On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Carroll St (F, G)
Loading...
There were we were on a Saturday night, a bit strapped for cash but desperately in need of a solid meal and some good drinks. Cubana Cafe to the rescue! You swooped in, filled us up with delicious and perfectly cooked beans, scrumptious stuffed peppers, sweet plantains that dreams are made of (seriously don't skip these) and stiff drinks.
The best part? The bill was under $50.
I'll be back- in fact I don't think you could keep me away.
The staff here are really friendly, except for one woman who served me once and was far less than friendly.
Really delicious and pretty inexpensive.
Once, they went out back to pack up my leftovers, and someone threw them away by accident, so they gave me a whole new meal to take home. Love them!
The waiters dance. The flan is awesome. The capps are made with coconut milk. The mole is perfect. And the chips are made with bananas!
This is a great spot for a good casual time with friends or a casual date.
Another solid brunch place on the rotating Smith St. restaurant list. I think brunch is way better than dinner, but still, dinner's pretty decent if you're in a pinch/don't want to wait at other places/on a budget.
At brunch I always get the molete omlette and a mango martini. yum! I like their salsa (!spicy!) and the complimentary starter: plantain chips with parsley dip and salsa. Even with a few drinks, it's pretty easy on the wallet (cash only!) and I don't feel weird eating here if I'm a solo bruncher.
It's a small place and they do cram in the tables, to the point where you are very likely stuck if you are sitting in the middle of the longest banquet. Most awkward.
I prefer the post-peak brunch crowd, as The Stroller Mafia have been seen trying to squeeze their hummer-sized, double wide, stroller-tanks into this place, clueless to other guests, per usual.
Service could be better and it gets pretty slow/un-attentive sometimes, but whatevs. I'll take another mango martini and more salsa!
Really nice decent food. It's not the greatest latin food around but the price is really reasonable and the atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty cool.
Having a good cuban place near your apartment is as essential as having a laundromat within a block. This place not only has great food and drinks, it has a great vibe, especially when the weather is nice and they open the front windows to the street. Both dinner and brunch are excellent and my wallet likes the prices.
The food here is very tasty but the place is small so most of the time we came here there was a pretty long wait. Since then we have been mostly ordering take out which isn't as good but still one of the best choices for Cuban in the hood. I really like their corn on the cob.
This is probably actually a 3.5 star review (kudos to the wisdom of crowds, as reflected by the wider yelp opinion). When in Brooklyn i liked to hit Cubana Cafe for their tasty cuban comfort foods (ropa vieja, cuban, yucca chips, mojitos, flan) at very fair prices. This place is great to have some food/drinks w/ friends. Respek.
Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, knows I heart a Cuban in the worst way. Well, the best way actually. If I could turn that salty, tasty sandwich of goodness into a man, I would marry that man in a second. Because they don't let you marry sandwiches. Jerks. (I'm weird, I know, I've come to terms with this.)
In any event, Cubana Cafe serves up a damn tasty one. It has all the right bits:
--Crusty bread
--Thinly-sliced ham
--Chunks of pork
--Swiss
--PICKLES!
Yep, I cleaned my plate, despite my bulging vacation belly. A delight. And priced excellently. I also enjoyed the chickpea salad.
Excellent cafe au lait for dessert as well. Yum.
Off to dream of sandwiches and salty island breezes.
I like this place. Atmosphere is great. I have one caveat which carries over to similar places. They all say they're Cuban but really, they're a fushion of Cuban and Mexican. Having had real Cuban food I've become a bit of a purist. This place is fine but if you're expecting authentic black bean soup, you won't find it here.
How this place ever got critic's pick on NYMag, beats the hell out of me.
While not "horrible," it's a loooooooong way from good and barely near decent food. First the place is tiny, which is okay. I've been to tiny places and many times they convey a charm that works and I get. But at Cubana Cafe, it's small and yet they have waaay too many tables for their own good. The tables are sitting on top of each other and there is nothing I loathe more than sitting on top of people we don't know at restaurants.
