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Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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My sister and I waited an hour and a half to enjoy their food, and I am not a very patient person.
We came here on a Thursday night and it was packed. I'm not surprised. Its so good. I got a Cuban style skirt steak. My sister got a Cuban style half chicken. We also got plantains as an appetizer. Everything was delicious. Luckily my sister is a weak eater, so I had a Cuban chicken sandwich the next day.
The service was really good. The waiter kept hitting on me. I am not actually gay, but definitely a confidence boost. They get an extra star for that.
Everything is really good, and priced to match. Its also in a really cool area that I have been wanting to explore more. If you are exploring this area, start at Habana Libre. You will need to start your night right.
Food: The food here is solid but unexceptional. The appetizer combo plate was a bit of a mixed-bag (no pun intended) but nothing was either amazing, nor inedible. Whole red snapper was tasty, though the fact that it was covered in creole sauce made it a bit difficult to de-bone the fish. Ropa vieja was quite good, probably the best thing we had. Sadly though, the rice was dry -- tasted like bad Uncle Ben's. Boo!
However...compared to Cuban food that I've had in Miami, the food at HL was subpar. Not that it was bad, but when you've had really good Cuban (Italan, French, etc.) food it's hard to get worked up about a place that really doesn't do the cuisine justice.
Ambience: None. It's not a place for a romantic evening, or even a nice night out. Music was a bit loud, but not to the level of obtrusive.
Service: Only adequate. The kitchen was slow, the waiter nice enough.
I probably won't be returning here anytime soon. Chicago has many great restaurants and this one is only ok. Best feature is that it's BYOB and I suppose Cuban food is somewhat novel in Chicago.
Great food. I had the chicken empanadas to start and the ropa vieja for my main entree. This was my first foray with ropa vieja. It was like carne adovada, but without the heat. It had a really flavorful tomato based sauce. I also love that it is BYOB and with a wine store a few doors down, it works out perfectly.
My only problem is the front door situation. There is no waiting room, so because it was really busy the night I went, it was extremely hard to get in. Then our table was by the door, so every time the door opened, we had a nice freezing cold draft at our table.
Four stars for the food and service. The food is simple but delicious - the menu is filled with wonderful things. I went as part of a party of four and we had so many wonderful appetizers. Loved my Cuban sandwich - just mouthwatering.
But minus one star for the weird, bizarre thing that happened......
It got crowded (undertstandably- Saturday night and all). Then people literally began standing around tables and anywhere they could. Which I have NEVER experienced anywhere before, ever.
As a result, we spent the last 20 minutes of our meal surrounded by people standing above us, talking, being loud and at one point saying, "Aren't you done yet?" (And it's not like we were taking forever to eat or anything - we were in and out in maybe an hour, after appetizers, dinner and coffee.)
And then since every square inch of the space was taken up with people, we couldn't get out. Two or three main walking paths through the place were blocked either because people were standing in the way or because the chairs from parallel tables were so close together you couldn't get through.
I have two words for that mess: FIRE. HAZARD.
Great place but for the love of God, avoid the dinner rush and Friday or Saturday nights.
Special shout out for the toilet paper that has Fidel Castro's face on it with the words "Make your dreams come true!"
This place is one of the best restaurants in Chicago. This place has to be the non-fast food/sandwich shop restaurant I have frequented the most. Habana also deserves a double bonus for also being cheap and affordable. Keep in mind too that for some reason, there's always huge groups of 15-20 people eating here. One time I brought my out-of-town friends and left after waiting for a table for an hour and a half. Didn't matter to us, we came back the next evening. The wait staff even remembered us. The food is just too good. I'll overlook the wait if the food is good (see: my review of La Bocca). Make reservations if you have the time.
Every dish served here is delicious. Even the little toasted pieces of garlic bread are the bomb. Highly recommended are their fried chicken or pork dishes. They'll warn you that it'll take them 45 minutes to cook it up. Do not be discouraged, it is worth it! I'd probably wait twice that if needed. The first time I came here I decided to order the chicken while my mom ordered the pork. We had a deal where I'd try her pork, and she would try my chicken. She never got to try the chicken because I ate it all without even thinking about it. She had to wait over a year and a half to come back to Chicago to get her hands on this godly chicken. If she had a yelp account she'd tell you it was freaken awesome.
