Cuban Pete’s
“We brought our own red wine to mix. I ordered the coconut shrimp which came with delicious coconut rice and sweet potatoes.”
“And YES, its BYOB so we brought a bottle of coconut rum with us to add to our Sangria.”
“The starters I love are the spinach and cheese empanadas, chicken lollipops, and the goat cheese fritters with the honey.”
Cuban Pete’s
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Ok, so I've been here a few times now and I feel like service is progressively getting worse. We came on a Wednesday night and it was packed. We did get seats for a party of 6 relatively quickly (all members of the party must be there/no reservations)
We got the BYOB sangria- They give you a pitcher of sangria mix and you just put in your wine to the mix… pretty good.
Appetizers- beef, chicken, and spinach/cheese empanadas… The empanadas did not seem fresh, almost like they were frozen and heated up. Out of all three the spinach and cheese ones were definitely the best.
For the food, I ordered the skirt steak (med rare) Now, this is perfectly cooked and very flavorful (4 star worthy)
Now the reason why i give it 2 stars overall- It took over an hour to get our food, with no explanation. 4 people got their food first, while my friend and I had to wait an extra 10 minutes. No one ever said sorry or explained anything. I understand it was busy but it shouldnt take over an hour for food, and if so, I would like someone to come out and apologize or explain the situation.
Also, the music was soooo loud that we almost had to scream to each other in order to talk.. My ears literally hurt after leaving.
Cute atmosphere, good food, but service just was not enough for me here.
What a great place! The location and the food are equally good.
I came here starving after leaving Newark Airport. Originally I was going to have some Columbian food but I remembered this place from a previous visit.
I ordered the Pollo Cubano which was half boneless chicken with Cuban garlic mojo. The meal also came with white rice, black beans and sweet plantains and let me tell you, DELICIOUS. You also get a lot with your meal which is always something that I look for when ordering from a restaurant.
I also had the pineapple mojito which was also amazing. Prior to this visit, I would always turn down mojitos no matter what simply because I did have one at another Cuban restaurant and it wasn't good at all. Despite that this one didn't disappoint at all.
I think the only thing that could've made this experience better was the waiter that's for sure! He was not attentive at all. Out of the whole 2 hours we were there the waiter came to us ONE time! All the other times we needed a refill or napkins, etc. we were forced to ask someone else.
Other than that I enjoyed this place a lot and despite the waiter I would probably still be back BUT please have more respect for paying customers !
Went to this restaurant last Saturday for the first time. The ambience was great, the decor and the music on point. However, I'm only giving them 3 stars because they have a huge lack of disorganization.
We have our name on the waiting list and according to the hostess the wait was 1hour, five mins later we asked again and they said 2 hours, we were a group of 10 and as soon as we enter the place we saw many empty tables inside. When I told my family we were leaving I think the manager heard us and held us for a few saying that he will seat us right away if everyone was present. So he did. That was nice.
The waiter took our drink orders and came back right away. Then, he took the appetizers and food orders and didn't show up for about 45 mins, the empanadas were great so we were so happy waiting for the entrées. That never happened until 40 more mins. People from neighbor tables came after us, ate and left and we still haven't eaten. That was so annoying.
Finally, the waiter passed by again and made the gesture of like when you forgot something. I followed him with my eyes and he ran to the kitchen, stayed there waiting for the food. What I really think is that he never passed the order paper to the kitchen and he felt guilty. After the food came, he kept forgetting the children orders, when he brought everything then we ate, it wasn't as good as the appetizers.
They rushed us out and I had to ask twice for bags and containers for the food to take out. Since he never asked if someone else needed bags or containers. We paid and left that was the best part and they never offered to show the dessert menu.
For the terrible service 3 stars, for the food 4 just because the appetizers were better than the actual food.
Every time I come here, the food is always amazing, every single item I've tried is magically delicious. The goat cheese fritters are literally life-saving. I've tried the churrasco (regular, spicy, and mango), vaca frita, castellos luis stew, and the naked paella. All amazing and portions are big enough for you to make 2 meals out of! And BYOB! I always bring a bottle of wine to get to the pitchers of booze, big enough to share between 4 people.