The menu is attractive and everything sounds mouthwatering, but what you get is totally not what you expected. I ordered the grilled corn, the crab sandwich and my friend got the hangar steak sandwich. Let's start with the corn. They should have specified that it's "baby" corn on the cob as it was soo tiny. That was the saddest, most pathetic excuse for a corn I've ever seen. I shudder just thinking about it. Then to our sandwiches, mine had zero flavor to it. No seafood flavor, no crunch, no salt, no spice. It was just blah.
I also got the strawberry mojito because I saw the poor guy (who was running the whole show by himself) making one that looked so refreshing. GIGANTIC mistake. It was just straight nasty. Nothing more to say.
Safe to say, not returning, not recommending. Just stay away.
I agree with Jeff O. - how are people giving this place great reviews? I understand that it might be better if you eat in than get delivery, but my experience was so laughably bad that I won't be giving Cubana another chance.
Boyfriend and I ordered delivery while sitting at Bar Great Harry. Not being familiar with the neighborhood, we didn't realize that we were actually just a few doors down from Cubana Cafe, and should have gone to pick it up. But the weird thing was, they acted like they had no idea where we were when we called - we told them the intersection and the name of the bar, and they insisted that we give them the full address. So we assumed they weren't located nearby.
An hour passed. I'm pretty patient with delivery times, but an hour is pushing it. We called, they said "Just a few minutes, we promise." Another 20 minutes passed. We were starving at this point. Finally a guy comes walking in with our food, apologizes for the long wait time. We're so relieved to finally have food.
Until we take it out of the bag and look at it. It really did look like a tray of airplane food. I got chicken with mango salsa, rice and beans. The rice and beans were each a tiny, tiny portion, and the beans were so liquidy that the actual number of beans was insanely low. And they were both tasteless. And of course, after an hour and 20 minutes, completely cold. The chicken was so rubbery I couldn't cut it with the plastic knife and fork. The only thing remotely edible was the mango salsa, but after the long wait and a few beers, that really wasn't going to cut it as a meal.
When we left, we saw how close they were, and the long wait and cold food became even more inexcusable. I usually don't give a crap about waiting, or bad service or anything, as long as the food is ok. But the food was total crap, they lied to us when we called to check in, and they took an hour and 20 minutes to deliver 2 dishes to a place 2 doors down from them. Blarg!
I liked the food. It's flavorful, colorful, and covers pretty much the basic food groups. It's obviously no gourmet cooking but for me, the flavors remind me of comfort foods I grew up with. But my adoration for the place stops here.
The place is cramped; so cramped, I'm thinking, you could listen to your fellow diners' conversation against your will! Lucky for us we went on a cold, wet Sunday afternoon. We were the second of 2 parties in the place. Even then, service was so slow. Or, maybe it was because of the waitress who had this super-aloof attitude. She seemed so vexed; as if she was just filling in for someone else's shift. She was obviously not happy about working there. She'd only come when called (and boy, do you still have to put a whole lotta effort to catch her attention) and yet, she would just be loafing behind the bar sulking even more.
So, maybe next time, I'll try ordering take-out or will call for delivery (if they do that). That way, I avoid Miss Not-Happy-2-Serve-U and I will be able to enjoy my Cuban meal in peace. (Their take-out containers are really cool, too! Sidings and sauces don't mix in with your main course since they are compartmentalized.)
Soooo good! My bro-in-law and his wife took us to this sexy-colorful-fabulously-tacky-rad little cafe. Wow!
Cheap mismatching old school picnic table-cloths with very little seating told me there was good food was to come. And I'm completely serious!
Plantains with a mess of spinach-type salsa was quickly devoured our little group of 4.
I savored a BLT: Vegan-Bacon, lettuce & tomato with a mango-type-relish(?), avocado and swiss cheese on toasted wheat goodness. I could eat them every day!!!
So if you're down for some scrumptious Cuban yumminess, just go!
FYI-the sign on the bathroom is noteworthy. :-)
Always, always like Cubana. I do feel like it's the kind of place where you need to know what to order, here was our line-up:
Mango martini, pina colada - for him. he claims the decor made him want it.