I always make it a point to bring friends from out-of-town to this place, even though we have to drive kind of far and the parking isn't so great. Believe me, the food makes it worth going through all the trouble.
One of the best service places I have ever been to in chicago. Not the best 5 star professional kiss my arsh type of service but the kind where someone actually cares how the experience is going and will do whatever it takes to make it a great time.
If you love garlic this is your place period. Get the plantain chips as an app they are unique and great.
Had two chicken dishes (baked and fried) they tasted good and the seasoning was great but a little hard to eat and may have been over cooked a little.
Great place try it you will like the experience at a great price.
BYOB
Is there such a thing as a garlic overdose? If so, I suffered from acute garlic poisoning after eating here.
For weeks after, if I even smelled garlic, my tongue would get sharp quick pains that ran through out and my throat would get all dry. It might sound delicious, but trust me, it don't feel so good.
The group I went with really enjoyed Habana and was totally down for going back soon. And I will say that if they were on yelp, they'd prob drop a 4 or 5 star rating on Habana but I thought it was just okay. The food for a vegetarian, in my opinion, was pretty mediocre and I wasn't a fan of the portion size, I might as well have ordered soup because my meal was all gravy/juice and only 5 pieces of actual solid food. I would have shared with friends but if I had, I'd have no food left. And I thought the garlic was a little over the top. I mean, I love garlic... who doesn't? But dear Lord! It had the same effect as eating spoonfuls of horseradish here. I just couldn't take it.
I would recommend this place for a date between meat eaters because it is super cute, BYOB, and the servers are great. For veggies, I'd say to go and give it a shot. Let me know what you'd recommend and I'd totally give it another try, but for now, I remain underwhelmed and slightly overpowered by the garlic memories.
Habana Libre! (with purchase of second Habana of equal or greater value).
But seriously, Habana Libre does it up right in a way that would make even Castro himself proud (If here weren't a senile old man who never felt pride in the first place at anything that didn't involve cruel dictatorship and oppression of personal liberties).
The appetizer platter is a fantastic sampling of what I assume to be local cuban favorites. The empanadas in particular were killer! Then for the main course, I had an amazingly tender pollo asado, which was seasoned and cooked to perfection. They do it up cuban style with a small cup of tasty black beans and a little mound of rice that has that distinctive cuban flavor which I can't quite identify but is definitely intangibly identifiable.
BYOB + delicious = happy
I smell just awful. Over twenty-four hours have elapsed* since my visit to Habana Libre and still... FUNK NA$TEE. Like I switched out my Dove deodorant for a big stick of pureed, reconstituted garlic, washed my hair in the fryer and gargled with red wine (for about 4 hours). Plus I have gas. Just gonna put that out there, gents.
But astute readers will notice that I have indeed awarded Habana Libre 4 stars so I have decided that the unholy stink may just have to be my new Eau de Toilette. Suitors be damned!
One of the greatest things about Habana Libre? It's toasty in there!! Like so warm that it makes me think I'm actually in Cuba, sipping an exotic cocktail and being fanned with a palm leaf. Juan Carlos (Que guapo! Que macho!) has just said something insolent and now I've upset my mojito ... right in his face. Ai papi!
But as En Vogue would say, back to life, back to reality!
We quickly honed in on the Habana appetizer sampler for two. I hope you like fried food! And garlic sauce! I know I certainly do. The crispy, buttery plantains paired exceptionally well with my Cote-du-Rhone Syrah. Yes, I selected the wine myself at Binny's. I may or may not have had to ask my bar manager to write it down for me earlier in the day at work...
For my main I selected "camarones en ajillo" which translates to big, ole fatty shrimps swimmin' in their own garlic butter bath. Phwoar!!! This is the part where Juan Carlos starts to recoil surreptitiously as I'm trying to talk to him. Ovidalo! Mas vino!
The next time I come here my goal will be to order something a little lighter that won't have me breathing hate at my companion. Does that exist in Cuban cuisine? Or am I asking for a vegetarian German meal?
