Cubanelle
“Standouts included the spinach and cheese empanadas, croquetas (with braised short rib) and the coconut shrimp.”
“Alex Garcia, Cuban executive chef from food network, as the house chef is the icing on the cake!”
“Great renovation from the previous restaurant (The Brook) Two very nice spacious dining rooms plus a bar area.”
Cubanelle
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
3 reviews
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Great renovation from the previous restaurant (The Brook) Two very nice spacious dining rooms plus a bar area. The owner graciously offered Hubby and I a glass of sangria on the house; I got white, Hubby got red, both were fantastic. Thank you! I ordered the Cammerones Ajillo (shrimp in oil) that was very good. The Shrimp were truly giant as well as sweet, firm and fresh. It came a nice side if yellow rice that was outstanding. Buttery, soft and full of flavor. Hubby loved his Paella. He said the seafood was fresh and delicious and the broth was a perfect compliment. Service was pleasant but a little shaky but we can chalk that up to being a new business. Everyone was super nice, the manager also stopped by our table to see how everything was. It was delicious and we will be back
Cubanelle recently opened. I expected poor service and decent food. My expectations were exceeded.
The friendly hostess gave us a great seat (booth which is key for a bambino).
Our waiter came over and brought over our drinks in a prompt manner. He was a little nervous but otherwise there were not service related issues. Their margarita had a mojito flair which I could have done without (not a mint fan). They do have beers on draft as well to go along with numerous mixed options.
The food was very good! You would think it be meh since they just opened but no way! It was all well presented with fresh ingredients.
They started with fresh Cuban bread that needed no butter. It was warm and they give you about six balls…if there were more…they would have been eaten.
We then decided to order a few different dishes (tapas style). It would give us a better variety and use our tastebuds to the limit.
Items we ordered:
Flatbread – chorizo. Slightly charred on the bottom, good quality dough and spicy chorizo, arugula and some cheese on top…a perfect combo and worth the order (and carbs).
Short Rib App – shortrib on top of a corn cake in a delicious sauce drizzled with sour cream and topped with tomatoes and onions. A sure bet for our next visit.
Chorizo (in a skillet) with onions and special sauce (accompanied by pieces of Cuban toast) – perfecto!
We did not have dessert as everything we ordered was enough to fill us up.
The owner also came over to introduce himself. A nice added touch.
Prices – Mixed drinks are high priced. Beers avg $6. The food is moderately priced.
For a restaurant that just opened, they did it right. Surely beats Cuban Pete's in Montclair…
ENJOY!
I had high hopes for this restaurant having bookmarked it when it first opened, so we stopped by for dinner last night. Overall it wasn't a bad experience, would I come back though, I'm not sure. See details below…
First off, I like the location itself. I've never been to Cuba, but I can imagine this is what it would be like. They decorated the old steakhouse nicely, opening up the dining area a bit. They have Latin music playing in the background but it isn't too loud so you can have regular conversations. The place has a nice ambiance to it. There is a bit of a bottleneck though where you enter by the host station since it's right next to the bar.
One thing that's annoying is parking which is street only, next to a funeral home which, if there is services there is zero parking.
The servers are nice, but a bit odd when your waitress can't even pronounce some of the dishes. I did have some comments on the food when she stopped by and asked how everything was, and she listened to us, but I can tell she was kind of annoyed. I can't blame her, she's probably used to people complaining and trying to get discounts on the bill, but that want the case here, it was just constructive criticism..
On to the food:
– the bread served was great. Freshly baked with cheese at the center, we all like it. Instead of butter, it came with a mashed black bean spread that we all liked very much.
– we ordered empanadas, 2 chicken and 1 spinach w/ cheese. These were good as well, the pastry itself was nice and the stuffing inside was tasty.
– I ordered the pernil which was bone in. A bit odd, never had pernil served on the bone before, but it was nice and tender and well marinated. It came over steamed yuca with garlic mojo. The steamed yuca was very bland even though it was in the garlic mojo. Barely touched it.
– we ordered a side of rice and beans. The rice didn't taste like Spanish white rice, it was missing that slight seasoning that sets aside Spanish white rice – basically needed a tad more oil and some salt. The waitress forgot our beans, but when she did bring them, they had a watered down flavor so we barely touched them (which the waitress was nice enough to remove from the bill).
– my wife ordered the bacalao. The fish itself was good, the creole potatoes were baked minus the creole. But not a bad dish, just needed a bit more seasoning if you ask me.
– they did offer off the menu children options, so we got my children chicken tenders and fries, which was nice.
– lastly, we did order some sangria. I went with the red Fresas, which I liked. My wife ordered the Havana banana, which she didn't. Once again, the waitress was nice enough to take this off the bill as well.
So, once again, nice looking place with a good ambiance, okay/ good service, but the food is just slightly lacking. With them being new, I'm sure they can get better with time…