Aroma Cafe Cuban Food and Sandwiches — Restaurant in Eagleton Village

I have been meaning to try this place for years but just didn't get around to doing it...( I typically go to the Cuban restaurant in pigeon forge when I want my Cuban stuff)... I moved here from Miami ( live there for over 25 years so I've had more than my fill of local cuisine) and I don't know how anyone that has done so can recommend this place. So I'm giving it four stars because I'm going to assume I got them on a really bad day... Plus the sweet plantains were perfection along with the Mojo. ( The ripeness and the way they cook them actually is the way that we cook them in Nica..LOVED them)... However that was the worst Cuban sandwich ( medianoche.. He had no idea what I was asking for and suggested their famous Cuban) I've ever eaten in my life... The pulled pork was not good it was old and dry and pasty and had no flavor. The piece of ham that I got was literally the thinnest slice of lunch meat that you would buy in a cheap sectional Walmart... I would say that I actually got a serving of pork at least unfortunately it was unedible...I asked for a pan con bistak and the guy had no idea what I was asking for... ( The steak sandwich with my salty crispy little potato sticks is actually my favorite Cuban sandwich.. But I didn't get it because he said he didn't have it).. He recommended a Philly cheese steak.. ummm that was a grilled cheese sandwich with a couple of pieces of onion and a couple pieces of beef.. If he would have told me it was a grilled cheese It would have been a better description. That definitely was not Philly cheese... There's no way there was a serving of beef or a serving of onions on there... $23 was my bill and I was very disappointed and not going back for either of those entries... I never never write bad reviews. And I'm not a picky eater, If I can't eat it... it must be pretty bad... And I could not eat my Cuban sandwich. However I'm still being kind by giving four stars as to not drop the ratings for this place just in case it was that one day in their whole lifetime of the restaurant that I got the worst...

Cuban? Not even close!

I don’t like leaving bad reviews but this place is definitely not Cuban.

I attempted to order a Cortadito and none of the staff even knew what that was. Then was told they didn’t have any milk. How is that possible? The grocery store is less than a mile away, no one could pick some up? How can you sell Cuban coffee with no milk? Even so, I ordered a Cuban coffee that tasted like pure sugar in a full sized regular coffee cup. Cuban coffee should be served in a cup half that size! It was so disgusting I dumped it out in the driveway. Not good!!

The pastelitos on the front counter looked flat! Like pancake flat! Pastelitos should look fluffy and puffed out from the puff pastry!

The empanadas looked greasy like they had been fried in old oil.

The croquettas tasted like the typical Catalina boxed frozen croquettes. No surprise there!

The Yuca papa rellena wanna be had a sample of some picadillo on the side that tasted like pure vinegar. No seasoning just plain vinegar. Like, where’s the Sazon? Meanwhile when you take a bite of the Yuca thing, the bottom of what was supposed to be crunchy was soggy from the vinegar. Not good!

I am sad to say that was 10 bucks wasted and thrown out the window.

My only suggestion is if you are a Cuban restaurant you might want to serve authentic Cuban coffee and food. Because whatever you are offering is far from it. You might want to educate your staff on authentic Cuban cuisine as well. Because honestly something so simple and Cuban as a cortadito should...

This restaurant is the kind of place that has a few good items on the menu that carry everything else. It is take out place, you must order at the entrance and they give you the food to go. Then you have the option to use the sitting area. There is no table service and the atmosphere basically is straight out of a 3rd world country with an overbearing smell of "Fabuloso" cleaner. Sadly they are missing the mark on the potential of being the only Cuban food place in Knoxville/Maryville. They sadly have some food items that do not remotely resemble the authentic Cuban. For example they have "Supermarket type " cake cut up in to individual squares and call it "tres leches". I asked for Yuka but they did not know what I was talking about. The gentleman at the cash register ( who also happens to be the only person you interact with the whole time) had not tried multiple of the items on the menu. They had chicken ropa vieja but not meat ropa vieja. I will give them credit for the rice and black beans were good, along with the tostones and plantains. They were not great just good. Given the monopoly they have it is truly a sad situation. But I guess that is the only reason they are still open for business because if another Cuban place opened up they would not be able to compete. So the bottom line is if you don't feel like driving to Sevierville and live with in 20 minutes of this place and you are craving some Cuban like flavor this is your last resort. I'll be driving to Sevierville when the...