La Cabana — Restaurant in Newark

Came in for father's day, dad was excited the 'Mariscada' or 'Seafood plate' was available - this was the only reason we came, to make him happy! I didn't take any photos but below is the review. To note: I asked the waiter what was in each dish as I don't eat certain things, and nowhere in the menu did it note it would have items thrown on top of what I ordered:

My parents loved the house salsa, they are Mexican and know good salsa...and mom thought it was spicy so that was a plus! We ordered a nacho plate as an app. I asked what was included on the nachos as my brother/I don't eat sour cream, and I don't eat spicy. The waiter noted there was just cheese, beans, avocado, and Pico de Gallo....perfect - I asked for the Pico on the side. The dish comes out with Crema, jalapenos, beans/cheese/avocado as mentioned. It would have been nice to note that the crema and jalapenos are also on there.... Mom ordered sopitos, with carne Cecina (a crunchy yet delicious jerky type meat). I for one love a well cooked carne asada....this Cecina was beyond jerky. It wasn't fresh and it was impossible to chew...the sopitos were tiny, but she liked them. Brother ordered a carnitas plate - the menu listed just the meat, beans and rice. Cool, he ordered that, but it also came with jalapenos and a salad with cheese and 2 dressings. That went untouched, but he was able to make 3ish tacos. Beans had cheese, which he doesn't eat, so he didn't try them. I ordered a plate of plain cheese quesadillas. I asked how big the quesadillas would be to see if I need a taco - he mentioned they were small but they came with rice and beans. Perfect...i ordered myself a carne asada taco, plain. Out comes out a red-looking meat taco (which to me looked like Al Pastor) with salsa and cilantro/onion. That taco went untouched, and I didn't send it back because I already had to send my quesadillas back - they put crema on one, and guac on the other. The gentleman was nice and came back out with a 'crispier' quesadillas. Awesome.....but i was unable to find the cheese!! I would have though they would make the quesadillas cheesy or at least add more than one string cheese....the disappointment continued when the beans were plain. I rate my Mexican food places on 4 basic items: a cheese quesadilla, rice, beans, and a carne asada taco. Each item let me down. Dad.....poor dad. He ordered his 'SEAFOOD' platter. Now, if you've gone to other Mexican food places, you know what this should have (a mix of seafood: shrimp, fish, crab, oysters, squid/ceviche, fruit to decorate). They warned my dad the platter was $60 (they said it was expensive, but to us it's the norm if you order SEAFOOD) and enough for 2 people. They come out with an appetizer platter. IDK if they know what seafood is, but this seafood platter had 2 styles of shrimp (breaded and the ketchup style one 5 pcs each), 5 chicken taquitos cut in half (half had crema, half had guac), 5 chicken wings, meat under a salad, pieces of orange, avocado, a side of beans in a cup.....Where was the fish? a few crab legs? oysters? squid? the only SEAFood i could SEE was shirmp.....and absolute let down.

La Cabana has been a Newark must for decades. I'm born and raised in Newark. We used to come here for birthdays, holidays, but then stopped coming here 20 years ago. We wanted to give it another shot and needless to say, I can't recommend this place. I give it a '3 stars' overall due to the kindness of one staff member, going around the tables and giving the dads a free fathers day shot, asking if we needed anything else, and his...

I am never disappointed when I go to La Cabaña(food-wise). Very delicious and authentic Mexican food. The service today and most days was awful, the waitress never smiled or came back around to ask if we needed anything(more chips, refills, take plates away) she seemed to be upset. Again, the same lousy waitress. I only return for the food, but better service would make a huge difference. I don't know if they just dont have other waitresses or I just always go at the wrong time. Customer service is a huge part of the total experience and she ruined it for me, as she always does every time. I plan to return, but if service continues to be this way I'll start ordering my food to go. Please work on friendlier service, it really does make a difference. *La comida aqui siempre es muy delicioso, la mesera tiene que trabajar en su modo de ayudar a los clientes. Yo he trabajado de mesera y se como se debe tratar a los clientes. Necesita ser mas atenta, sonriente, llevar los platos sucios, fijarse si el cliente necesita mas agua, refresco, chips. En general, ser mas amable. Todo seria perfecto si el servicio fuera...

La Cabana use to be one of my favorite restaurants for Mexican food. Since I don't live in the Bay Area any more it's been awhile since I have eaten there. It has changed owners. I was running errands in the Bay Area and my wife wanted to meet there for lunch. One of our favorite things to eat there was the carnitas so that's what we ordered. When the plates came out the first thing that I noticed is that they didn't give you as much food as they use to. The soup was the same but the carnitas were dry and not as much as before. Needless to say we won't be going...