Guantanamera
“They kick it up a notch on Friday nights with cigar rollers up front (THE CIGARS ARE FREE).”
“I've gotten the steak, paella, shrimp in garlic sauce, oxtail, and my fav their coconut mojito.”
“I ordered the Fried Calamari for my appetizer and the Ropa Vieja as my entree.”
Guantanamera
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Most authentic Cuban food I have yet had in NYC, and I'm Cuban! The Vaca Frita, the maduros, the pork…. Everything was DELICIOUS! It was awesome having dinner here on a Saturday night as well with the band playing good Latin music, while eating amazing food alongside delicious Mojitos. This place took me right back home as if my mom had cooked dinner. The service was also excellent and supremely friendly. I look for any excuse to make it out there. I'll even be taking my parents here this Saturday for dinner and the live music. Love love love this place!
Decided to order in and relax at a friends house. Read the items I wanted from seamless with a total of 37.02 after I called and placed the same order, the woman on the phone quoted 42.04. Bad business practice. Lousy. No excuses. Wouldn't give them my business. GREEDY!
I've passed by this cute place many times in Hell's Kitchen and glad I finally tried it. I don't know of that many Cuban places in the area but I grew up with the culture and food and happy to say I would certainly come back here. I arrived early for lunch and there was plenty of seating which fills up quickly during the rush hour. The staff is very friendly and welcoming. I decided to go with the pre fixe lunch special for $15.95 so I could try a bit of everything. Keep in mind that some items cost an extra $1 or $2 if you select it for the pre fixe menu.
I ordered the beef empanadas, ropa vieja (extra cost) and flan. The beef empanadas were delicious! Plenty of filling, juicy meat, and nice semi crunchy shell. It was great. The ropa vieja had great presentation and packed a lot of flavor. It came with rice and the meat was piled on top of a plantain chip shell, sitting on top of mashed plantains. Very good combo and definitely recommend it. Lastly, dessert was good. The flan wasn't overwhelmingly sweet and good custard texture. We also tried the banana sorbet which was fantastic and fresh.
I've already made plans to return to dinner and can't wait to enjoy the live music atmosphere.
Second times a charm. Tried to come here Saturday at about 5pm. It wasn't that busy. Didn't know you needed a reservation. We were seated right away – in the basement. It too quiet so we decided to skip it and made a reservation for Monday night. A very different experience. Had a shrimp appetizer, I had a chicken salad, my husband had Salmon and rice and we shared a cake and ice cream dessert. All very good. Great music and atmosphere. Never been to Cuba but, it was decorated with flair and colors I would imagine to be Cuban. Live music after 8:30 pm.
Ug. As a Miami native it's become…a problem…to find good Cuban food in the upper 47 states. And this place sadly didn't prove the exception. I DID get a good sparring with the waiter though when I pointed out that the fried pork chunks I'd ordered weren't actually fried but instead resembled the Puerco Lechon and he responded by telling me that he knew the difference between the dishes because he "worked there." Mmmhmmm. But are you Cuban, sir? Or ever had Cuban food? To be fair, I tried to eat it anyway,but the dish was so dry it was basically inedible. Between my husbands dish and mine (and one glass of wine) it was over $100. SUCH a waste of money. Or, as my Cubans would say, "nunca este que pasa in Cuba."
I've been to this establishment a few times before on a weekend, love that they have a live band from 9pm till midnight. The food did not disappoint but my Guava mojito did, plus it took a really long time for the drinks to come out.
A few tips for this restaurant:
Make a reservation – there are only two booths and a limited amount of tables for parties larger than 4 people to the side. Otherwise, they will seat you in the middle section where most tables are for two ppl or they will push the tables together and it will be hard to see the band play.
The waiter tries to push sparkling or flat bottled water for the table that costs about $7. If you are not interested be clear on that. They do offer cold tap water with ice that the bus boy refills all night for free.
Double check the final bill. There was an extra charge on our bill that had I not reviewed it we would of paid for that bottled water that we never drank or asked for.
All in all the place is nice. The hostess is super friendly, food is delicious, restrooms are clean. They even have someone in the front of the restaurant rolling hand made cigars.
Bought a Groupon for this place, and the Groupon specified I had to make a reservation. Made a reservation by phone for 9pm on a Monday night.
Short version: Service gets a 1. Food gets a 3. Atmosphere (live music, clean bathrooms) gets a 4. But even with decent food and venue, if the service is atrocious, the rating will never be high.
Longer version:
When we arrived, the hostess was on the phone. I am not exaggerating when we had to wait 5 entire minutes, of her on the phone, until she put the phone down and acknowledged us. I understand she may have been on a phone call she couldn't end, but she could have either put them on hold, or called over any of the idle servers/bartender to assist us. It was the first interaction with the restaurant, and it wasn't positive.
We were seated, and a waiter came over and asked if we wanted sparkling or flat water. When we asked for tap, brought us 2 glasses and took our entire order (app & entrees). That was 1 of only 2 interactions we had with this person in 80 minutes. He was rude and constantly in a hurry, though we counted 8 tables eating in the entire place.
We ordered the calamari as an appetizer, and someone else brought it over. No one ever came over to see if we needed anything.
A sweet young boy working filled our waters faithfully the entire night, and his service was appreciated. I finally asked him for lemon (because no one else would come over) and he brought over a cute display of lemon wedges atop a wine glass. He made the dinner worth it.
A third person brought over our entrees and set the food down. Again, no one at this point (except the young waiter in training) had spoken to us at all. The food was good: Ordered a Cuban sandwich & Yellow rice with shredded chicken. The sandwich had delicious pork, but was a little dry. Could've used some sauce, avocado, or dressing. The rice & chicken entree was great. Total bill was $60.
There was enchanting live music, and people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. There were plenty of families, and little kids dancing to the music. It was a lovely ambiance. Also, the bathrooms are big & clean.
When the check came, we finally saw our waiter a second time.
Overall, the good food & cozy surroundings could not make up for the fact that the waitstaff were completely unprofessional.
Wouldn't return here, unfortunately.
As a local New Yorker, this place — like many in Times Square — is just too touristy for my tastes. Was it a bad experience? No — the food overall was tasty, and our server was very friendly and attentive. The live latin music was a bit of a distraction for our conversation, but I suppose some families may come here to enjoy the entertainment while dining. I chose the hangar steak with grilled onions and garlic, served over rice. I enjoyed the dish a great deal, but the price at $24 was much higher than this dish would be at other Cuban restaurants outside of Times Square.
The service, food and atmosphere here all were decent — there was just nothing too memorable or so great that it justifies the comparatively higher prices.