Rhumba Rum & Cigar Lounge — Restaurant in Aiken County

Rumbas is precisely what Aiken was missing. The staff is exceptional, the owners are warm and welcoming, and the atmosphere is both inviting and cozy—ideal for an afternoon lunch or a lovely evening out for my wife and me. Smoking is restricted to the outdoors, yet the outdoor smoking lounge is impressive. This has become our new favorite spot in Aiken. Plus, if you catch the live music, you're in for a delightful experience!

Edit: After eleven months, it’s unfortunate that I have to update this review. After nearly a full year as members of Rumbas, it saddens me to say it’s unlikely we’ll ever return. We went from visiting weekly at the least to giving it another attempt after months of not returning, to not going back due to what I consider terrible service.

It’s disappointing because the owners truly say all the right things — they’re warm, knowledgeable, and passionate about what they do. But after our last two visits, we simply can’t justify returning.

To anyone considering giving this place a try: you SHOULD. The foundation is solid. The owners are outstanding individuals who seem to genuinely care. Unfortunately, the staff is a different story.

We experienced long wait times, no drink refills, and argumentative service. When the owners check on your table more than the assigned server, there’s a problem. When you’re there for four hours and only see your waiter three times, there’s a problem. When your husband has to carry his own plate and leftovers around the restaurant to ask for the check and a to-go box — that’s definitely a problem. That’s true that actually happened, one of the owners saw this and jokingly said, “You taking that home with you”. You have to admit it’s funny, until you realize my husband was actively trying to not get the waiter/waitress (Don’t know which since we saw one twice and the other once) in trouble. When your husband has to wait for other customers to leave to respond to the argumentative and borderline combative comments of the waitress/crew lead (Not sure of her titles she did call our waiter her crew), well at this point it’s not just a problem, it’s an active reason to never return.

All in all, we feel like we’re missing out, because this place had everything we wanted in Aiken. But if you’re willing to gamble on whether you’ll get good or bad service — especially at this price point — even as a member, then good luck.

And even if you do receive poor service, please be sure to tip — just not in cash, as that seems to cause issues, to some if not all members of staff. You wouldn’t want a waitress who maybe did or didn’t work your table, not sure she could even tell you, why you didn’t tip her well enough…

The owners were not made aware of our previous experience as we chalked them up to a bad day. Given the same wait staff was present in both circumstances, we are just not the type of people to tell people like that. However if a waitress is so brazen, and the owner has to see you attempt to flag down waitstaff and assist, well not sure what any customer is expected to do...

I'm very disappointed in having to write a review like this, especially since this particular establishment is fairly new, and I was absolutely looking forward to becoming a regular patron, but I believe in being transparent. I've been a regular in the downtown aiken for the last 4 years and have had nothing but great service and amazing food. Yesterday (3/1/2025) I was downtown to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I just so happened to notice the Rhumba establishment while walking around with my daughter and her friends. I decided to go inside to see the establishment's cigar selections and learn more about thier membership. When I first walked in I was greeted by a very friendly and professional gentleman. I told the gentleman that it was my first time visiting the place and wanted to see the cigars, to which he kindly obliged. He was very helpful and knowledgeable which truly impressed me. I asked him if he could give me a few minutes to grab one of my good friends who was visiting from out of town so that he could also see the establishment, given that he too enjoys a great cigar. I stepped outside for maybe 5 minutes to show my friend how to get to Rhumba before we both walked in. This time, I was greeted by a female who seemed to have a very nasty and rude attitude. I told her that I was talking to a gentleman who was showing me the cigar selections and giving me details about the lounge, but I couldn't remember his name. I told her that I think his name was Adrian but wasn't sure, to which she gave a snappy remark saying there's nobody here named Adrian. I reiterated that I couldn't remember his name but that I could describe him, to which she rudely said only one male works here. It was by this time where I began to wonder if this particular individual was either having a bad day or if there was something along the lines of racial profiling, but I ignored it. Instead of grabbing the gentleman she decided to reluctantly take my friend and I back to the cigar selections. My friend who is very knowledgeable in the type of cigars asked a couple of questions and the woman just gave rude responses to which ultimately, we decided to leave due to feeling unwelcomed. In all the times I've been to downtown aiken and patroned the many establishments, Rhumba is the first one I've ever been to where I truly felt unwelcomed. It's quite a shame given that downtown aiken is very beautiful and this particular lounge is a lot closer then the lounge I go to in...

I went there last night with my girlfriend, we try to eat in a different restaurant in town every month, and it was Cuban style last night! I was excited because I loved the Cuban food I had in Miami and I was looking forward to it.

Location: the restaurant was really easy to find, and lots of parking lots! When you go in, you will find a coffee tables and couches or semi fancy chairs. If you are there to eat, I recommend sitting at the bar. The vibe was really nice, live music, very few lamps and the atmosphere was really romantic.

Service: amazing service! We had a great server who made our time even more fun! Very nice and easy going guy!

Drinks: awesome drinks, fair price for it and huge selection!

Food: I had high expectations, but in my opinion the food was ok. In my opinion the food was really expensive and it was giving me hopes. I ordered the Cuban sandwich and my friend ordered an appetizer with ham in it (really good) and octopus. The octopus came, it was one limb, chopped, warm, on top of boiled and mashed together yuka potato. The potato was extremely cold, unseasoned and dry. The whole plate looked like a boat made of potatoes with on top pieces of octopus. We left the potatoes. We couldn’t eat it. I think they should tell or write on the menu that the potatoes will be frozen cold.

My sandwich was ok, nothing like the Cuban food I had in the past. Very small, very little seasoned the pork in it. And they served it with chips, “Cuban chips”, that they looked like super tiny skinny French fries. I couldn’t believe it. 15/16$ for a very small sandwich and they put chips with it. My friend ate the chips because she was still hungry.

The Back: on the back they have a nice place outside with hot lamps where you can bring your dog and smoke your brand new cigar. I really liked that!

Overall: overall I love the location. BUT this is a place I would only recommend for drinks. They should maybe create an happy hour time or an happy hour menu like they have in Europe. Because the drinks are good and the vibe is amazing. But I won’t be coming back to have dinner, but I’d love to come back and have a good time and a drink...