Empanada of the day - beef, was the favorite of the night.
Coconut crusted shrimp - we didn't finish, probably could've done without.
Chicken soup - has avocado and some lovely green shoot stuff, they split a huge bowl into two large bowls for us back in the kitchen.
I don't know the name so I will call it Fried Pork Ball - a doughy ball of something, with ground pork inside.
We wanted to split an entree so I said that stuffed poblano chile looked good. Waiter confirmed #25 is the best thing on the menu.
Too bad we didn't save room for dessert. Service was super attentive the night we were there (late Sunday). It is cramped though. We were sat next to the wall and my friend's right arm kept bumping it as we ate.
I can't believe people are giving this 5 stars. What a joke!
We got delivery.. My dinner platter looked like it was from Boston Market. The beans were not bad, but there wasn't really that much in there. I could have probably counted 20 beans at most. The pollo in my arroz con pollo tasted like airplane food. The cuban sandwiches tasted good but were only a bit bigger than a sandwich from an standard supermarket slice of Italian bread.
I won't be going back to investigate further. I guess it's good for the neighborhood, but HA! have fun. I dig smith street for drinking more.
Weird, I don't know why the reviews are so love-hate. Maybe it's not good when busy? I really really really like the Cubana Cafe. Their food is good and the prices are reasonable. Try the stuffed poblano, the hanger steak sandwich, and of course, the cuban sandwich. (Once my friend got the pulled pork, but I didn't really like that.) If you want to try it out, definitely go to the one in Carroll Gardens (not soho) because it's way cheaper.
The food was tasty enough, but I didn't think the portions were all that great and the service was pretty bad. Our server was indifferent and spent most of her time standing around the bar looking bored, even when we had finished eating and were sitting for 15 minutes waiting for someone to notice and bring the check.
Overall, I would pick Bogota over this place in a hot second - better service, better portions for the price, more flavorful food, and a more festive atmosphere.
Love Love Love. Solid five stars. This place is bright and colorful with this old school feel to it. So I will pass stars out like my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Baucher, did oh so long ago.
1st star: great prices
2nd star: The black bean soup
3rd star: Hanger steak sandwich
4th star: Ropa Vieja - braised beef
5th star: plantains!
The quesadillas are great too; they pair nicely with their mojitos. But what doesn't really? And I am sorry brunch, I love you too. So much deliciousness so few stars.
Best Cuban Sandwich outside of Cuba!
OK, well I never went to Cuba, but....
This is where it's at if you want a tropical vibe and good food.
There isn't anywhere else like it in the area. me like!
The Authentic Cuban menu includes a plethora of blended Tropical drinks including mojitos and frozen, fruity cocktails. The food is really good too; my faves are the shaved apple salad with tomato, corn n' chipotle mayonnaise sauce, pounded chicken breast w/ mango salsa, or the oven-roasted red snapper.
The ambience is Fun. Has a Colorful, Tropical décor with Latin music. The front of restaurant opens up onto smith st.
This space is tiny. Don't go here if you are going to dump someone or tell someone that you are pregnant with his or her child. The persons next to you can hear everything. Do go here if you feel escaping the cobble of cobble hill for awhile, eat good food, and not spend a fortune.
My one complaint. (always gotta be one). Last time I was here the service was poor. Our waiter was running around like his euro ass was on fire but he wasn't really doing anything. Never came over to check on our table. Didn't bring us dishes for appetizers. Rolled his eyes at me when I asked for an extrao napkin. I asked him for water three times! No bring!! The fourth time I asked politely "do you HAVE water?" with a smirk on his face he answered "yez" and then turned away. Then I nearly lost it. "Well are you SURE?!!! IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT!! YOU WON"T BRING ME ANY!!!"
At one point I found myself peering into the kitchen to see him talking to the chef, only to imagine that he was laughing about the extra protein that he was about to unload into my dish.
But that's okay. all's well that ends well. I'll be back for more abuse soon. Cash only.
