The Cuban Around The Corner — Restaurant in Bergenfield

Spoiler: I took a star off because the owner repeatedly made us and our guests feel uncomfortable for decorating the table for a birthday dinner because she was mad we didn’t pay them extra to do it since “it is a part of their business.”

Overall, this place is fantastic: great food, atmosphere, very gracious servers, the vibe and styling, and the live band was great! I wish this review could be just about this because really everyone and everything else was great, but the owner’s behavior really put a damper on the mood so I must dedicate most of this review to addressing her behavior:

My husband and I came once before, loved it, and convinced our best friend to host her birthday dinner here. My husband and I arrived 30 minutes early to decorate the table: we brought gold chargers, blue and white plates, white flowers with olive branches for a centerpiece, lemons (for an Italian vibe), teapots, and a creamy white runner. I made sure to thoughtfully get things to compliment the restaurant decor itself. Also, I am 5 months pregnant so I wanted to make sure I had enough time to waddle around and get myself situated.

We arrive, asked if it was okay to set up decor and the head server said of course, and showed us to the table. It took us 10 minutes to set up so even though it sounds like a lot, it was all put together and just required placing on the table. There was no disruption to the restaurant since our table was off to the side. While setting up a women that appeared to be the owner immediately came over to ask if we previously cleared bringing decor because they “don’t allow outside decor since they offer it as a paid service in the restaurant.” I said the birthday girl’s husband made the reservation and I didn’t know if he mentioned it or not in advance. Also, there were no posted signs, flyers, or notes in the menu about a decor business being a part of the restaurant so there is no way anyone would know or expect this to be a required add on service. She said since I didn’t know she would allow it.

Importantly, the restaurant had only 5 tables of people (way less than 50% of the restaurant) at 8 pm on a Saturday in the middle of winter. Instead of being happy for our business on what was clearly a very slow prime night she thought it more important to chastise us for daring to bring beautiful decor to set up for a birthday dinner - something birthday groups do at any restaurant. I wouldn’t have cared of her admonishment to me if that was the last of it but as EVERY guest of the party was arriving she kept harassing them asking if they were the ones that made the reservation. Finally, when the birthday girl and her husband arrive and join us at the table, the owner runs over to confront the husband about the decor: right in front of all our guests and right next to the birthday girl. Soooooo unprofessional! Again, you have paying customers on a slow night - be happy and courteous even if you are annoyed that you could have extracted more money out of us by upcharging table decor. The birthday girl and her husband had not even taken their coats off and they are being berated for making a birthday celebration festive. Absolutely ridiculous! Our friends apologized and said he didn’t know and the dinner continued.

Again, we thought it was over - it was not! As we are paying and putting on our coats the owner comes back to say loudly to our table that they do baby showers there (since I’m pregnant) and that they do it all, including all their own decor. We all just rolled our eyes, we get it ma’am, you do decor, please just let us enjoy our evening without you having to come make us feel uncomfortable every 5 minutes!!!!!

We came to a restaurant and expected to come for food and a good time. If you as a business owner are trying to run multiple businesses out of one building, understand that every customer is not coming for all your side hustles - take what you can get, especially on a slow night and be happy that people wanted to come celebrate their special night at your...

Upon arrival to this establishment, I was amazed at how beautifully decorated and clean the restaurant was. We had reserved two tables as we were a group of 12. The waiter asked us if we were going to be all in one check and we advised him we were on separate checks and who was on each check. The waiter seemed very distracted and missed like 4 people in our party when pouring the water. I placed the 4 empty glasses in front of him and he ended up taking them from the table and the 4 people were left without water. We had to ask several times for water and he only asked one person what they wanted to drink with their meal and then walked away. The food came out and it was okay, a tad salty. Then, I asked for more water and it took about 10 minutes to get the water. When I asked again for the water, he responded that it was coming out. They then brought a giant pitcher of water and left it on the table. When the bill came, my order was added to someone else’s bill and the waiter seemed very frustrated but we had already explained who would be on each check. He still ended up getting it all wrong so we figured it out amongst ourselves. There was a live performer who sang very well, but the music was extremely loud and there was not many people dining in. Overall, the wait staff was dragging their feet and seemed very confused and not very attentive. I definitely will not be going back. Hopefully they get their act together because with this level of service, I do not foresee this restaurant lasting much longer. In the end, they charged us a $10 performance fee per person even though we had only seen the live performer for 6 minutes and did not advise us that we would be charged this fee. Save your money and go somewhere else. Definitely not worth it and I am Cuban.

Our party did not only drink water. We had Diet Coke, Jupiña, and cortaditos (which one person ended up finding a weird piece of food in it), but I’m sure your video cameras didn’t capture that. And as far as “perreta,” the only one causing a “perreta” is the owner with the unprofessional response to my review. Like I said, this place will not last with this type of customer service and responses instead of taking the correct approach. You can kiss good-bye the other “regulars”...

Less than a star but I needed to add 1 star just to enter the review. Disgraceful and desperate way to operate and try to make money as a new business. We were charged a $10/pp cover fee. We were never informed of this nor were there any signs about this. Owner said she posted in social media - it's just a pretty poor way to operate. They will not last long in this neighborhood being so sneaky and dishonest, it's a shame because it could be a nice place but you will never do well operating so shady.

I have no problem with a fee, there was plenty of time to inform us of it while we were there for an hour and a half dining. And they were hesitant to give us a receipt because they knew the fee was itemized there. It was the first time we ever even knew there was a fee. If you have a cover charge it should be posted prior to entering.

Let me add my thoughts for food and service - but tbh the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth after we were not informed of the cover charge. Also, last post on your social media Instagram account was for a June 8th event not for June 15th and I wouldn't even know your social media existed (or didn't think to even check it) as we only pass the restaurant to and from our home that's how we know of it and wanted to try it.

The service was excellent the gentleman serving us was efficient and courteous and we left 20% for that and the food was just ok to be honest we got the Garlic Shrimp and Oxtail along with tostones, the Tamal en Hoja and the corn fritters. Oxtail had flavor and was super tender but very greasy I can't speak for the shrimp since that wasn't my dish. White rice and beans were included and were just fine. Tostones were very well done and tough. Tamal was ok and the corn fritters were nothing special but kids would...