Que Rico! Cuban Café, the Slidell spot that turned cafecito, pressed sandwiches and pork plates into a cross-lake pilgrimage, is closing its dining room. The restaurant’s fans in St. Tammany Parish and New Orleans now have only a short runway for takeout and catering before this chapter ends.
Owners Richard Rivera and Iderlin Donna Rivera announced the shutdown, according to NOLA.com. The couple’s Slidell dining room at 2170 Gause Blvd. W. will close, while takeout and catering orders are expected to continue for a few weeks.
That leaves a brief final window for the cafe’s Cuban coffee, Cubanos, ropa vieja, lechon and other dishes built around rice, beans and sweet plantains. Que Rico’s own website and online menu still showcase the food that made the restaurant a destination for diners willing to cross Lake Pontchartrain.
A restaurant that has crossed the lake before
Que Rico opened in the New Orleans area in 2009 and first built its following in Old Town Slidell. After a lease problem, the Riveras moved the cafe to 4200 Magazine Street, with Eater New Orleans reporting on the planned Uptown reopening in 2018; the business later returned to Slidell in 2022, according to NOLA.com.
The move to Magazine Street showed just how far the restaurant’s reputation had traveled. A 2019 profile by New Orleans Magazine described Uptown customers who regularly made the trip to Slidell and helped the owners secure a lease closer to the city, turning a North Shore favorite into a New Orleans neighborhood fixture.
New Orleans’ Cuban food scene keeps shifting
Que Rico’s closing comes as other Cuban-inspired concepts continue to emerge around the metro area. Hoodline reported earlier this year that Café Conmigo opened on Freret Street with Cuban sandwiches, fritas, pastries and strong coffee.
For now, though, Que Rico’s dining room is the one disappearing. The kitchen will keep feeding customers through takeout and catering for a little longer, but the restaurant that once moved from Slidell to Uptown and back again is closing the chapter that brought its Cuban flavors to so many tables across the lake.
