Casual Habana Cafe
“Been going to the Hackensack location for a while but now I can enjoy the same great cuban cuisine along with refreshing cocktails closer to home.”
“My recommendations are the baby pernil, the churassco, the coconut shrimp app, and chorizo.”
“Each entree came with 2 sides, of which we tried the saffron rice, Cuban dirty rice, sweet plantains, red beans, yuca fries, and garden salad.”
Casual Habana Cafe
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Wonderful meal as always.
Great ambience
The only complaint was table location.
Had a hard time getting into that seat against the wall. Tough for a group of 4
Apps were the papa rellenas and chicharon. Both hot and delicious.
Entrees were churrasco – cooked perfectly
Ropa vieja- sauce seemed a little watery, was hoping for a slightly richer sauce
Hubs had vaca Frita and the side of yuca com mojo this time was served perfect. Last time had to get it redone as they served it fried.
I had the ceviche which I have to say was none too shabby. The sauce/leche de Tigre was amazing.
Desert we ended up with a humongous portion of dulce de leche which everyone raved about at the table
An extremely rich flan
And two orders of the homemade churros with 3 dipping sauces- chocolate, caramel, and guava
If nothing else come for the churros
Oh and the mojitos!!!
I might have elevated this for a 4-star rating but dropped it a notch after I wanted to take a fork and stick it in my ear over a "musician" playing a saxophone and a flute on a Saturday night with friends. Let me mention first and foremost that the food was very good. Several entrees at the table were hits (rum roasted chicken, flank steak, and sides were wonderful (red beans, salads were excellent). Empanadas kicked butt. The love from the kitchen and the owner (very nice man who made his way around to the tables) was evident. The piped-in music is tolerable but the young man playing sax off-key had us so annoyed and distracted and wouldn't go away that it completely negated my otherwise high praise for the establishment. Not sure if the "fake musician" is a relative of the owner (who made a quick exit when I mentioned music crashed and tore apart the food experience). I would love to go back and try it again, I really liked the food-authenttic, fresh and cooked with love. Maybe it's a weekend thing but caveat emptor if the music plays…
I can't believe I haven't tried this place sooner. The place has a very nice vibe. The service is impeccable. But the food is the star of the show. My wife and I came here not knowing what to expect. I had the fried pork belly to start. It was crispy and very tasty. I also had the skirt steak with a side of dirty rice and tostones. It was cooked perfectly. To wash it down I had a couple of mojitos. They hit the spot. For dessert I had the fried empanadas with molten chocolate and vanilla ice cream. It was a great finish to a wonderful meal. The best part of it all was how affordable the place is. I'm not sure how they turn a profit but I'll never complain. Hope to come back to this place sooner rather than later.
LOVED! I can't wait to go back. We sat at the cute 'authentic' bar they have and ordered some drinks and food. The restaurant was a bit of a trek for me but well worth the drive. Their happy hour (Tues/Wed I believe) from 4-7pm is amazing! Drinks are cheap ($5 or so) and so is the food! To start I had a delicious cocktail and then a coconut mojito. Delicious. The bartender, Danny, was super friendly and really knew how to make cocktails. Then we each ordered empanadas ($1 each awesome). I had two vegetarian ones, highly recommend the spinach and cheese. The dipping sauce is outstanding. I also ordered the coconut shrimp which came 3 to a plate (big shrimp) in a honey glaze ($4 wow). After dinner he gave us a free Bailey's like drink for desert and then I ordered a cafe con leche.
I have a tough time finding good Cuban restaurants in Northern, NJ. Well, this place was awesome, great date place, truly Cuban feel and the drinks are awesome! Next time I'll have to try a dinner, but the apps were great!
Tried this place for the first time a fee weeks ago. What a pleasant surprise! Sangria was tasty, food was very good. We ordered empanadas, pork anf rhe kifs meal was amaZing! A thin well cooked flank steak including sweet plantains, rice, beans And yummy thin crispy french fries! I really couldn't believe the kids meal. It was delicious.
