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| - I'm officially in my happy place! Yummy homemade Cuban food one mile from my house!!!
My BFF, a co-worker, and I headed over here for lunch. As the name would indicate, it's a buffet, but you can order anything off the buffet as a main dish and a few other standard items are available daily (Cuban sandwiches - didn't try these today, but they looked just like the ones that I sucked down in Miami, Plantainos Maduros - yummy caramelized plantains, Tostones - smashed plantains fried in to little fritters, and OMG good Flan).
We got there a little before noon and the place was full. The crowd was a mix of families and suit types. We were greeted by the friendliest of staff and headed off to the one free table. The menu and prices for the buffet vary by day and they are closed on Mondays. Take out is sold by the pound, so eating in is definitely the best bargain. As this was our first visit, we each decided to have the buffet to ensure we got to sample as much as possible.
The main buffet has around 14 items. We tried the following:
*Pollo Frita (Fried Chicken) and Fricasé de Pollo (Sauce Chicken) - both were juicy and tender.
*Estofado de Res Al La Jaudinera (Pulled Pork with Vegetables in a Tomato Sauce)
*Puerco Asado (Unbelievably good roasted Pork - tender and juicy with just the right amount of fat for flavor)
*Yuca Root (served in large slices - tender and yummo)
*Con Gris (Black Beans and Rice)
*Frijol Colorado (Red Beans)
In addition they had two additional rices, menudo, pan (little rolls - these were the only things that were somewhat generic), and a soup (but we all thought it was way too hot out to try this one).
There are two smaller buffets - one with fresh fruits and a tossed salad, and one with deserts (which we didn't even get to because we were so full).
We added the Tostones (4 smashed plantains - fried in to little pancake like fritters) and Plantainos Maduros (caramelized plantains that we dusted with sugar - sending them right over the edge of gastric heaven). I think these were each $1.50 extra.
Ended the meal with cubano coffee (mine con leché) and flan (really some of the best that I have had - dense and creamy with just the perfect amount of caramel sauce). I think the coffees were $1.50 each and the flans were $3.00 (well worth the investment and the perfect ending to a wonderful meal).
Lunch ran about $16.00 for each of us, but we could have gotten out for under ten each if we had just stuck to the buffet. They have a decent selection of Cuban / Latin drinks, and coke products. And I'm pretty sure I saw someone with a Corona, so they must serve beer as well.
This place used to be a Pizza Hut and doesn't appear to have gone through much updating, so don't expect much in the form of atmosphere, but the food is really good - not fancy (more like you would get at someone's home), and is very clean. The wait staff is extraordinarily nice and as they knew we hadn't been there before, kept asking if everything was ok and if we had any questions.
One and a half hours after entering the place, we rolled ourselves back out in to the heat and vowed to be back soon! We were all so full that we would have been more comfortable if they had a wheel barrow service that could have ported us to the cars, but c'est la vie...
So if anyone out there is looking for a good alternative to Havana Café, please check this place out. The food isn't fancy schmancy, but it is all very good and authentic (Mama does the cooking!) and the Latin music in the background will have your toes tapping throughout your meal.
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