My only issues is that there is always, always a massive wait, can go up to 2 hours on a weekend. However, on the weekdays, you can probably get sneaked in relatively quickly. And another thing is that as time passes while you eat, it gets progressively louder and louder, and then it gets to the point where you are like 'Am I in the club or trying to eat dinner?' As you are screaming at your friends across the table.
Mixed feelings about this place. But at face value, I give it 4 stars and here is why.
Great vibe, great variety of choices menu-wise, huge portions, authentic Cuban dishes. I've had the ropa vieja here numerous times and it's good every single time. I also like that it's BYOB and they will make sangria if you bring your own wine. Finally, I like the outdoor seating for warm summer nights, it's cozy and perfect for summertime.
The bad: service. There is always a wait. I get it, weekend dinner rush is prob not the best time to try to have dinner here. But it's ridiculous- one time I waited over an HOUR (against my will). And what's worse, after you get seated, the wait to get drinks, food, and the check is like pulling teeth. We saw our server twice during the whole meal. I get the high volume of customers they get but they should really accommodate accordingly. In that case, maybe I would come here more often.
Anyhow, my recommendations food wise are for tapas- chicken lollipops, ground beef/plantain dish, and spinach and cheese empanadas. The mariscada (naked paella) is delicious as well. Do not get the jerk chicken entree, it was soooo dry and inedible. Not to mention the whole plate came out cold.
I am bitter about the poor service but the food is enough to keep me coming back every now and again.
We were craving some Cuban food so we ventured to Montclair to Cuban Petes! I would honestly be shocked if Cuban Petes passed the health grade inspection! I am not one to usually be knit picky but the table we sat at was sticky and dirty, there was food hanging from under it that dirtied my pants, the plate they put down in front of me was disgusting with brown and red stains. The worst part was the water, I unfortunately took a sip and looked in my glass only to see black specks mixed into my water! So grossed out! We Probably should have left at that point yet we had been waiting for over an hour so we stuck around. My husband and I both got the ropa vieja which was very tasty and plentiful. They completely forgot our appetizers and brought them out after the main dish. The appetizers were gross (empanadas and piquadillo), thankfully they did not charge us for this. The sangria was one of the worst I've ever had: bitter and watered down. I would not come back and only reason they get two stars is because the ropa vieja was very tasty. I guess I should be thankful we did not get food poisoning!
I love the food here. Everything you order will be delicious. It is always on point and flavorful. I recommended the vaca frita – fried shredded with beef with onions with lime squeezed on top. Churrasco is the other dish I would recommend – skirt steak topped with chimichurri sauce. For appetizers, I would recommend the chicken lolipops – small fried chicken drumsticks in a lime/vinegar sauce. All the food is mouthwatering and will leave you wanting more.
The service department is where they are lacking. It's what prevents me from coming back as often. It is absolutely miserable how they make you wait in the stair case area. Not sure why they don't hand out buzzers, use the Nowait app, open table or anything besides that dreadful stair case. There is no room to stand and you can barely hear your name get called. The wait service is also getting worse. It is hard to flag down the waiter and they barely check up on your table.
Also it is BYOB, so bring your booze for sangria and mojitos.
Say it ain't so! Is the quality of food going downhill at Cuban Pete's? Last three times I've gone, the food has been mediocre at best. Bland over cooked Lechon that tasted as if it was heated up in a microwave. What happened to all the flavor Pete? Hoping this isn't the new norm. It's still a madhouse as usual with people lining up like cattle near the register and stairwell waiting for a table. It's really not even enjoyable to go anymore as I feel the the hype has taken over. Music blaring to the point you can't hold a conversation with the person across the table from you. I know it's supposed to be a fun atmosphere, I get it, I really do. But please, get back to the roots of what got you the notoriety to begin with. Start dishing out the flavor you used to or your die hard regulars like myself will find it elsewhere!