Latest Reviews
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They have great Cuban food in a very casual dining atmosphere. The service can be about as slow as humanly possible, but you can also order take out, …
Russ
Habana Cafe
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Really good food & fun place. First of all our server recommended the special sampler, which gave us four of their signature dishes. My husband & I sp…
Lysariggs
Habana Cafe
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Cream cheese flan!. The award winning cream cheese flan is like ambrosia. The sangria is like nectar. I like the champagne sangria the best. I've had …
Foodie From Louisville
Habana Cafe
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Habana Cafe serves Cuban, Latin American and Spanish. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
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10 Reviews on “Habana Cafe”
Didn’t Go There By Choice … Been to Habanas 4 times as a guest with business folks, birthday celebrations and just to go to lunch, so I never initiated the thought of going there, but had to go.After the first visit, I wrote the place off because nothing I had that day was what I expected, nor anything like what you find in Tampa/Ybor City where it is nothing but Cuban restaurants. Good Cuban food is not limited to just Ybor City, but is found from north Tampa to South.The foods I list are all from the 4 different visits. Each visit I tried something else, different, to see if I liked it…I had the bean soup and the beans looked right but just didnt taste right. They were like they had been in a refrigerator overnight, in a open container and picking up refrigerator odors of other foods. Plantains were just not right. They were like mush and had a salty overtone to them. I asked for another order because these were just not going home with me or in me. The next order were also like mush and were like they were grilled to the point of cremation. I sent them away.The Papas Rellenas .. Simply said, potato balls, were fairly well made and the meat in the potato ball was good, but the grease they had been deep fried in must have been a few days old and the outer crust was not good at all. The cornmeal was almost dripping in oil. I had one of two and let the other one ride … back to the kitchen.I will say that their roasted pork was good, but it was good like you would expect it to taste. Noting really outstanding or remarkable, but edible.The Cuban Sandwich, was ok. Ybor still has the #1 slot in ratings. The Airport Variety Store by the airport is still a top ranked leader of the Cuban Sandwich.Habana is ok if you dont know what Cuban food is supposed to taste like. If you are trying Cuban food for the first time here, dont write off Ybor to visit.
Good meal, good service.. Very tasty from top to bottom of the menu. It may be a bit pricey, but the ample portions make it worth while. Left overs in a take out box are just as good for breakfast the next day.
Shared drunken shrimp as the appetizer, then had the sampler. Modest portions delicious pulled pork, shrimp with capers, and chicken with artichokes–especially appreciated the rich sauces. However, our server’s affect was particularly standoffish. Perhaps, she had had a bad day.
Must have been a different era. Terrible food. Crock pot pork, dry, tasteless, over cooked valencia rice like mashed potatoes with some sort of booze in it. Awful arroz con pollo which is a staple dish for a Cuban restaurant. Rubbery flan de queso tiny portion and PRICEY. Flan is one of the easiest desserts you can make, too. No skill required there just know how and you can find the recipe anywhere on the net. You can tell the ingredients are poor quality and the chef is careless with the preparation. I lived in Miami for 11 years and Puerto Rico for 5 so I think I know the ins and outs of Latin cuisine. Steer clear of this place.
Really bad – stay away. Visited this week first time – pork chops cheapest cut, pan fried, steak sandwich cheap and dry. Onion not fresh, canned potato sticks rancid. Plantains tasted like old oil. Worst meal I’ve had in memory. No spice, and no care to ingredient quality. Very sad.
OK Cuban Food. I tried the award winning sampler: the lechon asido with some sort of chicken and shrimp dishes, plantains, black beans, white rice, side salad, buttered Cuban bread, and cream cheese flan to finish. Unfortunately they ran out of the cream cheese flan before my dessert so they substituted traditional flan. The deep red sangria was ok, the golden yellow sangria was garnished with ground cinnamon giving it an unique taste, but both had fruit cocktail pieces instead of fresh fruit. To accompany my dessert I had a cafe Cubano which came with sugar but no cream (so ask when ordering if you need cream). The lechon asido is outstanding and award worthy the other food and drinks I found to be just ok.
Super good lechon and black beans and rice! Ask to be sat upstairs. It’s more intimate. Great service too!