Cuba Cuba Cafe & Bar
1173 Delaware St
Denver, CO 80204 (303) 605-2822
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
18 Reviews for Cuba Cuba Cafe & Bar
came here my first night in denver and was amazed that colorado actually has good cuban food! who woulda thunk it?! started the night off right with a mojito.. it was deliciously refreshing and strong! my favorite! i ordered the camarones al coco which was pan seared shrimp made with ginger, serrano peppers and sofrito in a coconut milk reduction and served over mashed potatoes.. it was so yummy!! i also tried my sister's duck dish and it was good too! the plantains were perfectly fried and a great side dish for our cuban dinner! for dessert, we ordered the tres leches cake which was the perfect way to end our meal.. cuba cuba is a really cute restaurant with a great atmosphere and amazing authentic cuban cuisine! a must for all cuban lovers!!
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I finally made it to Cuba Cuba and I was absolutely charmed. Started the night off with some mojitos and mariquitas cubana out on the patio. The mariquitas were fried plantain chips (yum!) with an avocado mash (double yum) and some mojos. The habenero/avocado mojo was absolutely amazing.
For our entrees, we went for the lechon asado and the camerones al coco. Both dishes were quite good, but not quite perfect. The lechon was quite flavorful, just slightly dry, while the quality of shrimp (camerones) were not the best. However, the dishes were wonderfully presented and the flavors were delightful together.
The best part of the visit was the service and the atmosphere. The staff has a bit of a funky, anti-establishment flair to them, while managing not to alienate a couple of squares like my wife and I. Our waitress was lovely, helpful, and attentive. In addition, they have one of the nicest patios for dining in the downtown area. I will definitely be returning to this place in the future.
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I really ,really, really, wanted to give this place 5 stars, but there were 2 issues that perplexed me.
I had read that the tuna ceviche was salty and I was surprised to find that yes it was. I enjoy salty foods, but the tuna flavor was overshadowed by the excessive use of salt in the dish. It still tasted good but it would've been great with a reduction in the salt.
My wife ordered the Vaca Fritas and on the menu it said flank steak. We received it and my wife and I swear it was pork. Tasted good, a little dry and when we asked the waitress she said yes it was beef. A couple sitting next to us had that same quizzical look on their faces when they received it, I have a sense they were puzzled also. If a yelper out there knows how to make flank steak look and taste like pork, please let me know as I'd like to try it at home.
Pluses included the plaintains and the ultra fantastic, cooooool mojitos. I'm not a big fan of the super sweet mojito you find everywhere these days so it was refreshing to find some fruit flavored ones that weren't cloyingly sweet. I also had a Caipirinha which is a brazilian drink made with fresh lime juice, sugar and cachaca which is a smoked rum. Verrry tasty.
They were also nice enough to call us a cab as the mojitos prohibited us from walking back to our hotel downtown lol..
If I ever get back to Denver I'll try Cuba Cuba again and maybe they'll earn my 5th star...
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I'd been wanting to go here forever and finally decided to celebrate the big 2-5 at Cuba Cuba with my friends and parents (who were visiting).
It would have been wonderful if we didn't have to wait more than two hours for a table and it also would have been delightful if we didn't have to sit in the very crowded, very loud bar area but by the time we started sucking down the pitchers of mojitos, it was all good.
The mojitos were excellent, the food was tasty (I think my dish could have been prepared just a little bit better) and the service was great.
Overall, for a birthday event, the atmosphere was great. And maybe the fact that it was my birthday party has something to do with why I liked it so much. My friends even brought in cupcakes as a surprise and snuck them to the waitress who kindly brought them out with the candles lit and everything.
I don't think I'd be able to afford coming here all too often (or maybe I'm just a cheapskate) but it's definitely a great place!
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Been here a few times over the last couple years, and I think it is a cool little restaurant. The food has been consistently good, and the ambiance in the dining room is unique and nice. I don't care for the bar area (which is where you may get stuck waiting for a table for hours), it's very cramped, and tends to be noisy and packed with people. I had a first date here, and it was pretty awkward waiting for a table FOREVER while struggling to communicate with my date due to the noise. I would recommend going on a random weeknight if you want to avoid waiting in the sometimes annoying bar area. Of course, if you numb yourself with a couple Mojitos at the bar, it might not be an issue.
