A Love for Lucy . . . and Little Havana

In one of the most famous “I Love Lucy” episodes, Lucy and Ethel get a job at a candy factory. The candy comes down a conveyor belt, slowly at first, then so fast that the two comediennes are forced to eat the candy or stash it under their hats, and even then much of it splatters onto the floor. Myrna Tapanes, co-owner of Little Havana in Manhattan Beach, loves that episode.

After waiting five years to get out of Cuba, her family left on one of President Lyndon Johnson’s Freedom Flights and soon settled in California. Desperate for work, she persuaded the manager of a plant that made Tootsie Rolls to hire her. It was just like Lucy and Ethel without the cameras. “There were Tootsie Rolls all over the place,” she says. But she soon got the hang of it, and many jobs and years later, armed with her grandmother’s old recipes, Myrna and her cousin Maria opened a Cuban restaurant one block from the sands of Manhattan Beach.

Little Havana is a cute little place, with mauve tablecloths and tiny tabletop lanterns. A large picture of downtown Havana is displayed and nearby, in tribute to Myrna’s favorite television show, a photo of Ricky Ricardo.

At lunch, three $5.50 specials are offered. The most popular is lechon asado --pork marinated for hours in garlic, lemon and onions and then roasted slowly. Like all entrees here, the pork is served with a mound of white rice, a bowl of black beans, fried plantains and small French rolls which you can use to make tasty, mini pork sandwiches. Another choice is ropa vieja , flank steak cooked with red wine, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions until it falls apart.

Among the dinner selections are half a chicken roasted with garlic and lemon ($7.50), a whole fried red snapper served simply with lemon ($9) and arroz con camarones ($8.95), sauteed shrimp in a massive portion of yellow rice.

Myrna is usually there during the day, and if you want to get a smile out of her, just offer her a Tootsie Roll.

Little Havana is at 3713 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach. (310) 545-3477. Open Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 12:30 to 10 p.m. and Sunday noon to 9:30 p.m.