Casavana — Restaurant in Dania Beach

During my recent visit to Casanava Fort Lauderdale in Terminal 4, my party of four encountered a disappointing service experience, primarily due to the waitress's performance.

We were excited to enjoy a variety of drinks, empanadas, sandwiches, and coffee, but our expectations quickly turned into frustration. When we requested our desired items, the waitress had to check with the front bakery. Unfortunately, she returned with disappointing news—coffee was unavailable, and empanadas were not in stock. It was disheartening to have limited choices, especially when basic menu items were missing.

Adding to our disappointment, the waitress insisted that we place our entire order at once, citing her busy schedule. This request felt unreasonable, as it is common for customers at resteraunts to order progressively throughout their meal. It seemed that the staff was not attentive to our preferences and lacked a customer-centric approach.

Our dissatisfaction increased when we discovered that Casanava Fort Lauderdale imposes a flat 18% gratuity on all parties, without disclosing it upfront. This policy diminished the waitstaff's motivation to provide exceptional service since they received a fixed gratuity regardless of their efforts. Consequently, the overall quality of service suffered, and we felt undervalued as customers.

Furthermore, when we tried to order a Cafe Con Leche, the waitress informed us that they were out of coffee. However, when we went to the bakery ourselves, we found that they were happy to prepare it for us. This inconsistency in communication and effort raised doubts about the reliability and commitment of the waitstaff.

Based on our disappointing experience, I cannot recommend dining in at Casanava Fort Lauderdale. Instead, opting for a pickup order may be more convenient, as it allows you to avoid the lackluster and indifferent service we encountered.

It is regrettable that the restaurant seems to prioritize filling shifts over providing quality service. The mandatory gratuity policy, combined with the lack of care from the waitstaff, undermines the overall dining experience. As customers, we deserve better treatment and attention to detail.

In conclusion, I strongly advise against dining in at Casanava Fort Lauderdale. The subpar service and lack of transparency, coupled with the indifferent attitude of the waitstaff, make for a disappointing...

This was nearing the worst service I’ve ever had, not only at an airport restaurant, but any restaurant in general. Maybe they were just understaffed because the servers were also hosting, which caused long waits and lack of attention in both areas, but still. The booths, chairs, table and floor really needed cleaning. Crumbs everywhere. The roof was leaking onto the floor. There was a giant garbage can right next to my table the entire service. It was just not a pleasant place.

Suawdee was my server. When she sat me, I asked if I could have a different table because I had a lot of bags and she said no and seemed super annoyed. I watched her do the same thing to a single parent with a baby who asked to sit at a different table rather than the extremely close together booth spots. Super annoyed, she left him standing there waiting for about 10 mins until another server sat him where he wanted with no problem.

When I finally got sat, it took about 15 minutes until someone came over to ask for my drink order. After that, another 10 til someone came back to take my order. My food came out quickly- I got the Cuban sandwich and though it was very obviously a cheaply made, thrown together sandwich, it tasted just fine so I was content with that, especially for airport food. No one checked on me, or came back over after my food was dropped for another 35 minutes… I sat watching as the team struggled to keep the restaurant afloat. The line at the host stand grew, the servers couldn’t agree on where tables should be moved to, food orders around me were coming out wrong, each server looked at me and walked past me MULTIPLE times, siting with my finished plate pushed aside just waiting for service. Suwadee was rude and didn’t say more than 2 words to me after being annoyed when she sat me....

Personally, I don’t like leaving bad reviews, but I do think complaints are justified when a restaurant has not only bad food but bad service as well.

The associates here seemed friendly and willing to help, and I really do think they are good people, yet when I asked about something I purchased, one of them replied in a rude manner, saying that she has provided part of my order already and that the other part I “go make myself.” Of course, given the time and long line, it very well could have been stress of attending others and not wasting time on simple misunderstandings similar to mine, but aren’t these the type of situations that can make a service great?

As for food, it was exceptionally bad. My expectations for airport food are already set fairly low, and this place has now set the bar for me even lower, which could be taken to be a good thing (hence the one star). I ordered a Cuban breakfast, which came with premade pancakes, bread, and eggs. Pancakes and eggs were edible, but the bread was old. It looks like they have their employees save and reuse old and unused dough/flour based products to make other items, and it is fairly obvious as my bread fell apart into crumbs when I took a small bite. The pastry as well fell apart, crumbling as I took it out of the bag. And my sister, who dined with me, also had trouble eating her breakfast sandwich. She claims the bread compromised the whole meal, falling apart by the gentelest touch.

This place really needs work and is not in anyway a genuine representation of Cuban cuisine. In fact, this place is an embarrassment and should really dis-affiliate themselves from any Cuban associations, being more similar to an American fast...