The Cuban Cafe Restaurant — Restaurant in Boca Raton

Disgusting food. A candidate for a Gordon Ramsey's "Kitchen Nightmares" series.

This place is an insult to not only homestyle Cuban food, but homestyle food from the world over.

Why?

Your dining options:

Leftover, reheated food. Insipid, tasteless food prepared in the most lazy, uncaring manner possible.

Ordered "roast lechon". Please look at the posted picture.

The only thing "roasted" about that pork took place 24-48 hours before it was served.

It's a mass of grey, shredded meat swimming in a pool of the water it was reheated in. Absolutely disgusting.

And the rice? Old. Dry. Yet somehow still gummy. Tasteless.

Even the sangria was day-old at least. Instead of the vibrant color and crispness of fresh sangria, it was murky and dense, a muddled mass of leftovers.

Also ordered a lemonade. Now how hard is it to make lemonade? Water. Simple syrup. Squeezed lemons. Voila!

It's a classic at latin restaurants the world over... instant refreshment from the tropical heat.

They literally poured MinuteMade lemonade over ice.

That sums it up.

Lazy. Disrespectful. Disgusting. Shameless.

Also tried to play it safe with a "breaded beefsteak."

Bad call. The cooking technique was so bad that the breading separated itself from the meat during frying, creating a pocket of air in which the meat was steamed.

Moreover, the breading was so poorly applied that it was served partially cooked! Nothing tastier than eating a shell of raw flour and bread crumbs that peels away from boiled meat, right?

Yup. Boiled meat inside a tasteless shell of partially fried flour and breadcrumbs.

We barely ate the food, so the servers wore an uncomfortable smile while asking us if we wanted the remainder to go! One runner behind the server looked at me, shaking his head in knowing disgust as they took away the food.

He's obviously seen this scene play out many times before and sees what goes on in the kitchen.

Seems like one of those places where ownership instructs the waitstaff on how to address barely eaten food: "Never ask the customers if they like the food... Never ask them if we can do something to make it right... Never ask them if they would like something else instead..."

How do I know this?

Because not one of those common courtesy questions was asked.

The poor servers must do this every day and put on a brave face.

TO THE OWNERS: At one point you might have served decent food. But can you actually take pride in charging people good money for leftovers?

How proud would your mother, or grandmother, be of the food leaving your kitchen?

Would you even serve it to them?

LASTIMA!!!

TO THE REST OF THE WORLD: Go ANYWHERE else in Boca Raton! Chipotle serves tastier, and certainly fresher...

Everyone was very nice here, the menu is quite expansive with many options, and there are nice touches like the complimentary warm, buttered bread that comes out while you're awaiting your dishes.

We ordered bistec de palomilla, camarones and pescado al ajillo, and two of the mixed seafood dishes (one al ajillo and the other with a tomato-rice base, which was their version of a Zarzuela de Mariscos). When the food arrived, the presentation was very nice for all 5 dishes.

Although everything was cooked perfectly (and I know from experience this can be difficult for a mixed seafood dish including lobster, shrimp, scallops, whitefish pieces, clams and mussels), there was little if any seasoning on any of the dishes. As a family, we always trade bites around between us, so I got to taste the other 4 dishes besides my own.

The three garlic sauce dishes (camarones, mixed seafood, and fish fillet) had very little garlic flavor and no salt at all. We could detect no flavor of the citrus marinade that should have been evident in the bistec. It was just a properly-cooked but flavorless piece of top round. The Zarzuela de Mariscos, which in their version, as stated, should have had a Creole sauce, was just a bunch of various seafood (all quite perfectly cooked, as mentioned above) on a bed of rice which had been mixed with some tomato sauce but otherwise, like all the other dishes, had no spice or flavor or seasonings, and certainly no Creole flavor to it.

This review could have either been a 2- or 3-star, but I went with 3 due to the factors mentioned in my first paragraph, plus the fact that the food was properly cooked.

And based on so many 4- and 5-star reviews from previous patrons, I'm willing to hope this was just an example of the restaurant having an off-day, or maybe that the regular chef was out and they had to get a temporary replacement, or something like that. The reason doesn't matter, but we will come back and try them again soon and give them...

This place has been on my list to try for over a year and I’m so glad I did. I arrived upon opening yesterday at 11:30 and was probably one of 3 customers there(only one at the bar). By 12:30, the place was jammed. They give you complimentary grilled bread, which was very nice and I ordered their Cubano sandwich. I’ve had quite a few of these in my years, most recent was at Havana in WPB(awful, stale bread, which they think by pressing it, one can’t tell…Not True). One bite can tell you this, when you bite into it and the bread breaks and falls apart. The Cuban Cafe Cubano was quite the opposite and probably the best Cuban sandwich I’ve had in so fl and here’s why. Starting with the bread, fresh, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, absolutely delicious bread, which I found out they source out of Miami. Perfect combination of pork, ham, cheese, which is pressed with mustard. They also serve you a delicious side of garlic sauce which is the perfect accompaniment. In addition, a side of fries or fried plantains. I will be a regular here, as it’s an amazing establishment with amazing customer service. All employees made you feel at home and were knowledgeable on their products. Great atmosphere too, especially if you can snag a spot at the bar. Btw, great...