Cubana Cafe is a crowded little box of a restaurant, not big on ambiance but we had heard that what it lacks there is made up by the authenticity of the food.
We did not find this to be so. The food was bland.
Service is disjointed, but brisk. Tables are tightly set up next to each other and need to be picked up in order for guests to be seated. The big draw seems to be pricing. Many of the entrees are under $10.
The got mojitos tee shirts was cutesy, too much so for my taste and I'm a big time Hello Kitty fan. Stop in here if your low in the pockets, and looking for a filling hot meal and caphirina.
Came here right before we first moved to the Slope. Loved the mojitos and the small apps.
You can tell just walking by that this place is good. The open storefront reveals the colorful tile decor and customers spill out into the streets. Other reviews complain about the way they pack in diners, but I find that it adds to the atmosphere--a lively bunch of people excited about good food and drink and company who aren't afraid to rub shoulders with a neighbor. If you're not agorophobic you should be able to handle it.
When it comes to food it doesn't get much better. You can grab a stuffed-to-bursting shrimp quesadilla, the best I've eaten, for 8 bucks, or splurge and throw down 10-12 bucks for a huge entree like the roast pork or chicken with mango salsa, both excellent options that come with a pile of rice and beans. I highly recommend the ceviche appetizer as well. I'll have to try the sandwiches next, as it seems other Yelpers are high on them.
Cubana also makes one of the best mojitos I've had in the city, and it's a steal at $6. This is my favorite place on Smith St. and a can't miss for pretty much everyone. It's not a death blow to the wallet, and though it may leave you with heavy eyelids due to the amount of food you just consumed, the mojitos are enough to make it the beginning of a solid night out.
BANANAS! That's just bananas...
Its lunch, I was having a bad day and wanted something new and good - enter Cubana Cafe...Colorful tiles, super cute, really friendly staff and yummy food. I've been searching for bananas like these since I left behind cha-cha-cha on haight.
I had the beans, coconut rice and sweet potatoes. Later, with the leftovers, I made a yummy sandwich for dinner. I never do that. I wish I had me some naners right now.
This place is something of a hole in a wall but the food is delicious. I've never had Cuban food before, but I was really happy with my food, as was the rest of my group of 4 or so friends. It is tiny and dark though, and if you need to wait for a table, head over to Zombie Hut! It's a great bar just across the street.
I've been to this place more times than I can count and it's a solid solid place for brunch and the later-in-the-day eats aren't bad either.
Here are some highlights:
Cuban Bendict!!!! - Poached Eggs on Cuban bread and Chorizo with chiptle hollandaise
The shrimp and avocado quesadilla. Some many shrimpies. So tasty.
Cuba Libre - These guys pride themselves on their mojito (which is good) but I've taken a liking to this one: Glass full of rum, a splash of lime and a bottle of coke on the side. Can't go wrong.
Tostones - the island favorite of smashed plantains, deep fried and served with a nice fruit chutney type sauce.
If I were to judge this place on food alone, I'd give it 4 stars HOWEVER the 5 or 6 people who work in the front of house portion of this place are so AWESOME and are usually there from open til close. Take that and mix it with the great atmosphere and great prices and I think that it makes up for whatever the food might lack.
Cash only.
I'm sitting across from my girlfriend, chomping away at my Cuban sandwich and sipping on an ice cold glass of lemonade when I notice the lamp behind her and see the silhouette of a thumb-sized cockroach on the inside.
Clearly, I have mixed feelings about this place.
On the upswing, the food was pretty good without charging an arm and a leg. I had a few bites of my girlfriend's shrimp quesedilla, packed with shrimp and avocado, and it was awesome. The music was loud, the tables crowded, but everybody inside is too much of a good time to notice.
It ain't no Cafe Habana, that's for sure. And though I'm glad we tried it out, I keep thinking about the shadow of that cockroach...
We had brunch at the cafe. I thought the omelets were fabulous and fresh. The beer was ice cold! Service was not enthusiastic, but good. The prices were reasonable. I am looking forward to going back.
