtown establishment they know and love. I think our new concept will do just that,” said Soto, who owns numerous properties in Georgia and the Carolinas.
Several factors prompted the changes in the restaurant.
“We were running in the midst of COVID… I wanted to do something I felt more passionate about. Being Cuban, I felt the Cuban cuisine was more part of my upbringing…Also, the closest other Cuban places are two or more hours away in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Savannah,” Soto said.
He said they also wanted to expand the food scene in Augusta.
Soto said, “When you do something, you want it to be something you are passionate about.”
“Also, I think Augusta is becoming more culturally diverse… There’s us… a Ramen place (and more). It is the melting pot experience,” Soto said.
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Mendy DeMine was a driving force behind the restaurant’s new décor. She commissioned three oil paintings on the right side of the restaurant. The paintings serve a special purpose in showing the owner’s Cuban connections.
“One painting is of my parents’ building in Cuba. Another is of the Freedom Tower, which is like the Ellis Island of Miami,” Soto said.
The third is of a building in Augusta with ties to Paine College.
The Cuban-influenced aspects continue throughout the restaurant. Green palm leaves are shown in one new mural to the left of the bar.
“Cuban culture has a lot of florals and greenery,” DeMine said.
They brought in the feel of Miami with the addition of neon lights including creating a neon sign with the restaurant’s logo — a butcher knife cutting a pineapple.
Brick was added to some of the flooring to give it more of a Cuban look.
“This was to emulate that terra cotta look,” DeMine said.
She said the cooler to the back left of the restaurant could not have Cuban or Spanish tiles affixed to it. Therefore, they used linoleum on it with a tile-like pattern emblazoned with the restaurant’s favorite icon, the pineapple.
Above the bar, there is even a large piece of décor, which DeMine said harkens back to the trade embargo in Cuba, a piece of décor which was not completely ready Tuesday. But one hint is that it may “drive” customers wild. Guests will just have to see it at the soft opening or grand re-opening.
Pineapple Ink Tavern still has the bar with cocktails and beer like before the remodel, but there is more of a Cuban influence there as well.
“We beefed up our rum selections,” Soto said.
At the bar, they also sell cigars that can be smoked outside the restaurant.
Chef Daniel Hill, who trained under a James Beard award-winning chef, has more than 20 years of experience.
Pineapple Ink Tavern has been remodeling the restaurant and making changes in décor since January 2022, temporarily closing earlier this year.
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Soto said they gutted the kitchen, took out booths and put more seating in, focusing on tables – mostly spaced in a row in the middle of the restaurant.
This was to make the restaurant more social, more like the Cuban culture, he said.
The pineapple, which is part of the restaurant’s name, has often symbolized hospitality in many cultures. In fact, according to their website, Pineapple Ink Tavern was established with hospitality as the focal point of everything they do. Soto said the “ink tavern” part of the restaurant’s name comes from the art scene.
For more information on Pineapple Ink’s reopening, see its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pineappleinktavern
Pineapple Ink Tavern’s new menu:
Shareables
Wings (mojo, hot, chili rub, naked) mojo or chimichurri sauce
Croquetas (ham, chicken, mac and cheese) w/garlic aioli
Empanadas (picadillo, chicken or pork, cheese)
Midnight sliders (mojo pork, ham, mustard mayo blend, swiss cheese, pickle, on sweet rolls)
Brussels (cotija cheese, tajin, aioli)
Mains
Churrasco (8 ounce CAB skirt steak w/congri)
Lechon Asado (braised shredded pork with crispy pork fat and skin w/separated congri)
Pollo a la plancha (pineapple chicken w/white rice and pineapple chutney)
Shrimp and Grits (Shrimp over polenta w/chorizo gravy)
Cuban Sandwich (pulled pork, ham, Swiss, pickle, mustard/mayo bend on Cuban bread)
Double Double (2 CAB patties, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, American Cheese, special sauce)
Arroz De Camarons (shrimp skewer w/rum garlic butter served with yellow rice)
Sides
Tostones (mashed plantines)
Arroz Amorillo (yellow rice)
Frijoles Negro ( black beans)
Congri (rice and beans)
French Fries
Desserts
Flan
