La Caribeña The best Caribbean family restaurant — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Went to meet friends for a birthday dinner & it was the Worst experience ever! Never have I been to a place were the waitress tried being slick & over charge you, not only for their bad service there, but also for other people's dinners too. Everyone in the group paid SEPARATELY before leaving & were overcharged more than they actually ordered in their bills & what they didn't make them pay before leaving, they tried to make the NEXT person pay REGARDLESS if they ordered the food or not! I came in late & last to eat & I ordered 1 plate which was $13.99 for white rice, beans & bistec with onions that was tough & hard, not tender to eat, plus a side of tostones for $12 & a $4 malta. They never brung me any tostones while there & I mentioned that to the waitress. My bill alone should of been no more than $18 without tax & as I was trying to pay to leave she said I owed her $59/$60 bcuz she noticed she didn't charge a person for a plate of food & a appetizer of arañitas for$7! Does this make sense? & also goes to tell me bcuz I was sat @ the table even if I came in last, I had to pay the other person's food on the bill bcuz they had already left? HELLO! You can not walk out or go past the cash register, the waitresses & security before leaving there & everyone that had already left, PAID for their food upon leaving bcuz I actually called some of the other people to verify & ask & they complained on how they were also over charged but didn't say anything! At the end, they did NOT RESOLVE any MISTAKES committed by them & then some nosy customer near the register also got upset that we were arguing about the bill & told the waitress he would pay for my plate, not really knowing they were trying to charge me for extra plates & appetizers, plus tip & other fees that weren't mines etc. Jokes on all of them!NEVER AGAIN! BE WARNED & DEFINITELY CHECK YOUR BILL ON THE WAY OUT! EATING THERE IS DEFINITELY...

Since I've ever known, Milwaukee has always struggled to provide decent options for Puerto Rican cuisine. Most recently we dared to update our understanding of what's available. La Caribena starts out strong, as you'll walk into a vibey, clean space staffed with a multitude of pleasant and competent female servers working the bar and dining room area wearing starched, white polos. Would it be possible to say that a restaurant can be a little too too clean -- the scent of Fabuloso just a little too obvious?

Let's jump to the food. But not so quick because the food takes a long time to get to your table. We placed our appetizer orders and the server promptly radioed them in to the kitchen which seemed promising, however it still took around 25 minutes for appetizers to come out. By the time the lunch entrees arrived I had already drank two Coke zeros. After eating all the delicious food my partner and I assessed everything we had eaten wondering what could have taken so long to prepare food like mofongo, fried chicken, arroz con gandules. Were they making each plate from scratch? By the way I didn't think the exquisitely seasoned chicken, fried in its own skin, out of all the things on their menu, would steal the show. But it really did.

It's too bad that the service marred what was otherwise a four-star Caribbean lunch in the heart of Milwaukee's South side.

I still plan on coming back for the evening vibes and maybe inviting a friend to the...

We tried them out just last night, and we are SO glad we did!

The atmosphere is just wonderful. The decor is a mix of slightly modern with both warm and cool colors, and a creative use of materials for cute ceiling installations. It might seem a bit disjointed at first, but it all comes together fabulously.

Our server was fanTAStic. I couldn't get her name because she doesn't speak English, and we don't speak Spanish, but we were all very patient with each other and were still able to communicate for the most part. There were just two times she needed to call over her bilingual co-worker, who was also just lovely and very accommodating. Even with the language barrier, she provided excellent service.

The food is just delicious. I don't know what my friend had because she pointed to the menu and (attempted) sounding it out. It looked really good and she said it tasted wonderful. It was mix of stuff served on planks of plantains that she ate with a knife and fork. I had the Cubano. I have to say I have never had a Cuban that was SO moist before. It was so tasty. And it was HUGE. I could only eat a quarter of it with little bit of fries that came along. I just finished having the rest for lunch. I should have only eaten half of my leftovers, but it was too good to leave for...