Habana Outpost

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A flea market by day and rollicking outdoor boîte by night, the seasonal Habana Outpost is a business with a conscience. From your seat at one of the picnic benches—made from recycled lumber—under multicolored umbrellas, you can see the solar panels, which help keep the lights on, and the bike-powered blender, which helps produce the slushy cocktails. Now that the owners have added an attractive indoor space next door, with colorful booths in back and a communal table next to the graffiti-style mural up front, the party is no longer thwarted by rainy days. The food still comes from the bright-red truck outside, which was converted into a kitchen that turns out an abbreviated version of the menu at Outpost's older Soho sibling, Café Habana. The famous corn is here, of course, and as delicious as ever, slathered in mayo, cotija cheese, and chile powder and kicked up with a squeeze of lime. And though not all the grub is as successful as the corn, even a decidedly average Cuban sandwich will do when the setting’s this pleasant and the scene this laid-back. — JJ Goode

Corn, $3.50; sweet plantains, $3.50; hot dog, $3; steak sandwich, $10.50

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