The cheg came around each table to greet guests and make sure all was well and enjoyed.
The bar, however, would not let us sample their already made Sangria. We were disappointed but ordered two pitchers while we were there. We tried the red. It was OK, thick and good but Ive had much better! Will try another flavor next time.
Been to the one in Hackensack and this is my first time to this one in New Milford.
A couple of mine introduced us to the casual habana in Hackensack and it was one of the best places that I've ever been to (AND it's BYOB). This time, we tried the fairly newly opened location where it has a full service bar and a larger location.
The decor is a little dark for my taste but nonetheless, welcoming and warm. The bar is visible as soon as you walk in with tables seated here for those just there to drink.
Benny, the owner of both Causal Habanas was there making sure the place ran smoothly. Even at Hackensack, he would come out from the back and walk to every single table to introduce himself and make sure everything was ok. He wouldn't stop there though…he'd start a conversation with you as if you've known him for years. He's a great guy and it's so great to know he acknowledges all his patrons.
The food here is phenomenal. Normally I would always get the skirt steak with a side of dirty rice and tostones, but this time I ordered a pan seared chicken with sautéed onions. My husband ordered 'their' version of chicken parm which was absolutely delicious. My pan seared chicken did not come out too try and the onions on top really gave it good flavoring. My husband's chicken parm dish was probably better than all the other Italian restaurants that sell it. The tomato sauce was really sweet and the cheese on top was just perfect. This order was a lot bette than the Hackensack restaurant. We all ordered their mojito which is to die for! It's absolutely delicious. As for dessert, we ordered chocolate empanadas which If you ask me, it wasn't enough (you only get 3). This dish was basically a chocolate filled empanada! My husband ordered the tres leches cake which was ok…I've never been a fan of tres leches, but wanted something sweet to eat after dinner. The cake was big but the moistness of the cake was a bit lacking. I have a Colombian friend who has given us tres leches cake before and the moisture of the cake itself was much better than the one we ordered.
There's complimentary valet parking which seems sort of unnecessary because the parking lot isn't big at all. As some other yelpers have mentioned, it's sort of a waste of a tip because you can literally walk to your car and get it yourself. I saw a lot of people parking down the road and just walking to their cars to avoid the valet.
I'm not sure if I'd prefer this new location or the one in Hackensack. This location has the full bar in the bigger location. But the other one is BYOB and a smaller location. Both obviously have different chefs and the friends that I went to eat with preferred the Hackensack location. I personally wouldn't care either way because the food is great at both locations!
Ok. So we came here with a group of 10 people and didn't have such a great experience. It began with the waitstaff. We asked for waters but it seemed that the alcohol was more pressing to serve. Now I know that is where the money is, but I should not have had to wait until the appetizers arrived to finally get some water. Appetizers were brought out pretty quickly and the bacon wrapped stuffed date was delicious.
After the appetizers, we waited over an hour for dinner to be served! After some complaining, the waiter apologized for the long wait and assured us our food would be brought out shortly. When it finally arrived, I was pretty disappointed with my dish, Arroz con pollo. If was rather bland and luke warm. The rest of the party seemed to enjoy their dishes. I didn't sample any so I cannot comment on them.
At the end of dinner, the wait staff again apologized and did not charge us for the appetizers as their way of making things right. That was a nice gesture and based on that alone, I will go back to give it another try. Maybe they were having an off night.
Hands down the best happy hour spot I have been to in the east coast so far! $1 empanadas that are delicious. Mojitos, margaritas, and sangrias that are the best I have ever had. Compliments to the bartender on his mixology methods. I got the sparkling sangria which uses cava sparkling wine which is my favorite. I also got a coconut margarita which was the perfect amount of coconut and not too sweet. I love the mason jar idea as well.
We tried almost everything on the happy hour menu for the food, I would say just skip the cuban or maybe I just don't like pork? But it was not to my liking. Other than that everything else was great. We are definitely coming back here.