Lazaro's Cuban Cuisine — Restaurant in Roswell

[Time & Date of visit] Sometime after 1 pm, 12/26/14

Party Size: 2

Location/Ambiance: Very homey. Cozy kind of vibe. Somewhat rustic, as some of the paint was chipping and window sills worn down. Don't fret about the cars parked in front. There's a back parking lot once you go down the driveway. Around lunch time the noise is average.

[Service] There was only one server during our visit. John was able to handle the few tables as well as ours, attentively. Due to being sat away from the kitchen /server station, he even left us a pitcher of ice water on an adjacent table if we wanted refills.

[Food Highlights]

Empanadas - Beef Filling : Served with a small bed of plantain chips, their version of empanadas are a good bet for starters. Stuffed with a meat of your choice, but also bits of pieces of olives, raisin, I think potatoes. Not enough to overpower the flavor of the beef. It just adds a bit of contrast to your taste buds. The accompanying sauce they had is crazy good. Like crack in sauce form and made for dipping. I asked for two of these for triple dipping. Trust me! The slight smoky flavor pairs well with most sandwiches to dip in! - Worth a try!

Cuban Sandwich: My sister ordered hers with sauteed onions. Dam. That made it even more better! The onions added a robust flavor, while complimenting the rest of the sandwich layers. The mustard on the Cuban is more tangy then the Medianoche. It stands out slightly more then the other flavors of the pork and ham on each bite. - Good, unless you're not fond of mustard!

Medianoche (Midnight sandwich) : Pretty similar to their Cuban sandwich, though what differs is that the Medianoche has a very slight sweetness to it's bread. The bread is generously seared and though visually, looks slightly burnt. I think it adds a crunch to every bite for more texture. The pork is mouthwatering good resting in the middle of slices of ham. The overall taste is balanced with the mustard being subtle to marry all the flavors on each bite. -Good!

{Summary} I think this is definitely one of the Cuban restaurants that stands out. Even more so being in Roswell, as there's not many choices for this kind of cuisine in the area. I'm not sure how it is for dinner, but this place is worth a try if you want something different for lunch...

Most places can have an off day, and I am a bit conflicted when I write this review because I thought the food was good here. However, our experience pretty much ruined our meal and our first impression of the place.

When we first arrived, dirty dishes were piled everywhere, which I assumed was because the place was extremely busy prior to our arrival. However, those dishes stayed on the tables throughout our meal there.

We were asked to move tables halfway through our meal because a large party was arriving, and they wanted the whole section, including our table of 2.

The biggest issue, though, was a flying cockroach flew from somewhere off the wall or the secondary door, which was not used and hit my spouse in the face. The employee who later identified herself as the manager casually stomped on it and said, "Oh, they tend to get in after a heavy rain," with initially very little sympathy to the situation. I could believe that they could get in after rain as the floor looked clean. It was more the lack of compassion at what just occurred.

It wasn't until I asked to speak to the owner or manager that she identified herself as such and apologized. She, at that point, was trying to make it right. However, another employee came up and said in a very disrespectful tone, "What do you want us to do about it?" Um, hello, she was hit in the face by a roach at your restaurant.

The manager was trying to take care of the situation at the time, and that employee didn't help the situation. That same employee walked away and then shortly came back interfering in the conversation again and stated, "I am the owner's daughter." As if she was trying to assert her authority. The way she was saying things came across as disrespectful. We expected to be treated with sympathy and respect, and she was lacking both of those things. Just because you are the owner's daughter doesn't mean you can treat customers any particular way.

I will give credit to the manager at the end for trying to do the right thing. That is the reason for 2 stars and not 1, but it should not have taken me having to ask for a manager or owner to get the situation resolved.

It is unfortunate as we liked the food enough to give this place another try, but the experience makes us question whether we...

Solidly good Cuban food. Of course, I have absolutely no authority on the matter. If eating a good sandwich while sitting on a rickety chair conjures warmth and longing for home, this is your place. Don't be deterred by the claustrophobic parking. It opens up in the back. The quaintness of eating in a cozy house adds to the warmth and charm.

For the table, we split the large sampler appetizer which consists of 6 empanadas -- 2 chicken, 2 beef, 2 spinach & corn, plantain chips, tostones, a pork tamale, fried yuca, and salted cod fritters. For a table of 7, this worked out pretty well. We split it 4 ways, coming to about $10 each. The pork tamale was amazing but really should have included two of them. Trying to split one tamale 7 ways was a feat of sheer will power. Everything was pretty good. I don't see myself ordering plantain chips or spinach & corn empanadas though.

By recommendation, we ordered the steak sandwich and the Spanish sausage sandwich. Both are served on authentic Cuban bread (flown in twice a week.) The steak sandwich is kind of like a meal between buns. Sliced steak topped with grilled onions and shoestring potatoes. Pretty good. The Spanish sandwich was a bit on the salty side for me but still not bad. I have to say, one of the highlights of our meal is the mixed rice. SO GOOD. If you're going authentic all the way, the Cuban sandwich is such a solid, amazing choice. Highly...