{"id":307296,"date":"2024-08-11T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=307296"},"modified":"2024-08-11T11:00:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:00:18","slug":"menu-cuba-a-collaborative-directory-of-gastronomic-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/menu-cuba-a-collaborative-directory-of-gastronomic-offers\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u00fa Cuba, a collaborative directory of gastronomic offers"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a vacation trip to Varadero in 2020, Brisbany Recio collected the menus of the establishments he visited in the beach resort to have the offers on future visits. That personal interest, which later spread to other bars, restaurants and cafes in Havana, was the seed of what is today <\/span>Men\u00fa Cuba<\/b><\/a>, a digital community that allows access to the gastronomic offers of hundreds of establishments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerging in 2021 and hosted on the <\/span>Telegram<\/b><\/a> messaging app, very popular on the island at the time, Men\u00fa Cuba now functions as a collaborative directory: it is the users who send the information to be shared with the community. Even in the comments on the posts, they express opinions about the quality of the service and recommend the best offers.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, Recio, 26, did not think it was a business nor did he even suspect the reach it would have. \u201cOnce I made the channel public in September 2021, a lot of people started to be interested. There was a massive subscription because it was during the period when the quarantine was lifted in Havana and many places were reopening with new prices and offers. People were very interested in checking out the menus,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, Men\u00fa Cuba has not stopped growing. The prices of more than 300 bars, restaurants and cafes in Havana and other provinces are displayed. Currently, it has almost 22,000 subscribers on Telegram and a little more than 14,000 on <\/span>Instagram<\/b><\/a>, a community created some time later. It was precisely the emergence of this social media that made Brisbany and his boyfriend and partner, Bryant D\u00edaz, see the potential that Men\u00fa Cuba had to be, in addition to a collaborative public service, a business capable of guaranteeing its sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brisbany
Brisbany Recio, creator of Men\u00fa Cuba, confesses that everything arose from a personal interest in knowing the offers. Photo: Osvaldo Pupo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLittle by little we started creating promotional content for the places, based on our own experiences. Thanks to the fact that we did quite well and had reach, many establishments were interested in collaborating with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not interested in making gastronomic reviews or foodie content, but rather showing the offers so that those interested do not see only the menu. They can also have images, some comment on the environment of the place, the hours, the characteristics,\u201d Brisbany explaines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFoodies\u201d en Cuba: recomendando restaurantes en redes a pesar del desabastecimiento<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n