Review: Cafe Havana Bar & Grill

Finally, a good Cuban restaurant in Suffolk! Excellent, chic tropical decor outside and inside.
The coconut shrimp was the best we have ever had! The ropa vieja was very tasty. The Havana Banana dessert was sinfully delectable. The servers were pleasantly attentive. We will definitely be back often. Good Luck Cafe Havana! We only had one small complaint: the black beans and rice would have been tastier with a little more salt; otherwise, everything was excellent.

Finally, a good Cuban restaurant in Suffolk! Excellent, chic tropical decor outside and inside.
The coconut shrimp was the best we have ever had! The ropa vieja was very tasty. The Havana Banana dessert was sinfully delectable. The servers were pleasantly attentive. We will definitely be back often. Good Luck Cafe Havana! We only had one small complaint: the black beans and rice would have been tastier with a little more salt; otherwise, everything was excellent.

I dined here on a Thursday night with 5 of my girlfriends. We were greeted by friendly hostesses and brought to a nice round table surrounding by great ambiance. Even the wall color was a topic of our conversation. The place looks great! Our waiter was fantastic! He had a lot of input on what dishes were good and even mentioned his personal favorites. We ordered a coconut shrimp as an appetizer and wound up ordering another one because it was so delicous! We also ordered mojitos which were very tasty, but pretty light on the alcohol for our tastes. We ordered many different dishes from the arroz con pollo to the paella. Let me tell you, everything I tried on that table was delicious! We then ordered the Havana's Bananas for dessert and it was amazing! the perfect dessert! We also had a pitcher of their sangria which was loaded with fruit, which I like and veery tasty, some of the best that I have ever had.
We had not one, but two mangers or possibly owners stop by to see how everything tasted, even to see if the music was too loud. You could tell that these guys really want to know what their customers like. I give it an A and had the alcohol been a little stronger, I would have thrown a + in there, but maybe next time...as I will definitely be back!

i had dinner there the other night, great food and the drinks were terrific. great spot in smithtown.

For my recent birthday my father and girl friend decided to take to Cafe Havana. The decor was perfect and the atmosphere was just what we were looking for. We sat down and ordered some Mojitos from the pleasant and attentive wait staff. For an appetizer we ordered the crab empanadas. They were good. For an entree we all chose a different mofongo which is made from mashed plantains topped with some sort of meat. My girlfriend had the mofongo with skirt steak and sweet plantains. It was very good. I had the shrimp mofongo. Also a good choice, however the portion was small, very small. My father on had the lobster mofongo. When it was placed on the table I laughed. The lobster tail was so small it could easily have been mistaken for a shrimp, and not a very big one. The desert deep fried sweet plantains covered in powdered sugar was great. Altogether the food was good quality and tasty, but the portions left something to be desired. I left hungry even after eating an appy, entree and desert. Now I am not a huge eater, but I do like to leave with a doggy bag especially at $150 for the three of us with only 3 drinks.

I payed my first visit to Cafe Havana on Saturday.
I must say that the place is unreal,what a great decor and atmosphere.
I ordered the churrasco with plaintains,the best I ever had.Talk about flavor!
Jose,one of the owner's personally sat with us at the table and we had a wonderful converstion on how the place came about.Never in my dining experience has the owner sat with me and share some laughs.I wish them the best..........
What long island so badly needed,a place with personality and class!

Finally- a Cuban restaurant on Long Island!

My ratings:

A atmosphere

A service

A enthusiasm of waitress!

A Friendliness of all staff

A++ Desserts

A appetizers

B entrees (the ropa vieja wasn't that good, and in general, all the food needed salt or more taste. the black beans were not up to cuban par.
And what's up with mofongo? Isn't that Puerto Rican?

A drinks fun mojitos and other

A+ presentation of drinks, entress, appetizers

Overall, a fun and good place. Hopefully, they will stick to authenticity and keep traditional Cuban food and flavor on their menu.

What a combination of class and flavor.
I had the seafood paella,All I could say it's the best I've had in long Island.
My wife had the Monfongo with churrasco,she wants to come back next saturday.
The Coconut Mojito are to die for.
The Staff are very attentive.
This place is great!
I loved the Latin Jazz and traditional music from cuba!