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Finally! Finally it was my turn to eat at the place I'd heard so much about. My boyfriend took me here for our belated Valentine's dinner on Saturday night.
I just love the ambiance--the brightly colored walls, the fresh beautiful flowers in clear glass bottles, the Cuban cigar boxes on the walls. We had to wait quite a bit for our table, but that just gave us an excuse to sample each of the mojitos. We sure do love mojitos! I had the mango (can't go wrong there) and the blackberry. Both were equally delish. He had the mango, pomegranate and pineapple. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite.
The amazonian woman with the beautiful tattoos is still the hostess--she's really a kind person who did everything she could to make us feel special in a crowd of people. When we reached our table, our waiter promptly brought another round of mojitos and we ordered our meal.
We started with the plantain chips. Both sauces and the avocado mash were perfect. For my meal I had the paella. The boyfriend had the duck--vaca frita style. It was some of the best duck I've ever tasted. My paella was the perfect size for me--not too much and not to little.
We ordered the tres leches cake for dessert and the waiter also brought out a special dessert they had made for Valentine's Day. It was a beautiful shot of chocolate mousse. I dug into the mousse with much anticipation--once everything hit my taste buds I realized the irony of serving it in a shot glass. There was more liquor in there than chocolate!! We placed bets on what the liquor was. It was too strong for me to eat!
All in all a wonderful atmosphere. Great food, tasty smooth drinks, and a prompt and funny waiter. Great night. I'd love to go back!
Oh, and I'm stuck painting the bathroom now--I lost the liquor bet.
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My Mom brought the family to Cuba Cuba recently, because she had heard good things about their mojitos.
I was sold after my first one, but the dinner arrived and only made things better. Great food, absolutely charming atmosphere, and mojitos that will have you stumbling back for more! Great spot!
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Wow, wow, wow! Incredible. The mojitos are excellent and the food had such great authentic cuban flavor. Sorry, I have a terrible memory and can't remember the exact name of what I had so I won't try to mess it up. I will find out and edit this post. I seriously want to take all of my friends here now. It is so charming in a little house and very intimate. The service was very friendly as well.
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I've been wanting to go here forever, and I'm not sure why I haven't- I only live a couple of blocks away. Regardless, my dad decided to get my family together here for a birthday celebration this past weekend. We started out with a pitcher of tasty, tasty Mojitos... or 'swamp water' as pops refers to it. They're an awesome deal- the waiter said we'd get 8 drinks out of the $35 pitcher, but we managed around 12 (3 each for a group of 4 of us sharing). Even after my big meal I was still tipsy. Score! The rest of the fam was happy with the bottled Red Stripe, which you can't find everywhere in Colorado.
We are kind of picky about our Cuban food, having lived in Florida for many years. I am also skeptical of paying a lot of money for it, since you can buy it for next to nothing down there. I was happy to see all my Cuban favorites, such as Ropa Vieja on the menu. I opted for the special of the night, duck cooked 'Vaca Frita' style- crispy on the outside, juicy inside. Yummy! The paella looked delicious too. For dessert we almost all opted for the Quatros Leches... a traditional Tres Leches with chocolate milk added in. Also wonderful.
Great atmosphere, excellent service, and a happy family. I'll be back!
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I was in Denver for a conference and really wanted to get out of the whole 16th Street Mall area, so we decided to try this place. We walked and walked and walked past the little bail bonds strip mall and finally saw this adorable, charming place. Unfortunately, we had stuffed our faces before, so we just sat the bar imbibing mojito after mojito. The owner is also an artist. It's fun to get drunk and stare at his art. Anyway, I recommend this place. It's cute, the service is friendly, and the mojitos are perfect.
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If you want to try something new and kind of hidden, Cuba Cuba is worth checking out. It looks like a converted house with a bar and seperate dining area. Its kind of small, so you might have a wait. I hate bananas, but the appetizer plantains are delicious! ....and of course you can have your choice of every type of mojito! Need I say more?
