Azucar Cuban Restaurant — Restaurant in Charlotte

A Cautionary Tale for Families:

Visiting this restaurant was a thoroughly disappointing experience, especially for families. What started as a promising establishment has unfortunately declined into a place that seems to have completely lost touch with basic hospitality.

Ambiance and Service: While the waiter was polite and friendly, it was clear that he was untrained and unable to manage the needs of the table effectively. The service was disorganized, leading to a frustratingly slow experience where food took an unreasonably long time to arrive. Despite the restaurant not being particularly busy, many other patrons were also visibly waiting for their food for extended periods. This indicates a broader issue with the kitchen's efficiency and overall management.

Family-Friendly? Absolutely Not: The most glaring problem was the restaurant's complete disregard for family-friendly accommodations. There is no kids' menu, and when we brought our toddler, the management's attitude was shockingly unprofessional. After waiting for 30 minutes, we asked about the status of our food. The manager was notified and came over to speak with us. Instead of offering any solutions or even basic empathy, she was defensive and accusatory. She bluntly told us that it was our fault for not knowing they don’t accommodate kids and that we should have expected a long wait.

This encounter made it painfully clear that the manager was not trained to handle customer concerns. Rather than listening and addressing our needs, she seemed more interested in deflecting blame. Her demeanor was dismissive and unwelcoming, further emphasizing that this restaurant does not prioritize the customer experience.

Price Gouging: To make matters worse, when we asked for a simple bowl of rice to keep our child occupied during the long wait, they charged an outrageous $6 for it. This felt like an added insult, especially considering the overall poor service.

Final Thoughts: This restaurant might have had a strong start, but it has clearly fallen into the trap of complacency, losing sight of what makes for a good dining experience. For families seeking a welcoming environment where their children are valued, this is not the place. The management’s attitude suggests that they do not care about customer satisfaction and will blame you for any negative experience.

Beware and take your hard-earned money elsewhere.** There are many other restaurants that genuinely care about their customers and are more than happy to accommodate families. This is not...

Azucar is a fabulous Cuban restaurant in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte. The food was spectacular, the ambiance definitely has a Cuban vibe to it, and everyone who worked there seemed to be interested in making customers happy.

We went on a Sunday night and got in without needing a reservation. Many tables were taken, but we were seated right away. Upon entering we got a good impression with the decor for sure.

Both my wife and I ordered Vaca Frita. I get mine without onions while my wife orders hers "without ruining it" (like I do, apparently). Vaca Frita is my absolutely favorite Cuban meal and this meal from Azucar did not disappoint. Vaca Frita can be tricky to prepare without drying it out. Azucar's kitchen created a Vaca Frita which was perfect: flavorful, a little crispy, and still moist. Most Cuban places I've ordered this from provide some lime wedges to squeeze a little citrus on. Azucar did not, but that's really my only critique of this dish.

The sides were amazing as well. By default, this dish comes with plantains, rice, and beans. I don't like plantains, so I ordered mine with yuca instead. When my meal arrived, it was with plantains. I reminded the server and she immediately went into action - first telling us to keep the plantains (which made my wife happy) and then ran to the kitchen to get me the side order of yuca I ordered. That's the type of service one should expect! The rice and beans were amazing. The beans just had so much flavor in them and possessed a touch of sweetness I didn't expect, but were incredibly delicious. I devoured them. The yuca was slightly disappointing. Flavor-wise, they were garlicly and crunchy and delicious, especially with the green sauce they came with. However, several of the yuca wedges were undercooked and had a denseness to them that made them a challenge to eat. But because of the garlic-goodness, I met that challenge and cleaned my plate.

Our kid ordered a bowl of black bean soup and a side of yuca. When my wife ordered some to-go containers, our kid said they would probably need one as well. But then the soup was just so tasty that our kid finished the whole thing and didn't need to bring anything home. That is a rare thing for any restaurant our 12 year-old eats at - the portions are usually too big to finish in one meal. But this place was perfect - and the flavors made it easier too.

We are so grateful Azucar opened up nearby. We no longer have to travel far for fabulous Cuban food. We can't...

First off when we got here our reservation was for 5 people and they sat us at a four person table, we asked for an extra chair about four times before we had to pull up one ourselves whatever not a big deal. They keep getting our drinks wrong and they keep forgetting to take them to us we have had to re order them multiple times and we are still waiting on some drinks to get here, not to mention the food, my food was fine but my mom ordered the loaded potatoes without any meat, they gave us the loaded potatoes with the meat on it, we asked AGAIN for no meat and they finally got it right, also another person at my table ordered the "Pa'la Timba" without guava, they came with plain French toast, the French toast comes with Cream cheese, so we asked if we could get some cream cheese on it, we never asked for no cream cheese, they came back with the cream cheese on the the French toast but the guava on top, we asked for no guava for a reason so we sent that back too, like an hour later they finally come back with the French toast but it had nothing on it AGAIN, so we just took it at that point. While this is happening we still are having complications with our drinks and mind you we've been here waiting outside for about two hours and it almost 100 degrees outside. Not to mention the DJ, this is a restaurant for family's to come to and this man is playing music about all times of inappropriate topics, and this is a Cuban restaurant and he isn't even playing Cuban music he's playing rap music, play some Latin music PLEASE, I am so disappointed, no clue how this place has such good rating. DONT...