1325 Key Highway Baltimore, MD 21230

I often wonder why there are songs written about how Monday is drag such as The Mamas and The Papas "Monday, Monday" or The Bangles "Just Another Manic Monday," when I think Sunday is much more of a drag then Monday. Don’t get me wrong, I hate Mondays as much as the next working Joe. It is just that Sunday has this melancholy finality about it. It is the day of the weekend that mocks you. It says, "Ha, Ha you have off today but guess what I’m the end of it all. Time to sober up and do laundry." I think it is for this reason that the National Football League chose Sunday as the day for all its action. It gives us a distraction from the fact that the dreaded work week looms in mere hours. I also think this is why restaurants invented brunch.

When I was a kid and had never attended a brunch before I thought the word meant broken lunch. It wasn’t until middle school that I discovered that it was a meal served during the middle of the day on Sunday. My parents went through a stage where they liked to go to brunch after church when I was in seventh grade. I finally discovered brunch was an excuse to drink orange juice mixed with champagne and tomato juice with vodka during my college years. And it wasn’t until recently that I realized brunch is an excuse to drink away the Sunday blues.

Recently I attended brunch at Little Havana, for a friend’s birthday and to escape the mound of laundry I needed to do. Little Havana is an unassuming restaurant located on the Southeastern edge of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor along Key Highway. Its name as I’m sure you have figured out suggest a Cuban theme. If the name didn’t tip you off to the theme then the Rojas vs. Zapata mural will do the job. If not that then maybe the wrought iron railings or faux corrugated steel roof of the bar. Beyond the decor that tries to simulate the feel of the developing country just ninety miles south of Florida is a menu that tries to replicate the taste of Cuba. The brunch menu is populated with items such as Havana Style Eggs, Spanish Style Eggs, Cuban Scrambled Eggs, Fried Eggs Cuban Style, and a Cuban Sandwich just in case you forgot you were in a Cuban restaurant.

I opted for the Spanish Style Eggs, and I advise anyone that attends the brunch at Little Havana to stay away from the eggs. I’m sorry to say that they were not really scrambled to my liking. It was as it I had balls of scrambled eggs mixed with tough little shrimp, and a very small amount of ham. After seeing the burgers that many of my friends ordered I regretted deciding on the "br" instead of the "unch" part of this meal. The Little Havana hot sauce didn’t even doctor up the eggs enough to make me want to clear my plate. Although my meal was lack luster, my experience was not all bad.

Little Havana offers their brunch for the small price of $14.95, which includes bottomless pitchers of Mimosas and Bloody Marys from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. I suggest the Mimosa, unless you like your Bloody Marys to only taste like tomato juice. I think during the three-hour span I spent there I downed at least six Mimosas, if not more. I felt as if I was drinking for free, and this is what makes brunch at Little Havana worthwhile. You can drink to your hearts content for only fifteen dollars plus tip, and they don’t rush you out when you are done your meal. You can just stick around, order more pitchers, and play shuffle board. It is a cheap way to chase away the Sunday doldrums. Whatever you do stay away from the eggs.

Tags: Baltimore, little havana