Flan would also have been nice. Damn these anti-dessert sorts.
*I began this entry about 10 days ago and then promptly put my thumb right up my butt. Figuratively. Bitch don't play that.
"Excuse me." Whoosh, the next thing I know, I am almost sitting in a guy's lap as he eats his meal near the makeshift divider adjacent to the doorway. Ahh yes, welcome to Habana Libre, and yes it's cozy and intimate.
My friends and I were told that our table was ready and we waded through the sea of patrons to get to it.
A few items that graced our table for the evening: yuca frita, platano maduro frito, ceviche, and pan con pollo. The yuca frita was decent. However, I do not recall there being a side of mojo. :-\
I had a small sampling of the other items, aside from the pan con pollo which was my meal, and they were rather flavorful.
The pan con pollo, served with black beans and rice, was a basic sandwich that could have been served in any restaurant that makes grilled chicken sandwiches.
One last thing, there were several birthday celebrations in the restaurant. The servers serenade the birthday person with a salsa version of "The birthday song" decked out in straw hats, maracas in hand, and a single serving of flan with a candle. So, be prepared!
I love the food here. I hated living in Chicago, but I loved a few things and this was one of them. It's good portion sizes, nice atmosphere and an overall good time. I do miss me some Habana Libre.
I came over and had the jibarito, which is probably the best I ever had!
Went last night with a group of six girls for our monthly girls night out.
Snapshot:
Great staff, wonderful hole-in-the wall atmosphere, decent food that is affordable and BYOB make this a 4 star!
Details:
The staff was so accommodating to us - storing the b-day cake in the fridge, waiting to take our order for well over an hour while we chatted and then helping us pick some yummy apps and entrees. They helped open our bottles of wine, provided glasses and ice for mixed drinks and helped bring us clean plates, forks and a knife to cut up the cake.
Onto the food - We had a couple of apps and all were delicious. The potato balls with meat inside were amazing and the empinandas were flavorful. We all enjoyed our entree's but they weren't anything to really write home about. I had the beef with tomato sauce, another had the steak with onions and said it was a little too salty. Every one else seemed to be really satisfied.
We closed down the place nad left having a wonderful experience!
Went on a triple date here on a very cold December evening. The line was out the door, with each of us taking turns waiting outside in the blistering cold, as the little space leaves no room for loitering. It was half an hour before we took our seats in this festive and colorful dive.
It's always great to go with a big group of people as you have the advantage of tasting/viewing multiple dishes. We started with the boiled yucca that was covered in a fantastic garlic sauce--so good that we asked for it on the side to go with our entree. In addition to the yucca, we ordered the empanandas (beef, chicken, and vegetable--of which the vegetable was the clear standout), and fried plantains stuffed with shrimp in a creole sauce. The plantains were perfectly crisp and well proportioned allowing our excitement to build for the entree dishes to come. Please note that if you bring wine, as this place is BYOB, you must order an entree per person.
Being from the Philippines, I'm familiar with how amazing a perfectly cooked oxtail can taste, so I opted for the Rabo in Cuban Creole sauce. This was by far the highlight of the night. The tender and flaky meaty bits melted in my mouth with the perfect touch of Cuban flavors. Accompanied with Cuban Rice, this may be one of my favorite meals in Chicago. The bubby mistakenly got the fajitas con bistec y camarones--the meat was dry and the shrimp was extremely small and lacked in flavor and complexity.
Others at the table chose the Carne Asada, a chicken dish, and the camarones in creole sauce. I was too infatuated with my dish that I didn't pay much attention to their reactions. We finished the night off with some coconut flan which was a perfect end to a wonderful meal.
Stuffed and seven bottles deep, we stumbled down towards Relax Lounge where we had one, or four nightcaps to end a perfect night out with friends.
Dude.
I don't think there are words to describe the state I was in last night.
It was intense and beautiful. And perfect.
Birthdays are strange. I mean, it's a bunch of people celebrating you being born. When really, you did nothing to deserve such celebration. Your mother did all the work. You just cried a lot and took a few lousy first breaths. I've just never really understood it. I like attention just fine, but only when I rightly deserve it.
