Home Cuban Cafe in Old City shutters

Once you’ve been in the restaurant business for a long time, as Dairys Mayoral said, “You know when things are not good.”

The last several months at Home Cuban Cafe had been especially hard, as she juggled her family life and the daily grind at the Old City restaurant, which brought Cuban coffee, tostones, Cuban sandwiches, and platters to Third and Church Streets in late 2021.

This week, with the lease about to expire, she announced its closing, effective immediately.

Thursday morning, as she met with her landlords to tie up loose ends, a stream of neighbors stopped to rap on the front window to wish her goodbye. Tears followed each wave. Comments on the shop’s last Instagram post were poignant: “I knew it would be special from day one,” wrote one. “You made it so. Congratulations for winning over so many hearts with your food and your hospitality.” Another: “Oh I am so saddened!!! Your space was warm and delicious and felt like home in the buzz of urban hive.”

Mayoral got hugs from Charlie and Deborah Vaturi, who own the building. “Great tenant, but you know how things are,” said Charlie Vaturi, who owned the long-gone Charlie’s Pub, which was across the street until 2011.

Mayoral said she would next work with a friend at his pizzeria, Hunnypie, in Springfield, Delaware County. She said it’s not clear if her food will be included on the menu.

Mayoral, 45, grew up near Havana and immigrated to the United States in 1994. She owned a Cuban restaurant in Naples, Fla., for two decades before moving to Philadelphia when one of her daughters chose to attend college in Philadelphia.

She opened Home Cuban in a former candy shop with her cousin Danae Peraza. After Peraza left, the work fell to Mayoral. “Everything was on top of me,” Mayoral said. “I was fine but I noticed that the business was starting to go down and I was in a point that I was taking out savings. I’m like, ‘No, this is not working.’ So let’s just shut the door.”