Guava's Cuban Cafe — Restaurant in Minneapolis

We were looking for a quaint brunch place in the cities to celebrate our son and came across Guava’s Cuban Cafe.

We arrived to find plenty of street parking which was very nice! We had made a reservation for 11:30 on Sunday. When we arrived it took a bit to get someone to help us and when we said we had a reservation it still took about 10 minutes for someone to say we could sit wherever we wanted.

The cafe is cute and tastefully decorated. There were lots of people in and out while we were there and in general everything seemed efficient. We ended up at a table fairly close to the kitchen and it was slightly loud but we were still able to carry on conversation.

You grab menus to look at and then order at the counter. There was quite a variety of dishes to choose from and we were able to choose breakfast or lunch since we were there at 11:30.

We ordered a variety of dishes starting with Cafe Con Leche, a Tres Leches Latte and a Cortadito. We all LOVED our drinks. They were perfectly balanced and delicious.

We all ended up ordering lunch. Our dishes included Pan Con Fish with yuca fries, Pan Con Churrasco with greens, Ropa Viejo, and Lechon Asado. Each dish came out looking and smelling wonderful.

I loved the bread used for the sandwich— I could eat it every day! I also loved the cilantro aioli that came with my fries and I ended up adding it to my fish sandwich. The fish itself was a bit greasy but still tender and if it wasn’t for the menu I wouldn’t have known it was crusted in plantains, but it was still tasty and I cleaned my plate.

My husband loved the combination of flavors on his sandwich! He thought the greens were also flavorful, but just prefers his greens cooked a bit more.

Both our son and his girlfriend also loved their rice bowls. They commented on how flavorful and tender the meat was. We also enjoyed the hot sauce at the table and we put it on a lot of our food.

Guava’s Cuban Cafe was such a fun, unexpected find and I’d love to visit again if I’m ever...

I can only give three stars for several reasons.

The first, which by itself would have dropped the number of stars below 3 stars, was the service. When we arrived, it was fairly slow. Our order was about $100 for four people (plus a take home sandwich for someone else). We ordered 4 coffees, one being plain coffee and 2 juices (a passion fruit and a guava). Our food came out extremely staggered and we did not receive our coffees or juices until we were part way done with our meal...and that was after asking. Even after asking, we only received the 3 specialty coffees. We asked again about our plain coffee and juices. After about 10 minutes, I cornered the gentleman that had taken our order at the counter. He finally brought out the plain coffee and the passion fruit and informed us, they ran out of guava (which we saw they served to patrons that ordered 30 minutes after us, which kind of sucks.

Secondly, while the food was tasty, it was not authentic Cuban food as billed. While in an article they mention Cuban-American (Miami), everywhere else it's billed as authentic Cuban food, which is not the case. I can't vouch for the validity of the authenticity of Cuban-American (Miami) flavors, but I can say without doubt, it is not like the Cuban (Cuba) food I experienced in my months of travel throughout the entirety of island nation. It was a disappointment, as I was looking forward to the Cuban food I fell in love with at first bite.

While the food wasn't Cuban as I know it, it was very tasty and may indeed be on par with the Cuban-American food scene in Miami, until they iron out the wrinkles in their service, be prepared for less than ideal wait times, staggered deliveries of your parties dishes, and missed items when served.

Hopefully, next time I'm in town, these issues will have corrected themselves. Until then, I'll just head back to Cuba for the real thing...

I’m editing the below review to include an updated experience I had with this restaurant. I wanted to give them another chance and I ordered take out. Well they got my order completely wrong and I got the wrong sandwich. I went up there and complained again. This time the customer service was excellent. The girl apologized and said next time I was up there to let her know and she would remake the food. The next day I went up there and had it remade. I was going yo come back and pick it up but I fell asleep. The person who ordered with me went to pick up her incorrect order and the lady told her that I never came back and got my sandwich. She gave it to my friend who put it in my fridge for me. Because of the excellent customer service and good food I’m changing the review to 4 stars. I really appreciate the lady going above and beyond when I got the wrong order.

If I could leave a 0 I would. On Father's day we went to eat here. I called to check on closing time and was informed they closed at 9 but the kitchen closed in 45 minutes. I placed an order for three people for the same meal. When we got there 15 minutes later. We arrived there was TWO meals made not the three ordered and despite it being 30 minutes before they actually closed I was told the grill was closed and they couldn't make a dessert either. They did absolutely nothing and didn't care even though it was their mistake. I had eaten here a few times before but this will be the last time ever I will set foot in this establishment. The service was the rudest I have experienced in the restaurant industry in about 15 years. I sat there and let my mom and fiance eat while I watched thanks to their screw-up and refusal to fix it. I hate giving g such a low review to a neighborhood restaurant but it was a...