Cubita took over the Mission rooftop that ran for a decade as El Techo, reopening in June 2025 as a Cuban bar above the Argentine restaurant Lolinda. The deck keeps the long views over the Mission and adds checkerboard floors, palm-fringed corners, and a rum-forward drinks list set to Afro-Cuban sound.
Who would love it: people who want a rooftop with sunset views, a strong daiquiri, and a party lean late in the night. Who would skip it: anyone after a quiet seat, since the deck fills and the music carries once the sun drops.
The space is an open rooftop dressed in vintage Cuban detail, a clear reset from the El Techo years that SFist and KRON4 both covered when the bar reopened. The checkerboard floor and palm corners give the deck its new look, and the skyline does the rest at golden hour. The room runs covered and heated enough to hold a crowd into the evening.
The drinks list runs rum-forward, with Cuban classics like the Mojito, the Cuba Libre, and a Hemingway Daiquiri alongside a clarified pina colada built with Cognac. Pair a daiquiri with small plates like tostones or empanadas de ropa vieja for the full read on the kitchen. Time a drink for sunset, the reason the deck books out on clear evenings.
The crowd is a Mission mix of rooftop seekers, groups, and date tables, shifting to a louder party feel later on weekends. Yelp reviews into 2026 single out the views, the rum drinks, and the new Cuban look as the draws. It runs calmer at the early sittings and busier after dark.
Who it is for. Rooftop drinkers chasing a sunset and a daiquiri, groups after a lively deck, and visitors using the best rooftop bars in San Francisco guide. Less so for a quiet, low-key night.
Best time to go is the hour before sunset on a clear day, with a reservation worth holding on weekends since the deck fills fast. Cubita sits at 2516 Mission Street near 21st, a short walk from the 24th Street BART stop. The rooftop opens midday on weekends and in the evening midweek, and closes Mondays.
What regulars value, across recent reviews and press coverage, is the way the reopening kept the city's best Mission rooftop alive while giving it a fresh Cuban identity. The views, the rum list, and the late party energy earn repeat mentions from drinkers who missed El Techo. The throughline is a rooftop that traded one strong concept for another without losing the skyline. The kitchen runs Cuban small plates the full evening, so a late table still eats well, and the rum list stays the anchor of every round.
The reopening kept the Lolinda kitchen downstairs and rebuilt the rooftop above it, a sequence SF Standard tracked from the El Techo closure in 2025 through the Cuban relaunch that summer. The deck runs DJ nights and a livelier weekend program than the room held in its earlier life, while the sunset sittings stay the calmer window. Reservations hold the best tables on clear evenings, and walk-ins fare better at the early seatings before the deck reaches capacity.
For the wider field, our guide to the best rooftop bars in San Francisco sets Cubita against the city's other decks, and the San Francisco bar guide maps where to drink across the Mission. Compare the tiki theater at Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco, the kitchen-driven list at True Laurel in San Francisco, and the patio at Beretta in San Francisco.
Sources: Cubita official site (2026); SFist; KRON4; Yelp Cubita (updated 2026); SF Standard. Profile by James Harlow, barsforKings.
