Little Havana — Restaurant in Baltimore

Two weeks ago my best friend and I ended up at Little Havana restaurant on a whim. She had never visited this gem before however I've been there twice, just not anytime recently.

Immediately upon entering we were greeted by the most awesome retro rumba music. Think Celia Cruz in early 70's and 80s. My best friend is Venezuelan/American and I'm mixed with a 1/4 Puerto Rican so obviously this put a smile on our face and in our hearts.

Unfortunately no one greeted us at the door so we walked over to a table after asking the bartender in center of restaurant how did the seating work. We chose a table near a floor to ceiling window overlooking the inner harbor bay and key highway area.

The view was fabulous! There were two very large, oversized sliding glass doors fairly close to our table which were open and a refreshing breeze was blowing through.

The restaurant was very clean and the walls were painted with all types of cuban nostalgia. The restaurant definetly has a rustic feel to it, almost like you are walking back in time with still a modern feel to it.

Very soon after we sat down the bartender came over to our table and greeted us. He was prompt and friendly. My girlfriend ordered a non-alcoholic Pina Coloda (she always does lol) and was slightly disappointed they did not make or serve Pina colodas. Kind of strange since they now have a package/ liquor store adjacent to the restaurant.

Well we are not too hard to please so she ordered a cranberry juice and I ordered a glass of water and lemonade. I don't know what kind of magic went into the water yet it was extremely pure, clean and refreshing in taste and quality. I could not get over the quality of the water, it was that excellent.

When it came to deciding of something off the menu that's when things did get a little strange. There technically was no menu! We were directed to scan a code into our phones to pull up the menu. Which we did not want to do plus I am unable to even do that on my phone. Begrudgingly the bartender did finally bring us over in house menus however he did state it was not the full menu. That was not true. Because afterwards I pulled up the menu via Google and everything was the same.

I ordered rope Vieja (nicknamed old clothes in spanish for shredded beef) with fried yucca which is similar to potatoes. My best friend ordered pollo tropical chicken with sweet fried potatoes. We also ordered chips and salsa for appetizer, which technically is NOT an authentic Cuba. Dish lol.

After which I went to use the restroom and was blown away a second time. It was extremely rustic, had a nice fen shui feeling to it and made you feel like you were on the island of Cuba eating. It was also clean and ample in size and I did not have an issue manuevering my walker around.

There appeared to be a banquet type room close to bathroom and there was some type of catered business event going on. Perfect spot for reunions, receptions, gatherings, meetings etc. I also noticed the kitchen was located way back in this area which was different and interesting to me.

The food arrived promptly after the chips and salsa came so we dug in lol. Keep in mind, the second best cuban restaurant in Baltimore City is at my house, because I make many authentic Cuban meals and share with my friends often. So between her and I, the food was going to have to be good or else.......lol.

Turns out the food was more like a tapas style food. There was not any white rice, black beans or fried plantain that accompanied my order, which is standard in Cuba and Miami. However The shredded beef was on top of a bed of fried yucca, which I thought was interesting. My best friend ended up receiving a chicken sandwich that sort of confused both us yet we proceeded to dig in.

From first bite to last bite, both of us were extremely impressed with the taste and quality of food. It was so tasty and delicious. She had an abundance of fried sweet potato fries and shared them with me as I also shared a portion of my yucca with her. Both were equally...

Came to this restaurant because of the great reviews and TikTok. The aesthetic was great, and it is nicely decorated with a great view. However my experience with the bartender Alex was by far the worst experience I’ve had in Baltimore thus far. I came on a Monday so there was a burger special in which I got the turkey burger. Prior to ordering I asked the bartender Alex what came on it, She just says nothing and stands there, so I proceed with asking for typical toppings I would assume they have considering she didn’t say what I could add or if even adding anything was an option. Luckily they did have the items I wanted to add, however when I received it.. it was missing the cheese no worries it was fixed and returned pretty quick. The burger itself tasted like a turkey patty you get from the frozen section that they heated up no seasoning and just not good. Turkey burgers are one of those things that are hit or miss so I didn’t complain as I had already felt unwelcome by Alex, starting from when we got there she barely greeted us and to make the story short was just kind of like what do you want and that was it no personality not welcoming and definitely not pleasant. Understanding we all have bad days I intended to just let it be what is was and go on about my day until the end of our meal. Myself and my friend wanted separate tabs but Alex needed a card in which she used mine to HOLD it. Once we asked for our bills she separated it and charged my card that I had given her to HOLD our tabs on without clarifying that was the payment method I wanted to use. My intention was to use cash as a bartender myself understanding it’s generally the payment preference in most cases anyway. When I told Alex this she threw down the pen and receipt and walked away without apologizing asking if I wanted to refund and pay another way or anything and leaving my friends payment method there as well without returning and cashing her out. We sat there for 3-5 mins then finally just asked the other bartender to cash her out. The other bartender was extremely pleasant even with just the interaction of cashing out wish we could have had him instead of Alex. Again as a bartender myself I get it not all days are full of sunshine and amazing and the recipes to menu items aren’t your thing however when you are behind that bar you are on a stage and as we know your money you make generally depends on your attitude and service. This also creates regulars and people enjoying your craft. I really hate that Alex ruined the experience as a first time customer for this place I now have no desire to return or...

The waitress women with the short hair was clearly jealous and made a story up saying i was doing drugs I told the manager to look at the video to prove it was a lie and he got very rude with me. Honestly I've never been so disgusted she was a lesbian short hair women i took a pic of her and talked to the manager and I can't not believe it. I told then to check the cameras because such accusations I should take to Court. There was no rhyme or reason she seen i was having a good time and made up a story. I'm honestly sick to my stomach how she lied and treated me.please do not go here we spent $100 just to be accused of going blow and the manager refused to check the cameras. I cannot and do not know why someone would make up such a story but it's okay I know the manager will hopefully do the right thing check the cameras and fire her. That wasn't okay I've never been accused of this while eating a dinner. I'm seriously disgusted she actually made up such a story and I really just wanna know does misery love company? Why would she lie and say such an accusations? Someone needs to look into her. They really treated me and my friend like garbage for absolutely no reason. I really beg you do not go here that was do out of the blue me and my friend have never been so shocked. This happened Monday June 30th 2025. I really need to know how someone can actually make that up. I don't understand why she did what she did but karma is real. Jealousy? Hate? Bad day? Doesn't mean you can just go around accusing people of doing drugs I honestly cannot believe what happened. I'm so baffled I begged the manager to check the camera. He really needs to and he needs to fire her that was absolutely uncalled for. I just wanna know why she lied? I need to know why someone would make a story like that up I just can't believe it. We spent alot of money here for dinner just to be accused I'm honestly in so much disbelief I really hope the manager realizes and checks and sees she was lying and I really want him to ask her why? We did nothing to her to accuse us of such a disgusting thing. We ate dinner. I'm seriously just baffled. Someone look into the footage and fire her. She shouldn't be working there that's so wrong what she did. I have pics of her. I definitely confronted her and the manager. If he's smart he will go through the footage and fire her immediately. Idk what her problem was we treated her respectful and she accused us of drugs you guys. You can't make...