Havana Club Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in El Monte

It's a Tuesday evening and some friends surprised me with yet another birthday dinner.

Being that I have seen this place for many years but had yet to try it I was going to keep an open mind about the location and food. As you find it located in the heart of El Monte, with very limited parking and outdated look of the building (inside and out)

I was Shooketh how delicious the food was! As we were immediately greeted and welcome to sit anywhere we pleased, we walked in to a pretty empty restaurant and sat to our comfort. We placed our order of drinks and shorty after our food order as well. Complimentary bread is given to start and its unlimited, so don't be afraid to ask for me (you will want more) it's so good. Our dishes arrive and everything looked fresh and delicious (check out my photos) in all honestly I was so impressed with the flavors and portions of all the food, each of our plates came with a side or rice, black beans, and these amazingly cooked plantains.

The services was just great, our server was busting his behind off and by the time we left the restaurant it was a packed house.

A big thank you for the sweet and savory birthday flan!

I can't wait to return and bring friends and family that have yet to try this...

Love this place when they get it right.

They have one of the best black beans I've tasted. They are a little overpriced for the very small amount that they give. I felt like it was mostly juice from the beans.

Their platanos are also really good when they are fresh. I've had to return the platanos a handful of times on different occasions because they were luke warm and hard, like they have been sitting out for a good while. It's gets a little annoying, especially if I get them to go only to find out halfway home that they are not freshly fried. As you can see in the photos, the difference on how they look when they are fresh, compared to when they are old and hard, like they have been sitting under a heat lamp for quite a while.

Their bread tastes yummy. I can eat their whole basket if bread in one go.

When I used to eat meat, this place was my favorite for the bistec empanizado. It comes with black beans and platanos. They bistec had fried onions on top.

And their salsa is one of the best I'v had. Top 3.

Although I do have a so-so annoying experience with them sometimes, this is one of the best tasting Cuban restaurants I've been to. That's why I keep coming back, hoping that my order...

Had air conditioning. Servers were very nice and answered any questions. Had more tables than staff so need to wait or flag someone down, but the servers are very good with taking down orders and bringing back drinks, food, utensils. Complimentary(?) bread basket had warm and soft, lightly toasted buttered bread. The fried pie shell and seasoned ground beef of the empanadas were a hit, totally recommend for people who like fried empanadas. The plantains (maduros?) were a nice sweet treat so didn't need to get dessert. The green salsa was delicious and not burn your mouth spicy. Chicharrons pork rinds were super crunchy to almost hard texture, not for anyone with braces. For the combo plate, get to choose two sides: (1) the white rice that comes a small cup of black beans or moro which is beans and rice already mixed together & (2) yucca or plantains or french fries. Had naturally sticky wooden tables that long lasting businesses tend to have. Would...