So in my mind, birthdays should be about having a good time, without a great deal of fuss being made over the celebration or myself. Which is why I'm incredibly glad to have spent my latest birthday at Habana Libre.
My group of 6 on a Monday night waited maybe 5 minutes maximum for our table. The service was...slow at best but the food more than made up for it.
You know when you're so incredibly full to the point of bursting and you think you might die if you eat anymore but the food is so insanely delicious that you Just. Can't. Stop. Eating?
Yeah. That was me last night. It was that good.
Jibarito was excellent (Cubans are geniuses...plantain sandwich=orgasm). Chicken, steak and pork were also excellent. My friend had a pork something or other though that LITERALLY melted in my mouth. I wasn't aware that was possible. I don't even like pork that much (aside from bacon of course). But that...whatever it was...was divine.
Best birthday in a long time. Granted that had a lot to do with the cheap wine and fantastic company. But the food definitely factored in hugely.
I would go here again. In a heartbeat. Although probably not on a date. Unless he's turned on by my inner pig shoving food nonstop into my face.
A Cuban BYOB! I didnt know places like this excisted! Down in California there isnt many Cuban restaurants around, muchless that were BYOB.
The food was great! a scent of garlic on most things, and I love garlic.
I had a steak sandwich and me and my friend shared a side of black beans and rice.
nice place, I recommend it
Soooo... uhm... tonight, Habana Libre had not one, but three very large parties - 10+ people in each. Happy birthday, I guess? But screw you guys. You all ruined my dinner at Habana Libre.
Boy and I ordered ceviche as an appetizer. It took over twenty minutes for the server to bring us our appetizer. Entrees: Pollo asado for me, the red snapper for him. It was an hour from the time we ordered until we got our entrees. Mine was delicious. His was a different story. The fish was so overcooked that it was actually hard to cut. That's REALLY overcooked.
Moreover, it was really difficult to get to our table and to exit with the giant birthday party tables... would have had no problem with the birthday party(/ies), had there not been three of them at once, two of them seated at adjacent tables... servers were precariously squeezing past our table all night, in danger of spilling soup or ceviche or whatever they were carrying on our table.
Ceviche and the chicken were awesome, totally yummy. Everything else was super sucky. I will come back and update my rating accordingly, and hopefully there won't be three birthday parties happening the next time.
Decided to go get some food here before the Bulls game.
Got the ham croquetes, which were like many other croquetes I have had, savory and dense. Almost like a desert, yet not.. I'd probably try the fish or guava ones if I were to order them again.
Pollo asado was my entree'. This was pretty much as good as you can get for take out roasted chicken. Falling off the bone tender, very well seasoned.. I could have eaten 5 more of them no problem.. Comes with rice, black beans, and a few fried plantains.
While I was sitting there waiting for my food to be done, I got to witness the most ridiculous birthday celebration I have ever seen. Straight up turned the sub far right and blasted cuban music that was shaking the whole restaurant. Then they all busted out maracas and started dancing around it was hilarious. Reminded me of some bad karaoke nights I have seen when I was wasted. I think there was a DJ hiding in the kitchen mc-ing the birthday song.
I will definitely be back to Habana Libre. It's just really authentic cuban food that hits the spot.
Great authentic food and great service in a cozy and unpretentious atmosphere. Not an easy combination to find. Definitely a hidden gem in this neighborhood. We ordered an ox-tail dish, a chicken sandwich, and a roasted pork plate for lunch, and they all tasted awesome. I highly recommend dropping by this place whether you're near this neighborhood or not. It's well worth the trip.
*Le sigh* Yet another GNO review I had somehow forgot to compose.
Once again the lovely Angie picked out a great location. Had never really been in this 'hood, but was easy to get to via public trans.
BYOB - Rothschild Liquors just down the road.
Menu served family style:
Appetizers:
*Croquetas and Empanadas
Entree:
*Pechunga de Pollo Encebollada: Chicken breast prepared on the grill served with onions. Juicy chicken simmered just right.
*Veggie Fajitas: Traditional fajitas with mixed vegetables
*Ropa Vieja: Shredded beef with homemade tomato sauce - This easily being the highlight. The sauce was delicious. The beef was so tender.