Sometimes when a cuisine is underrepresented in a city the few restaurants are more like theme parks than places to eat. Cubana is clearly Cuban and even a teeny bit kitschy. Having never been to Cuba (or Miami) I can't vouch for the authenticity of the food I can only say that I have never had a bad meal here. The menu is pretty straight-forward with a lot of options for meat-eaters and vegetarians. Everything is wonderfully fresh and simple. The ambiance is cozy and friendly. I found the music a bit loud in the "porch" area but that is my only complaint about this place.
Edited after another visit to say that the food isn't THAT great, tasty but nothing special. This time around I got the chicken with mango and it was literally a grilled chicken breast with cubed mangoes on it; absolutely boring and I only ate it because I required nutrition at the point in my day. My date had some pulled pork thing with whipped plaintains; the pork was good but we both agreed that the plaintains were so sweet as to be inedible. The sangria was good, as others have said, but eventually you will have to eat something to go with it. I doubt that I will go back to this place. I gave this place 3 stars but I really want to give it 2.5.
I have been here twice. The food is good, a little bland, Cuban food is generally not spicy. The price is right, but you could probably do better in some of the Cucci-Frito joints on Smith St. The place has a Cuban restaurant look, sort of. It is tight. The flan was almost as good as Aunt Lucy's(my Cuban aunt, not a restaurant). The Piccadillo was tasty, the Ropa Vieja okay. The pulled pork good. The cokes in glass bottles were $4. The service was fine.
I have never had Cuban before I went to this restaurant but right off the bat ou can tell this is the best Cuban that you can get in the U.S. They have a very nice porch sort of area where you can sit. On the inside they have a bar and tables. They have authentic sodas called Jarritos. They're food is very good and the restaurant is always bustling with people.
Just like Trina R., I bounced across the road to Cubana after discovering that Chestnut is not open for brunch on Saturdays.
The food is tasty enough, and the menu is full of yummy-sounding, unique options, but I have to admit that despite my excitement, my overall impression of the food was that it was only okay.
But you cannot beat the price (I think we paid something like $14 per person including drinks), and the sangria was amazing ($4.50 per glass and also comes in a pitcher!). Plus, I really liked the decor, which was just kitschy enough to be cozy.
Might not rush to eat here again, but I know where to satisfy my sangria cravings.
Not only is their mojito extremely good, their other house cocktails are just as tasty (I recommend the Havana Special) and reasonably priced. Personally, I thought the food was off the hook, although thus far have only tried a mango chicken dish and the cuban sandwich.
Definitely not for a group though -- the seating is super tight. And please, don't bring your children here. I want to have my cocktails without your kid writhing around touching me and squealing in my ear after I've been at work for 10 hours. I'm serious.
If only there were more places like Cubana Cafe, restaurants that served up perfect sized portions of tasty food for a under $10. It's why this tiny place is usually packed in the evenings and weekends. Yes, it can be a bit claustrophobic on occassion, but it's still quite comfortable and the friendly staff and solid drinks make it festive enough that you don't even notice.
But the real attractions are the sandwiches. They're $6-$9 for anything from a shrimp quesadillas, to my favorite, the cuban steak sandwich (w/ avocado, swiss, tomato & chipotle sauce). Since I live around the corner, I get take out pretty often, and occassionally, yes, a sandwich isn't out of the park or a bit dry. But Cubana Cafe's sandwiches are kind of like sex: even when it's merely ok, it's still pretty damned good, and sometimes you get to enjoy it in a packed room with good drinks and friendly complete strangers. You know, just like sex. Am I right, people? I'm right.
Arroz con pollo. Say it with me: ARROZ CON FUCKING POLLO
1/2 chicken...crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. This is gooood chicken! Served with perhaps a bit small-ish side of rice and beans.
Their Cubanito (Cuban Sandwich) is good. Tender roast pork, ham and cheese with pickles and mayo. A little greasy but great flavor.
Their service is a bit iffy. Aa Jax mentioned, they sometimes seem annoyed to be serving you. That's ok - I just begin to mentally reduce the eventual tip with each unsmiling visit from the server.
