Sancti Spíritus: DiTú reopens at unpayable prices

Sancti Spíritus/The SayYouthose small establishments that sought to compete in Cuba with large American fast food chains such as McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken, have been synonymous with decadence for years. Now, the Palmares Extrahotel Company, which manages the most legendary tourist establishments on the Island – expropriated after 1959 – such as the Tropicana cabaret, La Bodeguita del Medio or the Floridita bar, has proposed reviving the network.

The one that just opened in Sancti Spíritus, just a few days ago, on the Carretera Central corner Paseo Marcos García, was announced by the state firm itself – which belongs to the Cubasol group, dependent on the Ministry of Tourism – with great fanfare. “The news that all the people of Sancti Spiritus have been waiting for! It fills us with great joy to announce that from today we open the doors of the beloved DiTú again,” they wrote on their networks on July 13.

“For a ‘chavito’ you would eat ten croquettes and for 90 cents you would have a beer”

The information added that the opening was part of “the actions for the summer and in greeting to July 26.” And it promised: “We return completely renewed, ready to be your favorite stop this summer and with two big surprises”, the installation of solar panels as a source of energy and “star offers, crunchy, delicious and designed with the highest quality to delight even the most demanding palates in the family.”

Inaugurated when Cuba opened up to dollarization in the 90s, the DiTú became part of the popular imagination after disappearing, as a symbol of what could be acquired with the extinct convertible peso. “For a chavito you ate ten croquettes and for 90 cents you had a beer,” recalls a retiree from Sancti Spiritus.

Judging by the testimonies of the neighbors who responded to the call, the renovated establishment cannot cause greater disappointment. “The offers are almost the same as before, the same snacks“, the same famous croquettes, the same fried chicken wings, everything,” says Mayra, adding the fundamental but: “At prices that have us all talking.”

Chicken wings at 2,500 pesos, ham croquettes at 1,500 or some simple fries at 700 pesos are some of the foods offered. The table ranges from an espresso coffee, for 200 pesos, to the “Table Di Tú”, a sort of varied menu, for 4,500.

“A lot of new uniform, a lot of standing there looking to see what you want, but with those prices of for God’s sakefew people are going to come,” Mayra laments, pointing out the employees’ vigilance over the curious people who hang around the place.