*Arroz con Glandules: Puerto Rican rice with pork
Dessert: Coconut and Vanilla flan.
Great menu. Lovely restaurant.
Oh, Habana Libre. You make my life so happy. The Ropa Vieja is by far the most soothing, comfort food. So tasty. And with the plantains on the side it's the perfect dish. There's always a good vibe in the restaurant. It's BYOB. Everyone that works there is very nice. I love this place.
Fantastic little cuban place in the East Village/Noble Square area.
Started off with two empanadas and boiled yuca. Chicken empanada was seasoned to perfect, both were delicious crispy. The guava filling seemed like a jelly and arguably was a touch over sweet, but a delicious change of pace from savory empanadas.
Ropa Vieja. Best I've had in Chicago as far as the meat goes. Perfect. The black beans and plantains are both solid, and the only disappointment is the rice, and the lack of cilantro all over the place.
The fajitas "with a cuban twist" are fantastic. For one, you get a large serving, rice, black beans, and fantastic plantains. The meat is seasoned spectacularly (this seemed to be a theme).
Average to generous portions, extremely well-seasoned food, great service, BYOB.
Look at this as a teaser review... more to follow.
I was waiting for a table to brunch it up on a on Sunday at Flo and was needing a coffee fix. So I wandered here as they were opening and got a Cuban coffee to go. Very friendly, very quick, and amazingly good coffee. That's it. I see BYOB, so I'll be back for a legit meal in the near future...
We went there last night for a girls birthday dinner -there were seven of us and they treated us royally! Some things have changed, $3 per bottle corkage, 18% gratuity for over five people. My vegetarian friend thought she would be stuck eating plantains and salad but the waitress suggested the vegetable fahitas and she was a happy camper. Having been coming to this restaurant for years and the food is always consistently great!
ox tail is amazing, slow roasted all day, empanadas also great, soup great, byob, perfect date spot, friendly service, very cheap
We went here a couple weeks ago and had a good experience. Not great, not bad... just good. Maybe a little better than good. A 3.5 instead of 3?
It's BYOB, but we didn't have any, so that's our own fault for missing out.
They take reservations for six or more, otherwise you'll have to try your luck.
The boiled yuca appetizer was decent with a bit too much garlic for my liking. I absolutely LOVE garlic, so that's saying something! My pollo asado was pretty good and I enjoyed the fried plantains and rice and beans.
For a weekend evening while they were pretty busy, we got the kind of service I'd expect. Not too attentive, but not horrible either. We had time to spare and still got antsy waiting for the food to show up and to get our check.
I'm not sure if all the people raving about this place just haven't had Cuban food before and that's why they were impressed, or if they had a different experience than I did. I wanted to love it, but just didn't. I'll go back again, it's just not at the top of my list to visit right away.
Habana Libre has been pretty disappointing. It appears I may be alone with that opinion! I've eaten there 3 or 4 times now, and each time said I wouldn't bother going back, but wanted it to get better. The pork dishes I've tried have been dry, and WAY too garlicky. I have not been impressed with anything I've had there. I do want to try their sandwiches, though. I like Cuban food a whole lot. Just not from here I guess. What may be the last straw was calling to place a carryout dinner order, and they don't answer the phone. Tried 3 times. Voice mail. If they expect me to go there, order and wait...that's not gonna happen. I'll probably get sucked into trying them again since they're so close to home and all, but not anytime soon.
I hate to be a downer, but I don't get the hype. The food was great (the oxtail and snapper were delish), but the service was relaxed to the point of being crazy. I didn't mind that we didn't have one waiter throughout the night. I didn't even mind that we were left for about 45 minutes with an empty appetizer plate before we got our meals. But after we had been there for two hours, and we were all getting a little antsy for the check, the charm kind of wore off.
Then, we got the bill, and there were all these random amounts of money (in addition to our meal) added to the total. We wanted to ask what those charges were for, but alas, our waiter (of the moment) was gone. We decided not to bother and just paid it.
Too bad, because the food was good, and I would definitely want to come again if the service improved. It's tough to find good BYOB places!