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Holy Knockers! Walk in the door and am greeted by an amazon woman, no kidding, 6'4" in heels, with beautiful tattoo's. I must get the name of her artist. This amazon had the most luscious, huge breast nicely propped up in a push up bra of some sort. I can only imagine the Eiffel tower type 'o supports in there. They were mesmerizing. As she walked they'd wiggle and jiggle enticingly. I could not stop staring as she seated other patrons. My husband couldn't stop laughing at the look on my face. Please forgive me amazon lady, and don't hunt me down and kill me. I'm merely admiring your ample assets.
I wanted to love it, I was so excited. Alas, perhaps we went on an off night. As for the food, it was good but not great. My Camarones de Ajillo was unfortunately quite salty, and my sweetie's Ahi was dry. But the Plantain Chips were amazing with two fantastic sauces, sure do wish we had kept what was left to help out our entrees. But the service was good, the atmosphere delightful, and I sure am glad I ordered the White Sangria, yum! We'll be back when they have other seafood options on the menu, my hubby does not eat land animals. I hate to be a nay sayer, but Nay I say.
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Cuba Cuba is outstanding. I've never had a bad dish here. One of my first entrees ever at Cuba Cuba was a sesame-encrusted seared tuna steak that I still dream about to this day. Their mojitos are just perfect as well - perhaps the best in Denver. My only issue with Cuba Cuba is that it can be hard to get a table sometimes - the wait is long. When you do finally sit down though the waitstaff is always friendly and helpful. Besides, you can always just sit at the bar and have some deep fried plantains while you wait, as well as perhaps just one more mojito...
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So if you read my other reviews, you'll see that I have a jones for Key West & cuban food. Given that I cannot travel there as often as I want (2-3 times a year) I thought I would see if I could satisfy my cuban craving here in town.
The decor is unique making you feel as tho you are back in the tropics while it is snowing outside.
The paella is fabulous and the caiprinhas (I'm pretty sure I just butchered the spelling) .
Why only 4? It didn't quite scratch my itch. I felt like I was settling for chicken when I wanted steak.
The service is fab the atmosphere is friendly. Guess I just need to get back to my favorite island that doesn't require a passport. :-)
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I had the pleasure of visiting Cuba Cuba on my way to Cirque a couple nights ago, and I'm thinking "it's going to be a loooong night", boyfriends mom and daughter - I have to be on my best behavior for like... hours.
Of course, as soon as we walk in - I can smell the minty mojitos. Ruh Roh.
I'll just have one. So, I savored it the entire meal and my gosh, at the end of my CAMARONES AL AJILLO, the last limony sip was even better than the first.
My meal was so good, I couldn't muster up the manners to offer a bite to anyone at the table, even though I greedily accepted a bite of everyone else's meal. Everything was so good - I couldn't help myself. But at least I have guilt right?
My seared shrimp was in a tasty garlic/ wine sauce that I could have slurped up from the platter had I been alone. I did find some restraint in my behavior. The rice soaked up a lot of the sauce and good thing b/c I'd still be bent if I didn't get it all.
My bf ordered the CHURRASCO Y CHIMMICHURRI and the steak was cooked with the perfection of the finest steakhouse worldwide. Even he mentioned that he wanted to eat as slowly as possible to savor every morsel. It was divine...I can't believe he shared.
My bf's daughter ordered the Paella, and I'm not a big fan of saffron, but I'll tell you each piece of seafood was perfection. Everything was amazing, and as usual the service was great and the ambiance was charming without being uncomfortable~
Really inspires me to visit Cuba. When it becomes legal of course.
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The most fun I have had at an eatery since I moved to Denver! I Love Cuba Cuba for their food, service and ambiance. Everytime I go I feel like I'm taking a day trip to an exotic island. White Sangrias are deelish and super refreshing. Highly recommend Cuba Cuba to anyone who enjoys great food, a decorative & fun atmosphere and delightful drinks.
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loved this place!! plaintains were prepared to perfection!! order took time to arrive, but hey, food was great!
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Best Maduros in Denver! Absolutely fantastic experience, except for the wait...
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