HA!
Oh, and order a Cuba Libre - refreshing drink!
The first time I went to Cubana Cafe was for lunch. I ordered the shrimp "quesadilla" and to drink, a Havana special. I say "quesadilla" because it was more like a taco. It doesn't matter though because it was oh so yummy and spicy, good god. I washed it down with my Havana Special, a total candy drink but again, goooood. The quesadilla came with a little chickpea salad on the side, a mixture of chickpeas and cotija cheese, perfect for balancing the spiciness. We also ordered the jicama and green apple salad...it was huge! Enough for two people and very good, perfect for a warm day.
The second time I went, it was for dinner and I ordered the exact same thing because I'm a sucker for a)shrimp and b)tacos. Again, it was just as good as the first time, which is a good sign in a restaurant...it means there's a consistency to the preparation and quality of the food.
When we went for dinner, it was crowded, so be prepared for a wait, and yes, be prepared to sit elbow to elbow. I didn't mind though because the food is yum. I was so into my food both times that I can't remember what my dining companions ate. Oops.
Update:
I went for a third time, recently, again for lunch. I decided to order something different, so I got the chile relleno, stuffed with shrimp and calamari, with chipotle mayo. I wouldn't get it again. It was drenched...I mean, drenched, as in drowning, in the mayo. Underneath the mayo was a layer of melted cotija cheese, which would have been fine on its own but with the mayo, was just gross. The pepper itself was kind of warm but the seafood inside was cold. I couldn't find all the seafood since it was lost in the massive amounts of mayo.
I got rice and beans on the side, which were goooood. My sister got the mango chicken (paillard-style, but not breaded) which was nice and spicy with tons of mango on top. I got the sangria this time around, and that'll be my new drink, instead of the Havana Special, which is really too candy to have with a meal.
My gf and I went here after a late show at the Cobble Hill Cinema. We'd had popcorn during the flick, but we were still quite hungry at 10:30 p.m.
Your basic Cuban restaurant, the cafe is well decorated, and the menu highly inspired by Castro's isle. It was an appropriate place to try following his handover of power to his brother.
I tried my hand at the roast chicken, which came with beans and rice. The chicken was excellent -- half a bird, cooked well, and neither too moist nor too dry. The beans and rice were also good. I recommend you blend them rather than eat them separately -- although the rice came complete with bits of corn and other vegetables. Tasty!
My gf tried some sort of beef dish that was basically a stew with strips of beef in it. She says it wasn't that great, and she didn't eat much of it. I tasted it and thought it was fine, so it might have been a case of unmet expectations.
Two complaints: The density of the seating -- all of the tables and chairs are extremely close together, and even if you sit on the edge of the front windows, you feel like you'll knock elbows with those sitting outside -- and the speed of the service. When we ordered, I ordered a mojito (my first!). It didn't arrive until after our food arrived and we were well into our meal.
I might return to try their Cuban sandwich -- I'm a fan -- but otherwise, there are plenty of other places to eat!
My friend and I were craving mojitos and were not familiar with any places in our neighborhood so we ventured to google and saw a review on a random blog about Cubana Cafe's fantastic mojitos. Myself and my friend tied our shoe laces and ran out the door to Smith Street where we were absolutely delighted with the charming staff and old-timey decor of the cafe. The mojitos were fantastic (and they got to the table within 2 minutes of ordering!). The plantain chips and spicy sauce were complimentary and delicious! Thumbs way up.
My only complaint about this place is that it is too cramped. It's definitely not a place for large groups (or romantic dinners) unless you rent the whole place out.
The sandwiches are tasty and the side chickpea salad is scrumptious! They have some tasty cocktails as well.
I will definitely return.
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Category: Cuban
Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens
Category: Food Stands
Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: SoHo
Category: Cuban
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Category: Cuban
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
here are some of the places I've been…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
I like to get my food and drink on. You can find…
My first (of many to come, I'm sure) trip to New…
Where to eat the best meal of the day in the…
Short of moving to northern Cuba (aka Miami) or…
