# Cuban restaurants called "Versailles" - WTF?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-restaurants-called-versailles-wtf/686608>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 21, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-restaurants-called-versailles-wtf/686608 "2014-04-21T14:33:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-restaurants-called-versailles-wtf/686608/1 "2014-04-21T14:33:22Z")

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Can somebody explain why there are so many Cuban restaurants around the country named “Versailles?” I’m just not seeing the connection. But there they are - LA, Miami, New York…did Louis XIV found Havana or what?

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-restaurants-called-versailles-wtf/686608/2 "2014-04-21T14:41:32Z")

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The original Versailles Cuban restaurant in Miami is a huge part of the Cuban ex-pat community in Florida. All the others are part of the same chain that was spun off that first restaurant.

Not sure why the founder of the original restaurant went with that name. Maybe he just thought it sounded classy.

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**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-restaurants-called-versailles-wtf/686608/3 "2014-04-21T14:51:00Z")

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The best explanation I’ve read is that the building in Miami was originally a French restaurant called Versailles and when Felipe Valls, Sr. acquired it in 1971 he made it Cuban but kept the name and decor, which with its etched glass and statuettes had been designed to call to mind the French palace.