Calle Ocho Cuban Cafecito — Restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga

Yesterday I stopped by Calle Ocho to support this small business with the purchase of empanadas and coffee for a business meeting. Keke was the person who assisted me with my order. Keke was rude, but I chalked it up to she was having a bad day or that they may have been short staffed. After placing my large order, I asked because of COVID, can we get each flavor of the empanadas in a separate container because I work with people who have food allergies, our safety protocol and some of the executives don't eat pork. Keke further made excuses as to why they can't do thing such as print receipts, separate empanadas based on the meat inside and why they don't have basic utensils. Keke kept stating that there supply order is stuck at the port and they can't go to Smart and FInal because they were out of those same supplies. I was then told that I would be charged for each sauce that goes with the empanadas and the containers that the empanadas are supposed to come in. When I returned to pick up my order I was immediately yelled at by Keke to close the door. I took a seat because the food and coffee that was ordered wasn't ready on time. Another customer comes in shortly after me to pick up her order and Keke yells close the door which ticked off the customer. The interaction between Keke and that customer was unprofessional on Keke's part because the customer was expressing her concern about the restaurants card reader. The customer was sharing when she elected to have a receipt sent to her via email she received an additional email stating that the application will share her information with others. The customer was asking Keke to take her off that list Keke immediately blew up on the customer. It was so unprofessional that I stopped my conversation to hear what was going on. As I am waiting, another customer comes in and Keke once again yells close the door (which by this time I am thinking why wouldn't the owner get the door fixed) then Keke rudely takes her order. As I am sitting on the chair waiting for my order the cook comes from the back to show me my order where he messed up my empanadas and is trying to explain to me how I can point out to executives which empanada is which. I made the same request which was can you box the empanadas based on the meat and the cook got an attitude. Now mind you, I only wanted a total of 6 small boxes and Keke said you have to pay $1 per box. Needless to say, I won't be returning because of the poor customer service, unprofessionalism and they were full of excuses on why they can't take care of...

Update: Second time going here, this time with the family. Great experience! Denise was super welcoming and friendly and helpful with menu suggestions. We got: -rope vieja fries (a shredded beef that they don't always offer, so it's not on the menu) Very flavorful! It was $16, but the portion size was very large and three of us happily shared it. -papa rellena. This tasted like a shepherd's pie in a little ball. :) Yummy, but very small for $3. I was actually expecting more than one because all the photos on Yelp were people who had ordered multiple, so I wrongly assumed those came in one order. -chicken empanada. A yummy, decent-sized $3 snack! -cafe con leche. I'm not a huge coffee person, but this was really yummy. $7 for a large, so it was quite an expensive coffee, though. And a lot of the sugar was at the bottom of the cup... But yummy. :) We were there early, like 8:30am. She quoted us 20 minutes because everything is made fresh to order, but it took only about 15. Take-out only. There's a couple small tables outside, and a few larger tables a few stores away in a shared courtyard-ish area.

Old review:

I got the cortadito coffee and a chicken empanada. Both were super good! The coffee was a great balance of sweetness, although a lot of the sugar was at the very bottom of the cup. The empanada was delicious. The meat was flavorful, and I didn't even need the sauces that came with it, although I did try them. The bread pastry thing on the outside was sweet like a dessert! Prices were great.

I only dock a star just because of the environment. The store is very small, so there's not really room to sit down and enjoy a drink, and it's even crowded just to stand in there and wait for the empanadas, which take about 15 minutes - longer if...

This family owned and operated Cafe is a hidden gem that houses some of the best Cuban food around. The owners are very personable and have great customer service. I love Cuban food and have tasted many delicious Cuban sandwiches but this place has one of the best I've ever had.

The Cuban bread is grilled perfectly and is not too soggy or too hard, the pork is perfectly seasoned and soft (not chewy), and the mustard and pickle ratio was perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better Cuban sandwich.

The empanadas were stellar as well. I especially loved the Cuban sandwich style empanada which to my understanding is unique to this location and works great with the sweet glaze that covers the empanadas. I could eat this all day! The only empanada I wasn't totally a fan of was the guava cheese. Normally, it's my go to dessert at Cuban places but for some reason it just doesn't work here. I'm not sure if the type of cheese was too strong and didn't blend well with the guava but whatever it was, it didn't taste too great.

If you've ever been to Portos and tried their potato balls you know how amazing they taste but I was delighted to discover Portos doesn't have a corner on the potato ball market anymore. This cafe sells potato balls on par, if not better than what Portos has to offer.

Try the Café con Leche, it's a great blend of very strong coffee and super sweet creaminess that makes for a delicious drink.

I would definitely recommend this place and I plan on coming back often to see what the daily secret menu has to offer....