Kuba Kuba Dos opened in the West End in 2015. (Mike Platania photo)
A West End restaurant is soon to press its last Cubano.
Kuba Kuba Dos at 403 N. Ridge Road will close this weekend after nine years in business.
But something new is already in the works for the space, as the restaurant has been sold to Nader Hagez, owner of Four Brothers Bistro and Bistro 804, the latter of which is located a few doors down in the Tuckahoe Shopping Center.
Hagez said he’s planning to bring a new concept to the space, but that he wasn’t ready to disclose too much yet.
“We are thrilled that there is so much excitement around our newest venture and can’t wait to share what we have planned in the near future,” Hagez said in a statement.
Manny Mendez and Johnny Giavos opened Kuba Kuba Dos in 2015 as a second location of their original Kuba Kuba in the Fan, which remains open as usual and appears to be unaffected by the sale. Giavos and Mendez weren’t available for comment by press time.
Hagez is a longtime local restaurateur, having opened Nader’s Bistro & Grill on Glenside Drive in the late 1990s before opening burger and sandwich-centric Four Brothers Bistro near VCU in 2015. Amid the pandemic in 2020, he opened Bistro 804, a Mediterranean sit-down restaurant at 443 N. Ridge Road.
Amid its sale of Kuba Kuba 2, the Giavos family is also working a new, mystery concept across from its Stella’s restaurant on Lafayette Street.