A new spot for Cuban food has opened on a busy road near Columbia. Here’s where
There’s a new restaurant featuring the flavors of Cuba in the Midlands.
Caribe Cuban Cafe recently debuted at 3813 Augusta Road in West Columbia. That’s about two miles west of Interstate 26, near the US 1 Metro Flea Market. The restaurant opened its doors in late October.
“On behalf of the entire team at Caribe Cuban Cafe, we want to thank you,” the restaurant said in a Nov. 1 Facebook post. “Your support, your smiles, and your love for our Cuban food means the world to us. Every visit, every kind word and every dish shared inspires us to continue with passion.
The menu at Caribe includes a host of Cuban delicacies, including churrasco, which is a grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, and ropa vieja, which is slow-braised shredded beef in tomato sauce. The restaurant also has, among other items, sweet plantains, ham croquettes, chicken fricassee and much more.
This reporter grabbed a Cuban sandwich during a recent lunch stop, enjoying it at the bar as Latin music played on a nearby radio. The sandwich comes stuffed with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, on warm, pressed bread.
The section of Augusta Road where Caribe has set up shop is a busy West Columbia thoroughfare that serves as a main connector between Lexington and Columbia. More than 30,000 cars travel down that stretch of Augusta Road, per state Department of Transportation statistics.
Caribe is the second Cuban restaurant to open in the Midlands in the last several weeks. The Cuban Corner also recently debuted at 1212 Hampton St. in the Main Street District in downtown Columbia.
This story was originally published November 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM.
