A while back, this new restaurant opened up over at ATC called Cuban Revolution. I know... poor taste, right? Or perhaps you don't care. Or perhaps you actually are, say, Cuban American. Then I think you'd have a serious right to be offended. There's been a lot of back & forth in comments both at Carpe Durham and Bull City Rising. Some have been a bit over-heated. Some have been incredibly stupid. The winner in that category was the guy who started taking people to task for being angry over the name of the restaurant, which is "a matter of free speech and expression." Let's pause and admire that logic. 1) Choosing a name for your business is a matter of free speech but complaining about that name is... what? A violation of free speech? An abuse of free speech? Censorship? 2) Yes, he really referenced free speech and expression in an argument about the legacy of the Cuban revolution.
The best comment I read was one that suggested that it's the fact that Cuba is little known and exotic due to the travel ban and that allows people to project these fantasies about Cuban life. The funniest was the person who suggested that some of the people defending Cuban Revolution online might have a different opinion of an Italian restaurant that was serving Mussolinguini.
I went and checked out the Cuban Revolution website. (Odd fact: the original version is in Providence, RI. Today, Rhode Island... tomorrow, Durham?) As you can see, CR has all the depth and political insight of a Che t-shirt. I kinda feel like I've already spent more time thinking about their theme than they have.
next...
I was so disappointed ... and yes, pissed off ... when I discovered it was to be a restaurant and not an actual revolution. They have no right to tease me that way.
> Cuban Revolution.
I just realized that there are two new downtown restaurants with "Revolution" in their names. Coincidence or conspiracy? Ask Raul.
>Or perhaps you actually are, say, Cuban American. Then I think you'd have a serious right to be offended.
Just please don't open the Filipino Dog House.
>The funniest was the person who suggested that some of the people defending Cuban Revolution online might have a different opinion of an Italian restaurant that was serving Mussolinguini.
Or the Musselini.
>I went and checked out the Cuban Revolution website. (Odd fact: the original version is in Providence, RI. Today, Rhode Island... tomorrow, Durham?)
Twenty years and two months ago I did the same thing. Providence RI (graduation, baby!) then Durham. Two days later, I was in Indonesia. A tiring week.
That said -- parts of Providence do real good by their food.
1. Ms. Pants wins the internets
2. No dissing of the Providence food scene (of which I know nothing but I have friends there and they seem to eat) should be implied. Merely that the RI-to-NC business expansion strategy seemed a bit quixotic.
Clearly Cuban Revolution needs to open a branch in Indonesia.
Cuban Revolution is one of our fair city's great places, and we have lots of great places here. And I don't believe I've ever heard anyone react to the name that way. But then, this is Rhode Island, not America, so all bets are off.
Cuban Revolution in RI may be the bestest place ever, but the owner in Durham seems to have strange ideas about how to attract business:
http://www.bullcityrising.com/2009/07/cuban-revolution-faces-social-media-buzz-tumult-over-one-groups-experience.html#more
Apparently last week a group of about 30 professionals had a meeting there. The owner thought they were bad customers -- they weren't rowdy or anything, there were just too many of them? Not everyone ordered a full meal? I'm not sure what the problem was actually -- and the morning after the owner called the meeting organizer and threatened to arrest them for trespassing if any of them ever went there again. Unfortunately for the restaurant, the guy who received this threat has a lot of friends and knows how to use Facebook.
Combine this PR disaster with the mediocre reviews the restaurant has been getting, and I don't think we'll be debating name "Cuban Revolution" for much longer. (In fairness, I didn't read any reviews before the event, and afterwards reviews may be tainted by people's anger over what happened. Still, the reviews are pretty bad.)