I had a craving for Cuban food and I had a choice between Cuban and Indian... guess who won!
Came here on a Sunday night around 8:45pm and this place was hopping. There were only a few tables available, I was glad we snagged one.
Immediately upon entering we were greeted with a smile and shown a table, also brought immediately to the table... a corkscrew. Great timing and thank you for being BYOB.
The menu was huge with a lot of choices and I'm sad I missed the Jibaritos on it that Ralph mentions in his review cause that would have been my choice for the night but no, I must have been too overwhelmed that I went for the traditional Ropa Vieja, a mix of shredded steak in a delicious tomato sauce with green peppers and onions. It was so delicious and great if you're not afraid of salt, I love my food pretty salty which will one day contribute to my heart attack but until then I will enjoy my artery clogging practices. Also, the plate came with a side of white rice, fried plantains, AND a small cup of black beans.... we were considering ordering an appetizer but when we saw how much food we were gonna get, we knew we'd be too full just from the entree. And we were... so full! My compañero ordered the lechon and it was delicious, you can't really go wrong with lechon.
I will be back for your Jibaritos one day!
I loved this place immediately as they actually spoke spanish to me after I spoke Spanish back. I've been trying to keep practicing my Spanish in the USA but I never get Spanish back (I spent a couple months in South America this summer). Usually I get annoyed looks and revert back to my (sort-of) native language.. umm English.
Anyways, the food here is great--definitely come here if you've never tried Cuban food--their menu is simple and easy to understand and delicious. BYOB, of course, and prices are fantastic. We got two entrees (Ropa Viejo (shredded beef) and Lechon (fried/shredded pork--more or less) which came with white rice/plantains/black beens, BYOB corkage fee and a guava dessert (kind of sweet). Total with tip-- $36.
Only complaints would that it took a decent while (for an ethnic restaurant) for food to come out, but this was all balanced out by the fun company, and more importantly, the fact that they didn't add the bill up correctly and gave us a 10% discount.
I am a big fan of Habana Libre. The garlic pork roast has a ton of flavor, and the jibarito is absolutely fantastic--a great steak sandwich if you are looking for something different and tasty. I had the fried pork roast once and liked it a lot, as well. I feel bad that I haven't explored more of the menu, but really, none of those dishes ever left me wanting anything different. The atmosphere is cozy and welcoming, and being BYOB makes the whole dining experience just a little bit more friendly. When I have friends in from out of town this is often one of the first places I take them, especially if they are looking for something a little less fancy. I always leave covered in garlic, and I always leave happy.
Oh I have so much to say about Habana Libre!!
Act One: I came here for a lovely Yelp GNO hosted by Angie M. It was wonderful. She had arranged for a fixed price dinner. We enjoyed empanadas and croquettes for appetizers, a nice green salad, then entrees of Arroz con Glandules, black beans and rice, grilled veggies, ropa vieja to die for, and grilled chicken dish. All of it was YUMMY!! To top it all off we had our choice of coconut and vanilla flan for dessert. Everyone BYOB'd and the total, including tax and tip, was $30 a person. Such a deal! They even wrapped up the leftovers for us to take home. Nice touch, Habana Libre.
Act Two: I was so impressed with Habana Libre that I decided to make this the site of a monthly dinner with my favorite gays (and we let Nick come along too.) I really liked the dinner we had at the GNO, but wanted to try other things on the menu and we did.
We had a lovely little sampler platter with empanadas, croquettes, some type of puffy potato ball with meat in it, plantains, and an additional order of civeche. Yummy-yummers! I could have stopped right there, but we had entrees to order. I decided on the garlic shrimp, and was able to sample the fried pork and the ox tail. The fried pork was charred deliciousness. I had never had ox tail before but, damn, that was good stuff! For dessert, I went with the coconut flan again while someone else ordered the mango sorbet (everyone else was too full!) The mango sorbet was so delicious and it was served in a hollowed out mango shell. Uhm...cute!
If you decide to go, try the ox tail. I was scared at first but I was told to "just put it in your mouth!" Damn, you sound like my prom date! Also, if you get the chance, take along a skinny gay man with 28-inch waist who never eats and watch him devour a half a chicken like he's on Survivor. Fun times. :)
Are you ready for this?
