Havana Tropical Grill Restaurant — Restaurant in Rogers

Sat down to eat on Friday with one other person and it took 10 minutes for our waitress to come to our table for our drink order (there were maybe 9 total guests dining in the entire restaurant). Eventually, the waitress only brought one plate of food (we ordered 2 plates of Lechon asado and yuca frita) to our table and asked if we wanted an extra plate to share and we were very confused and said no. After about 5 minutes I began to worry that my order wasn’t taken correctly, so I went to the front to ask another employee if both plates of lechon asado were on our ticket. He said “yes you have 2 orders of lechon asado on your ticket”. I said great I’ll wait at the table for it. I asked the waitress for another cup of aioli for the yuca and she said , “what do you want? Some ranch?” I said no just some more aioli. She said, “that’s just a bottle of ranch that we put stuff into”. I said, weird the menu says it’s aioli. She says, “it’s not whatever that is. It’s just ranch.”; with a very snappy attitude. She was one sigh away from rolling her eyes at me as if she was inconvenienced by me asking for something. The other plate didn’t arrive until literally 24 minutes AFTER the first plate of food arrived. The other person I was dining with had already finished their meal 10 minutes ago. Our waitress sucked. She told another couple it was her first week and we could tell. The waitress finally brought the plate and said someone else stole her plate for another table. If that was the case, then why would she ask us if we wanted a plate to share one persons meal? The food was not warm. I believe she just forgot it or sat it down somewhere and never bothered to check anything. Overall, Our particular waitress was rude, slow, careless, and didn’t pay attention to her patrons. What kind of restaurant brings out one plate to a table and then brings the other out 24 minutes later??.. I used to really like this place and I expected more from a restaurant that charges $13 for a mojito. Hopefully the owners or management see this because someone that snappy, difficult, and inattentive towards the patrons doesn’t belong in the service industry. This was the first time I’ve ever left a restaurant without tipping. It didn’t feel good to do that, but a message...

This was hands down the worst meal experience I’ve had in years. I’ve had Cuban food, I have a tolerable pallet, and this hardly passes for Cuban or even Food. Literally the first time I’ve ever sent food back to ask for a different meal, which was equally disappointing.

1. FOOD - The cheapest cuts of meat at outrageous prices. The Bistec Empanizado was some gristle-ridden cut, pounded paper thin, then deep fried and burnt to heaven. Whatever “Cuban spice blend” they put on was drowned out by old oil and again, the overwhelming burnt taste. I had to send it back because I wasn’t paying $19+gratuity for that.

My replacement choice was a Cubano sandwich - I mean how can that get screwed up at a Cuban restaurant right?

By filling it with unseasoned pork shoulder and mayonnaise, zero pickles, (not even an option or on the side?), and putting it on a plate with what I assume were Great Value frozen fries. (still a $15 plate)

2)SERVICE - The place was busy, so I assumed we were being overlooked for that simple reason. My wife made the observation that our server was giving major priority to the people ordering alcohol. I can understand from a money standpoint hoping for a higher tab and tip, but that’s a really disappointing reason for poor service. - I had to ask a different server to take my food back, at which point our original promptly returned.

This is meant to be a scathing review. I don’t care for a response from management, I’ve seen the responses to other complaints.

I encourage the people of Rogers to look at the amount of reviews, the people who left them, and then ALL the other places GLOBALLY that a majority of positive reviews have been left. Way too many “passing through” reviews filled with photos from their Facebook page. Can anybody say ‘paid-for reviews’? It’s literally a gig on Fiverr. I also encourage you to peek at other reviews I’ve left - I’m not some raging butthead, I generally try to leave positive feedback and keep negatives to myself.

I think that they are taking advantage of people who are new to Cuban food by giving them scrap cuts at filet prices. I do not fault the servers, I fault the owners and management. If you want a scam-sandwich, go...

My Husband and I finally tried "Havana TGR" in Rogers, AR . Last night for dinner. We arrived around 7 p.m. or so. At the time they didn't have any inside seating available but did have some outside seating ready , so we were told to seat ourselves outside. Which we happily did. It was a little chilly of course and the bad thing about that was the Metal Chairs that you sit in outside . Very cold to the touch. We were given menus and we waited easily 15 minutes before we got up and asked someone if we could have the table inside that had just cleared, since we hadn't been greeted for a drink order anyhow. We easily moved inside. Once inside. We waited about 8 minutes and were brought some water and glasses and we gave our drink order and our app and we went ahead and ordered our food as well so we didn't risk waiting longer. I have not ever had much cuban food so was very unsure if I'd like it , turns out I do. We ordered the sampler and it was great. My husband ordered a amazing shredded chicken and swiss sandwich and I had chicken with onions and rice and black beans. It was good but not as " hit the spot " good as my husband's sandwich. The rice was a little undercooked. It was alot of food for 1 plate which is a plus ,of course. The more the better. The prices were a bit high but the restaurant was very clean , artistically decorated, and classy feeling . The bartender was very helpful with the several questions I had about the food. Ohh and definitely order the sweet fried baby plantains . I think they are called " meduros." Honestly the best part. So that was our 1st experience at Havana . Will we be back ? Absolutely. But , it's not a eat there , more than.. once a week, type food for us. But still a nice change for us. I did give only 3 stars for the slow service and forgetfulness of the servers. I have been a server for years and I feel like it wasn't that busy compared to the amount of servers on duty , so something has gotta give . We will be back...