Doña Habana Restaurant — Restaurant in Boston

really wanted to like this place, but was majorly disappointed, mostly on this one signature dish: 3 "pa' ella". TL;DR - don't waste your money.

at $45 (serves 2), the description states 3 small soup-bowl size of rice, each with its own special ingredient: seafood, vegetarian, chicken/chorizo/pork belly. picture was enticing enough, so we ordered that in lieu of other Cuban-sounding dishes. our mistake.

out of the 3 bowls, two appeared to contain the same rice (orange color), while the veggie one is green. all three had very similar flavor, and FROZEN CORN/CARROT/PEA mix added in. pa'ella, they say, but what is this stuff??? in addition, that night went, green rice was so salty we had to send it back. tho I don't believe for a day they'd cook a batch of rice just for us. naturally, we tasted sugar in the new bowl, but it was at least barely consumable.

so basically $45 for 3 bowls of pre-cooked batches of rice with frozen trinity bits, topped with a few pieces of shrimp/mussels, dry & tasteless chicken pieces/chorizo (no pork belly found), and plain salty green color rice. one of the WORST dishes I've had in a restaurant, let alone not being anywhere close to a paella. at this price point, this dish is a total sham. if they had priced it at a, say, $25 range, I would probably still be angry with them for the lack of quality, but at least it wouldn't be highway robbery.

on brighter side, few tapas/apps we shared were ok. grilled octopus had a char that elevated flavor, I even detected a sort of burnt sugar taste in the sauce that was surprisingly pleasing and comforting.

yucca fries (cassava chips) are on par; though personally I find the garlic sauce too raw and not really adding to the dish.

ceviche was not the translucent type I've had in other Latin restaurants, but more of a pickled fish sort of texture, though I wish it was more vinegary than it was salty in this dish.

they had an extensive mojito list, many variations to choose from, among other things from rum to tequila and sangria. the pisco I had was potent and refreshing. that and their octopus were the saving grace.

decor was nice in dining area. ladies room...tight. high school bathroom cheap metal setup, with door in your face as your relieve yourself. if it's not code, another few inches out would have been nice.

service is not bad if a bit slow, but at least our server (Andrea) wore a smile (much appreciated), unlike a few others I've encountered throughout the meal. hostesses were not particularly welcoming, either. when we entered, both were on the phone and none acknowledged us even with eye contact. we stood for at least 5 minutes. also it hit me on the nerve toward the end of our meal, when they decided to slip a couple into the empty table between us and another pair of diners, meanwhile the entire opposite section of tall booth was completely unoccupied. it felt really cramped after they sat down; glad we were leaving soon. on our way out, hostesses gave us a lukewarm, almost nonchalant "thank you/good night". was not sure why there were people waiting in the hallway when there were enough seats in the dining area to get them all seated.

a duo came in around 7pm and seemed to be in the process of setting up live music. didn't get to see/hear anything before we left. but pleasantly surprised to see that setup on a weeknight.

free parking with validation at the lot across the street (crosstown center garage). though, when I made an inquiry at the garage booth on way out, attendant asked if I had entered after 4pm (I did, so I was fine). make sure you double check if you're coming in before then.

solid 2.5 stars for the overall experience. a couple redeeming dishes/drink, free and available parking, along with our server's courtesy, urged me to bump up, to give them the benefit of the doubt. hopefully next meal would be less disappointing, if and...

Went to this place this past Sunday. It was not full to capacity and I would say was average in terms of patrons present. I went over to the bar of which was vacant when I arrived and so, I was delighted because I figured--no waiting issues. Nevertheless, it was the total opposite. While my 1st drink was no issue along with a glass of water, my next 2 had me cringing in wait. First off, I dont understand why you have 3 people in the bar but only 1 bartender? I get it. You need a bar back but why have a 3rd person just standing there looking around doing absolutely nothing? I figured that this venue needed someone (female) to provide an "attraction piece" because all she did was stand there and look around at patrons...? Occasionally, she would pick up empty glasses and worn out napkins but what about refilling patrons water? 45mins. into my adventure at Dona Habana, another group arrived and sat alongside of me at the bar. They had to ask for water since they were not provided with none. Mind you, it was 98degrees outside. An hour later, a second bartender arrived and now you had 4 people behind the bar but only 1 bartender actually making drinks...? Personally, this place needs a firm restaurant manager to keep things running smooth, make sure glasses are full with water and that ongoing movement is happening with food being delivered promptly as well as refilling of water, napkins, etc. After waiting for nearly 20mins before speaking up about needing water and another drink, I ordered a side of fried cassava. It arrived about 15mins. later. It was cold, rubbery and there were 6 pieces with one simply being a figment of a cassava strip since it was all really just collected oil. I could not believe I had paid what I had paid for that side order! I'd rather go to El Oriental or a Brazilian restaurant to get this side. While I was awaiting my 3rd drink, the bartender noticed my look and apologized for the long wait. Unfortunately, I wear my emotions on my sleeve and it's hard for myself to put up a front that I'm happy of which clearly--I was not. At any rate, I do not intend on returning to Dona Habana until they get there stuff in order. Hire a true-blue restaurant manager whose priority is her/his patrons being served accordingly and in a timely fashion but that is also firm and gets things rolling. I would offer my services but some workers would have to be let go for underperforming and quite simply, not having a clue as to what working in such a venue entails. Decor was just about all that captured my interest in this place and perhaps, the music in the background. Get your staff rolling and remember, we are not in the Caribbean and so the long wait for...

I’ve only rated a 1 Star because it’s the lowest possible option. My experience at this restaurant was the worst! I arrived at 10pm, I walked in and asked about parking. There was a women and gentlemen at the front greeting guest. She informed me that parking was across the street at the garage. I happily walked out and told her that I would be right back. She smiled back and said ok. Now this is the part where it gets messy. I arrived back to the restaurant with my 8 other guest about 1 minute later. She saw us and her demeanor quickly changed. She reported that there was a long wait. I came from out of state and was celebrating my sisters birthday so I was willing to wait. She then changed her story and said the kitchen closed at 10:45pm and, therefore, if we were to be seated, it would only be for drinks. Let me emphasize that my sister did her research prior to choosing this restaurant for her birthday dinner and it mentioned that the restaurant closed at 12am. The hostess than reported that we must make reservations 24 hours prior (again this was not mentioned on their website, if not we would of done so). She also didn’t mention this to me when I first stopped in to ask about parking, it was only an issue when she saw my guest (a group of 9 African American males and females, when things became an issue). I am a Afro- Latina who is fluent in Spanish. While standing there in the lobby area, the hostess began to complain about the door being opened in Spanish to the gentlemen and now another hostess who was present at the front, not realizing that my sister and I spoke the language. She then criticized one of my guest pointing out something about him. We became upset about the whole situation and decided to leave the facility. As I was walking out, the hostess had the audacity to open the door and shout something towards us. I was appalled by this as I found it to be unprofessional, disrespectful and straight up childish. I walked back towards the restaurant and asked if there was a problem. The hostess who looked to be about 16 years old , flipped her hair and taunted us as if she wanted to fight. I explained that she needed to be more professional as this is a place of business and potential customers should not be treated this way. The manager then came out and I asked for the young ladies name. He hesitated and told me her name was “Katie”. I am not sure if that was even her name. Either way, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! The staff need some training on proper customer service and the overall...