My girlfriends and I stopped in at Cafe Havana on Friday nite.
Iam 2nd generation cuban,I felt taken back to my lovely island.The music had me dreaming of my child hood.My father always listened to Beny More.
The Ropa Vieja was out of this world.
The owner was a sweet heart,he explained in great detail the amount of work involed,regarding the preparation of their fresh entrees.
I wish them continued success.
As for desert,The Havana Banana alone will have me coming back for more!!!!!!!!!!

My family and I decided to try Cafe Havana the other night. We were looking forward to the restaurant opening and this was the first chance we got.
The atmosphere was great. The food was good.
The service was HORRIBLE!! The restaurant was empty. Very few people dining.
We waited too long for our drinks to start. We didn't order appetizers just main courses. We sat for almost one hour waiting to be served.
The paella was delicious though not worth the wait!
Doubt that we will ever go back....

K from Commack wrote:

My family and I decided to try Cafe Havana the other night. We were looking forward to the restaurant opening and this was the first chance we got.
The atmosphere was great. The food was good.
The service was HORRIBLE!! The restaurant was empty. Very few people dining.
We waited too long for our drinks to start. We didn't order appetizers just main courses. We sat for almost one hour waiting to be served.
The paella was delicious though not worth the wait!
Doubt that we will ever go back....

This sounds like another spoiled girl from Commack who obviously does not know how to dine. Apparently she liked the atmosphere and food, but wont go back. Her loss! Go get some generic food then.

The restaurant is very nice and the drinks at the bar are excellent. My big compliant is that when I left the restaurant, my car battery was dead. I went back in and asked if someone on the staff could give me a jump. The manager stated that they would send someone out ASAP. Well I waited for 45 minutes and no one showed up. Thank God a passerby on the highway came along to help me or I still maybe sitting there. They need to work on their customer service skills.

WARREN J AMADOR!!!
first of all cafe havana is a restaurant not a mechanic shop. If your overall experience at cafe havana was good then rate them for their service and food when it comes to the restaurant. Not motor vehicles issues.
My experience at the restaurant was great! The food was delicious the service was great and the people are fantastic. I will definately go again with my family. This is the best spanish cafe around you will not find this on the suffolk end of long island.

hi everyone the foods was ok an the service was good but this is not true cuban food an maybe if they get a true cuban chef it may change, will give them one more chance

I was looking forward to a cuban meal but I was disapointed. The food had no taste and the selections were limited. If you have eaten at Bongo Bongo's Gloria Estebans restaurant in Florida, or other cuban restaurant in NYC I am sure you would agree. It would be a good idea for the owners of Cafe Havana to visit Bongo bongo or other cuban restaurant in NYC and come back with real cuban food selections and taste. You may be successful with clients that have not eaten cuban food, but anyone who knows what real cuban food is will find it hard to come back

Warren J Amador wrote:

The restaurant is very nice and the drinks at the bar are excellent. My big compliant is that when I left the restaurant, my car battery was dead. I went back in and asked if someone on the staff could give me a jump. The manager stated that they would send someone out ASAP. Well I waited for 45 minutes and no one showed up. Thank God a passerby on the highway came along to help me or I still maybe sitting there. They need to work on their customer service skills.

If the food, the service, and the drinks were good...they did their job. They are a restaurant, not a gas station. If you had to wait for a staff member to run outside and charge a battery, run back inside, wash his hands (we hope) and get back to the customers....how would you feel about waiting? Nothing is perfect.

I am a 56 year old Cuban woman. Born in Oriente but raised in NYC. I have lived on Cuban food all my life. The only "real Cuban food" restaurants I have ever eaten at were in New Jersey or Miami. Am still searching for one in New York. Trying Cafe Havana tonight.....will let you all know after I come back!

I'm on my way to Havana tonight! So excited!!
I will let you know how the evening turns out - food, drinks, service, etc.

This is my second visit,I'am a travelling business
man from memphis,TN.My parents live in Dix Hills.
Six of us including my parents took the drive over to cafe havana on saturday nite.
They loved the latin jazz band playing that evening.
I ordered the palomillo,(thin breaded steak) with white rice,black beans and sweet fried plantains,Absolutely delicious!
These guy's are onto something very special.
On my next visit,I definitely plan on having a few drinks out on there patio which I notice also has great latin music.