And by this, I mean extreme carb-loading before your fancy-pantsed ass saunters over to Sonotheque for a work-out. I have not found better starchy staples en estilo Cubano so close to a Chicago nightclub.
Yuca frita y yuca con mojo, frijoles, salad, tostones, and platanos maduros make a fine evening fabulous.
Super-friendly service adds a lot to the atmosphere. Visit often.
I never met Latin food I didn't like. Therefore, I was super siked when Habana Libre was the restaurant of choice for my friend's birthday. Super cute place, BYOB, and a delicious looking menu! We ordered a bunch of appetizer, including my favorite, plantain chips. House maid and super fresh, I ended up hogging the whole plate of them.
For my entree I had red snapper in a creole sauce and I asked them to make it extra spicy. it was super delicious! This entree was a difficult choice because it is a very big menu and everything sounds delicious. I hate to admit that I did not get to try anything else because I was completely transfixed on my red snapper and plantain chips. Next time I will be sure to leave room to pick at others' plates.
The only issue with this place was the service; it was a little sparse. Otherwise, it was a perfect birthday dinner.
mmmm. Cuban food.
once a month, a bunch of hotties gets together to have ethnic food. this month we decided on Cuban. so in an effort to prepare, I listened to Celia Cruz for a few days, and debated on becoming a communist, but thought that would be overkill.
i looked up the directions, because I have no reason to ever leave my flat...and found that it was a simple straight shot down ashland. couldn't be easier.
i was the first to arrive, bottle of wine in tow..because it is BYOB. the waitress asked if I was part of the "party of 5", which was great - they knew we were coming, and had set up a table special to accommodate us.
the rest of the crowd rolled in, and brought 3 more bottles.
i decided on the pollo asado, a half roast chicken in "cuban spices", I had no idea what cuban spices were...but hoped it didn't taste like Castro's armpit.
And it didn't. Lots of super yum food, and appetizers. The others ordered a shrimp dish, a pork dish, and ox tail...and a cuban sandwich...which was spiced up with a home made hot sauce. mmmm.
They had a nice selection of desserts, and served the mango sorbet in a mango shell, with two cherries on top. Nice touch. I ate one of the cherries, thanks to a generous co-eater deciding to share.
The atmosphere was very conducive to conversation, and quite intimate. I can imagine this place being really great for a date night. If I dated. Which as a virgin, I am nervous to do.
3 bottles later (we didn't drink them all), we said our good nights, as the restaurant was locking up for the night. FYI, they charge a 18% gratuity for parties of 5 or more, which was super fine.
I will totally go back here again. The wait staff was attentive, the atmosphere was great, and the space really allowed for my dinner companions to bond over slightly naughty conversation.
Check it out. You'll be muy contenido that you did.
Just had a fabulously-fantastic lunch. And me, oh, my, cheap. The Cuban sandwich was a great deal for $7-big and tasty! My friends had the roast pork, YUM, which is served tender and off the bone with roasted onions, too. My other friend had the Oxtail-absolutely FAB. Great flavors and generous portions. All entrees were served with their signature rice and beans and a small bit of plantains.
The room is comfortable and spacious enough for larger parties. Service is relaxed, in a Cuban-I'm-in-no-rush-way. But the servers are generally friendly and responsive. And, oh, yes....BYOB. Very good.
I went with a group of about 10 people on a Saturday night. The place was packed and it definitely seemed like a popular spot. We all shared the large appetizer tray, I thought most of the appetizers were mediocre and kind of forgetable. On the suggestion of the server and all the reviews I read, I figured I had to try the sandwich on plantains. I was surprising disappointed in it, the meat was dry and bland and the plantains too crunchy. My bf ordered the oxtail which was exactly what I SHOULD have ordered! The sauce was soooo delicious, awesome with the rice soaked in it. The oxtail was fall of the bones tender and flavorful. I could eat that any day of the week!
I'd like to go back and try some of their other dishes, but I'd DEFINITELY go back just for the oxtail!
Review Fail!
