1958 Cuban Cuisine — Restaurant in Westfield

I grew up on the other side of the state and was always a little apprehensive about Westfield - it seemed a bit snooty/aristocratic. But after realizing it was extremely convenient to meet my shore chum there, I decided to take the plunge and hobnob with the elite. Well worth it. If you've had Cuban before, you know it's often on the heavier side with an emphasis on pork and fried goodness. That was certainly the case here, which was not a negative by any means. I tend to gauge establishments like this based on whether I feel disgusting as I toddle out of the restaurant, but I still had a spring in my step afterwards.

We ordered the chicken empanadas - it would have been nice to have one or two more on the plate, but two for $8 isn't bad in my view, especially for this area of the state. Very scrumptious, nice seasoning. For entrees, I went with the lechon asado (roast pork), and my chum went with the bistec de pollo (chicken). Both were favorably received. I thought the pork was a little dry and could have used a sauce or side to moisten it a bit. In the recent past I used to frequent a Puerto Rican food truck in Jersey City called Me Casa that had a green edgy sauce that was perfect for this kind of food. My friend would be the first to tell you that she's incredibly high maintenance when it comes to food, especially when it's a little out of her comfort zone/not mainstream American cuisine, and the fact that she was that effusive in her praise for the chicken is a compliment of the highest order.

The real winner of the evening though was the cheesecake. I rarely get desserts from Cuban places (I could go the rest of my life without being reminded that flan exists), but this was literally one of the best slices of cheesecake I've ever had. I think the real key here was their decision to drizzle it with TWO different flavors - a raspberry/fruity one, and a caramel one. Genius, and it gave off an ice cream sundae vibe as a result. I've attached photographic evidence for consideration.

Why not five stars? The service was a hit or miss, especially towards the end, when we both were craning our necks looking around for someone to take the check. It took about 15 minutes for the waiter to stop by after we'd finished our desserts, and it felt a bit longer since it was nippy out and the heating devices weren't particularly close to our table.

As an aside (I'm not taking points off for this), this is actually a rare instance where I think a restaurant is making a mistake being BYOB. I'm usually the first to jump at the chance to haul some cost-effective wine into an eatery, but with Cuban, rum-based cocktails are an obvious fit, and I would have gotten one if it was on the menu. I think they did have a sangria and a mojito option, but I'm pretty sure those were contingent on actually bringing in booze yourself. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would respectfully disagree with me on this point though.

Solid recommend - if you're going on a weekday evening, it seemed like you could park easily in the train station parking lot free of charge but I'd make sure your spot isn't one of the...

UPDATE: Not surprised the owners replied to more recent comments but not to mine. Definitely appear to be prejudice and do not care about customer service. To this day I tell stories on how embarrassing this night was for me.

My 2 friends and I dined here Saturday 11/27 for an early dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and I just got engaged a few days before so we were looking forward to a ladies night to catch up and celebrate together. Unfortunately though, the vibe was completely and abruptly ruined after our meal when we were very RUDELY told to leave. We arrived at 4pm, and I had called ahead to try and make a reservation, but was told they were not taking reservations, so I was told to walk in to see if they can squeeze us in. When we got there the place was totally empty except for 1 other table. The manager told us seating is 1.5 hours since outside was closed. We sat , and eventually ordered. The food took a while to come out, and after we ate we ordered dessert to go. After we got the bill and paid, the manager came to us and said very loudly ... “Ladies, we talked about this. It’s time to go.” Never in a million years have we been so utterly embarrassed. We are well-paid black women (with degrees and businesses of our own) who were shocked by this treatment. It was completely and utterly beneath us. The restaurant was nearly empty the entire time we were there and we were disgusted at the fact that the manager was so disrespectful and dismissed us that way. We were CLEARLY done paying and ready to leave so the rudeness was uncalled for and pretty sickening. We will NEVER be back and will inform all of our friends and social media the same. Why put such a grumpy man in charge of this establishment who clearly does not like black women. We even took photos which showed in the background how empty the place was so curious as to why we were treated this way when we were clearly headed out the door after paying anyway. Way to ruin a joyous time in my...

I made reservations online days in advance. The reservation was for 8:30, inside seating and for my girlfriends birthday (meaning cake candle singing etc). We arrived at 8:20 and I overheard the manager say to a waitress they didn’t have inside seating reserved for us and he was going to put me outside. The manager approached me and smiled and told me my outdoor table was ready. I stood my ground and said I made a reservation for inside. So they sit us at a table in the middle of the main walkway for the restaurant telling us it’s temporary until someone else leaves. 10-15 minutes later we have to get up and walk to another table with our waters and champagne that we brought. Ordered an appetizer right away. The table next to us gets seated and they get a basket of bread, we never got a basket of bread or offered any bread what so ever.

The food was good and fairly priced. We finish our meal and dessert and they never sang or brought cake out for my girlfriend. I had to remind them in front of her to do so which ruined the surprise of it. Had I not brought my own bottle of Champagne I would haven't had anything to drink because they did not refill our waters. Very poorly managed restaurant. The table next to me had the same experience as they made reservations and were persuaded to sit outside but also stood their ground. What’s the point of reservations if you’re not going to honor them? Or follow the special requests? Overall not happy with the experience, especially having spent my girlfriends...