I've always been curious about Havana Cafe and a Groupon that I purchased a little while back finally got me in there. Overall, it was a good experience... some hits and some misses.
We arrived right as the live music was starting which was so nice and gave us an "on vacation" vibe. We shared a 1/2 pitcher of sangria which was pretty tasty. Their tapas portions are pretty generous and we completely over-ordered. Here's what we got:
Calypso Chips: plantain chips with black bean dip. I love plantain chips and the black bean dip was very flavorful. I nearly attacked the waiter when my boyfriend told him it was okay to take the left over plantain chips from our table.... Never take plantain chips from a hungry girl!
Tamal Cubano: A tamale with bits of pork in it. I thought it was good, my boyfriend really liked it. I think I'm spoiled with the homemade tamales my family gets at Christmastime.
Frituras de Camarones: These are exactly like crab cakes, but made out of shrimp. I ordered them because it came with romesco sauce (an amazing sauce made from almonds and roasted red peppers). I slathered the romesco sauce ontop of the cake and squeezed some lime on top. I loved it, but I guess it could have been almost anything doused in romesco and I would have liked it.
Empanaditas with shredded beef: Good, but was hoping for a little more flavor.
Yuca Frita: I was too full to really eat much of this, but I wanted to try their spicy banana-guava ketchup that came with them. We looked up Yuca (or cassava) and it's defined as a "woody shrub". That's kind of what the yuca fries tasted like: kind of dry and woody. The spicy banana-guava ketchup was good though - I'd just guess the sweet potato fries are a better bet.
Service was a little slow (our waiter had a huge rowdy table he was helping). Overall, I'd say it's a fun place to try. A good place to go when you need a little variety.