It's taken me waaaaaay, way too long to write this review. I haven't procrastinated per se, I wanted to write something witty yet informative, maybe throw in a Castro joke/pun and some fun facts about Cuba. FAIL!
In lieu of something funny and interesting I'll get down to business:
[Insert Castro joke here - Fidel or Raul take your pick]
I strolled into Habana Libre for my very first GNO, kudos to Angie M for planning a fabulous dinner. There are 2 things you must know to make your dining experience at HL a success: (1) cash only and (2) BYOB.
To start we were served Croquetas, Empanadas, and a mixed greens salad. I tried the fish croquetas and veggie empanadas, both were tasty; the empanadas were my favorite I could have made a meal out of those alone. The salad was salad, not much else to say except the pieces of lettuce were big and the plates small making it hard to put much on your plate at a time.
Next we had our choice of Cuban rice or Arroz con Glandules. My spanish sucks, but reportedly Glandules is some sort of pork; sounds like a body part to me. Since I don't eat pork I went with the veggie-friendly Cuban rice - very tasty; the other rice also got rave reviews.
The rice was followed by the main dish. There were three dishes to choose from - chicken, beef, and veggie. I went with the veggies and found this part of the meal just good, not great. While the chicken and beef dishes looked amazing, the veggie dish looked like a boring plate of steamed veggies. Fortunately, looks can be deceiving and the seasoning they cooked the veggies with was very tasty.
I'm not sure if the veggie dish is a regular menu item, but being described as fajitas could lead to some disappointment if you order this. These are not the fajitas you think of when you order them at your local americanized Mexican or Tex Mex joint - no sour cream, tortillas, etc. here my friend. Still good, just different.
The meal was capped off with a choice of two types of flan. Flan is not my thing, but from the oohs and ahhhs it was the best flan ever.
[End with joke about how the US embargo doesn't have to prevent you from getting your Cuban on]
Hip, Hip Hooray for Girls Night Out in May!!!
Many thanks to the fabu Angie M who organized an utterly amazing Cubano evening out!! I can speak from experience and say it's no easy task to wrangle all the Yelp girls, assemble a fantastic pre-fixe menu *and* keep it all at $30 a head... it certainly helps to have an on-top-of-it party planner extraordinaire and what even trumps that is to have a delightful restaurant at your beck and call making the evening seamless and of course, tasty, which is exactly what Habana Libre did!!
The casual digs were perfect for our raucous crowd! This joint definitely has the feel of 'summer spot' written all over it... super chill, unfussy, wear your flip flops kind of place. You can expect the (slightly language barrier challenged) service to be just as lax as the décor, but hey, the Libre is BYOB so sip your tallboy Tecate and go with the flow.
Food was nummy in my Cubanita tummy with the highlights definitely being the empanadas - the chicken and veggie ones were TO DIE FOR - and the ropa vieja simmering away in the most extraordinary combo of caramelized onions, spices, roasted red peppers and a tangy, meaty, savory broth had each and every one of us lassies harmonizing in satisfied moans and groans. A bit lackluster were the croquettas and arroz dishes... with the croquettas being bland and the rice being dry it wasn't even remotely challenging for me to steer clear of the carbs at this meal, fortunately. Thank you for saving me from myself, HL!!
The crowning glory and a not-to-be-missed menu item is unquestionably the coconut flan... Seriously.The.Best.Evah.Do.It.
Wow! What can be said that hasn't been said/written already? I love this place! Not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, you won't care once the food arrives. The best Ropa Vieja that I've had in years. The tostones are done SUPER thin, and SUPER crispy, very different to what I'm used to, but hey I'm all about expanding my horizons. My dinner companion, the very fun Emily N. had the pork special, which was tender, as tender as could be! (Yeah, we shared food! Mind your business!) The appetizer combo? Crispy fried goodness, the Relleno de papa is the best I've found in Chicago so far.
Brought home the Fried Pork for my honey, there were no utensils harmed in the eating of the fore mentioned fried pork. Now go eat!
Neighborhood: Noble Square
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: Roscoe Village
Category: Cuban
Neighborhood: Noble Square
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Bucktown
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Lincoln Square
Category: Mexican
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