Havana — Restaurant in New Hope

I was reading all the reviews and there were many that had the same concerns as I did. The staff and the management were very unprofessional as they were not concerned about their guests having a good experience, excluding the doormen and one bartender. This is a shame because I used to love this place. MY EXPERIENCE: For my 30th birthday, we took a bus there with a group of 20 people. We did call a couple days before informing then that we had a large group coming and we were bringing a cake, although they don't take reservations, we wanted them to be aware and make sure we had somewhere to sing happy birthday. My sister's boyfriend went to the bar and purchased about 10 drinks and as he was handing them out, someone must have taken 2 of them. He then told the bartender that two of the drinks were missing and the bartender told him that it wasn't their concern. He then asked to speak to a manager and wanted them to review the cameras because ONE, he wanted to prove he wasnt trying to take advantage and TWO, drinks are not cheap, but the manager had no intentions of getting to the bottom of it. The manager, being very unprofessional, gave him a hard time, telling him the cameras were broken and that he could take his 20 people and leave. This could have easily been resolved by just comping him the 2 drinks he lost. They knew we just arrived there and he just ordered them a couple minutes before. We were so aggravated and wanted to leave, but some people met us there, had there drinks, and they were dancing, including my best friend'sparents. I really don't understand how ignorant they are to people who keep them in business and how they have people in these management positions who have no people skills. AGAIN, THERE WAS A DOORMAN AND A BARTENDER, I WISH I KNEW THEIR NAMES, THAT WERE AMAZING, WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE HAPPY AND MADE ME GIVE THIS...

Food was good, but service was awful this time. Initially they told us to pick a table and sit, but then asked if we were seated by the hostess- when we said no, they cleaned the table and then took a while to give us our menus. It wasn't even that busy, but it still felt like everything was a process. The girl would came to the table, we asked to order, the response is - ok we'll be back. Why be back? Why not take the order right then? Anything we needed, "ok I'll be back", instead of doing it right away. Then, our order was delayed because they didn't get it all the first time. So they had to re-copy. I chalked it up to the girl being new maybe, but they also took their time getting the check to us. I wanted to walk over and ask for it, then they finally showed. All of us (I was with a group) felt they deserved no tip, if at all..so we gave them a small tip, which reflected the service, and left. But, that's not all. They (manager and waitress) followed us outside, adding poor attitude to their poor service, asking us what the problem was. Huh, want me to count the ways? I answer and they gave us excuses and lies, saying "well I didn't seat you", and trying to point out how good the food was, when I know they didn't do the cooking. They argued with us for a while (right outside the entrance, on a holiday weekend, mind you), then stormed off. Two things, don't argue with customers, and also, a tip is not mandatory....if you get a lousy tip, or none at all, take that as a lesson for next time, instead of complaining afterward. Poor form. We were so put off, we actually steered another couple away from the place, after...

I go to Havana quite often. The atmosphere is nice and the food ranges from passable to excellent. I've had the crab mac and cheese which is okay. Their burgers are good but I had to send one back once because there was a piece of plastic wrapping in it. The chicken Caesar salad is pretty decent as are their desserts. They have a pesto chicken entree that I think is excellent and I love their fries.

The wait staff are friendly, however I've never found the service to be that great. The times I've actually eaten here I've had to wait 30-40 minutes before someone came by to take my table's drink orders. I've waited close to an hour to receive my food. Last week, a friend and I went to Havana to see a concert and not only did we wait at least 30 minutes before they took our orders but my friend had to remind our waitress twice about the drink he ordered.

So if the service is bad and the food is hit or miss, then why do I come here so often? The concerts. That is the saving grace of this venue. At these venue, I've seen outstanding tribute acts for bands such as The Eagles and Van Halen. It's not just tribute and cover bands, though. They also manage to get some well-known artists to play here as well. In recent years I've seen Ace Frehley from KISS and Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd perform. Just last month Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles played a concert here.

So, I'll continue to frequent Havana for the entertainment but unless they greatly improve their level of service, I'm not sure I'll be dinning here again...