It’s a row of Fidels at the new Cuban Revolution restaurant on Valley Street in Providence.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

PROVIDENCE Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but the revolution is certainly gaining ground and expanding . . . the Cuban Revolution, that is.

In Havana, Fidel Castro may have transferred power to his brother, Raul. But in Providence, Ed and Mary Morabito’s Cuban Revolution restaurant has expanded on to new vistas.

Begun in 2001 as a hole-in-the-wall café on Washington Street that quickly became renowned for its Cuban sandwiches, the Revolution moved two years ago to a spiffy and larger space on Aborn Street that seats 80 with an expanded menu.

Last October the Morabitos took over a huge, airy space on Valley Street in Olneyville in a circa 1910 mill building in The Plant, near the Rising Sun complex. The new restaurant doubles the seating capacity of the still-going-strong Aborn Street location.

The Valley Street restaurant, in what was once part of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Co., has a dining room that’s nearly two stories tall. There are potted palms at the stainless steel-topped, very long bar running the length of the room, fans overhead, floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors. The effect is stunning and light, with a very open feeling.

One may briefly be taken back to 1959 Havana, what with enormous wall posters of Fidel, Che Guevara, even Marilyn Monroe scattered around the room; Desi Arnaz warbling “Baba-lu” on the sound system, a documentary about Che’s exile from Cuba and his eventual death in Bolivia running on a continuous loop on the nine small television sets that sit side by side overhead. But the two big-screen TVs showing a Red Sox game, the elegant black tables and chairs, the whitewashed walls, the stainless-steel open kitchen, all say post-industrial Rhode Island meets modern-day Havana.

The menu, says manager Chris Silvia, is exactly the same as at the Aborn Street location. That was good news to us for we’d developed a fondness for the wonderfully crispy Che Fries ($5), sweet potato fries and couldn’t wait to order them again as a side dish to our entrees. When they arrived, one bite and we knew they were just as rich with their own flavor as we’d remembered and once again decided they didn’t need any dressing up . . . not even with salt.

A Cuban Revolution Margarita ($7) and a Cuban Sunrise ($6.50), which is a sweet and very citrusy concoction of rum, pineapple juice and grenadine, put us in a tropical mood and were just the right accompaniments to the welcoming bowl of warm nacho chips and mild black bean dip.

Our friendly, efficient waitress, Kathleen, may not have been able to decipher my high school Spanish, but she knew her way around an empanada, those pockets of dough loosely related to a calzone, here served with a variety of fillings. She recommended the one with chicken and raisins ($4.25) and it was a delight, crammed with pieces of shredded, moist chicken in a light sauce and sweet raisins. It was big enough to share.

We couldn’t decide whether we liked the empanada more than the Shrimp and Maduros Kabob ($6). It proved to be a difficult choice because they are so good and yet so different. There were two kabobs — each with a jumbo shrimp skewered on a toothpick and grilled with slices of maduros on either end. Maduros are slices of ripened, very sweet plantains, coated with a thin batter and sautéed to a wonderful creaminess. The shrimp, basted with a mild dressing, had a rich taste of the sea.

In the past, we’d raved over the Santiago Wrap ($7.50) which is filled with grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, onions and adobo sauce and mojo, a citrusy garlic marinade. And you can’t go wrong with the Ropa Vieja Platter ($13.75), Cuba’s national dish, which has tender, shredded flank steak that’s cooked in a light tomato stew and served over rice.

But this time we wanted to try new things. The Steak Chimichurri ($15.75) is slices of marinate skirt steak grilled to chewy tenderness with the chimichurri sauce, a blend of garlic, parsley, oregano and extra virgin olive oil. A hearty serving, the sauce was surprisingly mild and enhanced the meat’s flavor. On the side, an enormous serving of creamy sweet potatoes, three slices of toasted Cuban bread (a bit like French bread) and two maduros. There was also a small bowl filled with small slices of okra that had been coated and fried to a welcome crunchiness on the outside, contrasting nicely with the soft, slightly bland, okra itself.

The Havana Platter ($13.75) had tender, moist slices of roast pork marinated in mojo (a grilled balsamic chicken version is also available). It’s served atop a mound of black beans and rice which made for a happy marriage of ingredients, with chopped lettuce, tomato and sharp onion on the side . . . plus the Cuban toast and maduros.

Desserts aren’t made in house, but are made especially for the restaurant. The Granma Rum Cake ($5.75), a vanilla sponge cake topped with toasted almonds, was very moist and sweet and was heady with the taste of rum.

The Red Square Velvet Cake ($7.10) was a sky-high multi-layer slice. It’s very red and very moist layers were separated by sweet cream cheese icing, topped with a scattering of chocolate truffle bits and white chocolate sprinkles. If they’d served anything like this in Moscow’s Red Square or even in Havana, the revolution would have swept everything else aside.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Cuban Revolution might look something like this:

Cuba Sunrise…$6.50

Cuban Revolution Margarita…$7.00

Shrimp and Maduros Kabob…$6.00

Havana Pork Platter…$13.75

Che fries…$5.00

Steak Chimichurri…$15.75

Red Square Velvet Cake…$7.10

Total food and drink…$61.10

Tax…$4.89

Tip…$12.00

Total bill…$77.99

Cuban Revolution, 60 Valley St., Providence. (401) 632-0649. thecubanrevolution.com. Dressy casual. Handicapped accessible. Child seats. Reservations. AE, MC, V, DIS. Parking in courtyard behind the restaurant and across the street. Open daily 11 a.m. to midnight. Appetizers $4 to $8. Entrees $7 to $16.95. A large selection of beers, cocktails and wines, many from Latin America.

mjanuson@projo.com