Great food

Fantastic margaritas; excellent entrees; must try the empanadas! Definitely coming back

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Hard to find spots in the LES that actually make great drinks that aren’t $20 a pop and empanadas that are insane with flavor. Hidden gem.

The lower east side well kept secret one if the best cuban restaurants out in about! Family own family, manage.And they make you feel like family when you go!

We loved this restaurant! The food was amazing with wonderful seasoning and great portion sizes! We would definitely come back.

Food was excellent— great portions, really good flavor. The restaurant was clean, small and intimate, nice and well kept. The staff were kind and service was quick! Prices were great. Definitely coming back!!!

Love the happy hours- drinks were strong and good. A friend had tacos for happy and he loved them. I sat outside and enjoyed myself.

Food was outstanding. Fresh, sauces were delicious. And they did have a one vegetarian main option. Sides were so good. My only complaint was that outdoor seating had seats closely places together.

Oh... My... God... I love this place! The food! The drinks! The company! I luv the owners! This is my home away from home! Really! U have to come here! Everything is awesome! Trust me. To know me is to love me! U won't be disappointed!

A hidden gem! The food is so flavorful and the drinks are amazing! Also a great for bottomless brunch. The perfect neighborhood spot!

Absolutely obsessed with place and could not wait for them to reopen. The new location space is a total upgrade and the food is outstanding! Highly recommend the churrasco. 10/10!

Stopped by for Sunday brunch and loved the food.

Food is consistently excellent, great service as well. Really lovely family run business. So glad to have them back in the neighborhood.

My favorite Cuban in the city. The Ropa Vieja and Vaca Frita would make my grandma jealous. Protect this place at all cost!

Great experience I will definitely vist every time we return to New York. The Oxtails were the best I've had from a restaurant the steak was perfect.

I discover this spot one month ago, OMG! The barbecue with beans and rice is sick!!!

Food was amazing!! Great ambiance and the food was fantastic and affordable

Is the second time that I go with my friends and is the best place!! Love the food, the attention is EXCEPTIONAL

Fantastic food and service. Ambiance and mood were great. Prices were great as well for being in Manhattan.

Great Cubano, nice service.

My favorite neighborhood restaurant. Excellent food, excellent drinks, excellent service. Great for a girls night out, great for a family dinner.

Awesome place with authentic Cuban food. Oxtail was amazing and the Churrasco was on point. I'll be coming back to this place for sure!!

one of my favorite east village haunts! Fantastic food, cocktails, vibes, and service! if you're in the area, check it out!

The best cuban restaurant in NYC! Every time I come here it makes my day, great atmosphere, even better service and food! So yummy! 10/10 :)

Solid Cuban. Delicious pork.

Great fun place with good food and awesome service. Surprisingly spacious inside, seems like it’d be great for groups

Outstanding. My best meal in NYC this year. Kind and attentive service.

Went here with a Cuban crowd. Authentic food. Fair price point. Recommend

Im cuban myself and i can say wholeheartedly, the food is amazing. Waiting time is low and the service is on point. Keep it up!!

Amazing food and atmosphere

Great food. Good music. Nice vibe.

Fantastic. Happy Hour is superb. Host is absolutely the best!

Absolutely LOVE THIS PLACE! Everything is Delicious and the Drinks ARE Always on POINT! And let’s not forget about the staff… From the owner to the staff they ALL are amazing!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

This adorable vibey Cuban place is absolutely worth the visit! The food is delicious comfort food, the staff is friendly, the vibe is happy, 10/10 fab add to the neighborhood!

The best hospitality and food as always. I literally make it such a point to come here when I’m in town. No matter where I stay.

The food never fails in it being consistan and delicious. The ambiance is super cozy and the staff make it feel like you’re visiting an old aunt who hasn't seen you in years and just wants to feed you. I LOVE this place

Food and Latin music = delicious

The food was amazing had the Croquetas de jamón, empanadas de carne molida, and the pulled pork with garlic sauce which came with rice beans & plantains. The waiters were great & very attentive. Definitely looking forward to going back and trying some of the other dishes.

Cantina Cubana (which used to be Cafe Cortadito down the block) is an amazing family-run restaurant, and the owners are the absolute BEST. The food is always incredible and the overall space of this spot is genuinely warm and welcoming. I've been enjoying their food and service for the past almost 10 years now, and it never disappoints. Highly recommend for those that want great quality food while supporting a small business ran by great people.

Terrific food, and wonderful ambiance - great date spot! I had the Vaca Frita, and the steak was cooked beautifully, delicious! Owners Ricardo and Patti are so friendly and easy going, it's what makes a great restaurant so enjoyable - thanks for an amazing time guys! I'll be back for sure! ❤️

Amazing food! Amazing atmosphere! And the best staff from top to bottom! I will always be a customer here!

This place is amazing!!! Extremely consistent and the quality has not changed! Thanks to Patricia and her staff! You will not regret!

Don't stand in line at Clinton St Bakery! Come here instead! Glad we did! Cuban sandwich is killer, brunch dishes are flavorful and well prepared, much more memorable than just another typical brunch dish. Guava margarita is delicious. Several gluten free options as well. Mix up your brunch routine at Cantina Cubana!

Outstanding Cuban , Latino , Spanish dishes with excellent sauces - tried some of the appetizers as well as their version of Paella called Paella De Marisco (classic rice dish with saffron, lobster, shrimp, mussels, calamari, scallops) Everything was perfect !

Delicious food and great service!

This is my favorite brunch spot in the East Village! Great service and a fun atmosphere. The staff is very friendly, and the food is delicious and a great value for your money.

While this delightful, quaint cantina may only be a few weeks old (opened mid-September 2023), Ricardo and Patricia bring a lifetime of passion for Cuban cuisine to the table here. OMG!!! Simply try one or two dishes and you are going to be trying to figure out how to get back to work your way through the entire extensive menu! The room is warm and inviting - a perfect place where you can enjoy both the food and conversation. My filetillo de pollo was nearly beyond words...I mean, can you imagine chicken so tender that you can cut it with a fork then have it melt in your mouth. You will undoubtedly find an appropriate pairing for your meal from their wine and drink offerings. And the coffee! My only complaint is with myself in that I didn't leave room for dessert. But I won't make that mistake the next time!!

Great place for all occasions. Very good food made straight from the owners who very special couple full of kindness and community vibes. Atmosphere is magnificent in that place. Best place to be on a sunny or rainy day.

Good all around better than el Camion

My ethnicity is Cuban American and this restaurant checked off all the boxes for me. I ordered the Oxtail which they served me 4 large pieces that were very flavorful and tender. Yucca fries were nice and crunchy , I requested a small bowl of Cuban mojo to dip my yucca fries. The white rice and black beans were very good. Staff very attentive.

Me and my boyfriends go to late night in alphabet city. The Cuban food is so sosososososoos good 10/10 recommend!!

Amazing food and staff. The perfect brunch, lunch, or dinner in the LES. Try the lechon you will not regret it 😋

We are the owners fans, they have been through a lot. And they keep going and believing in their dreams. Now here everything is better. The Calamari are my favorite and the oxtail. Croquetas are so yummy. Great service but suggest more staff Owners are Chef and Managers of the restaurant and we love how they take care of the customers and make us feel always as a family. God bless you

The whole package from appetizers to dessert impressed us. Each taste melted instantly as I tried to make it last forever. This spot's atmosphere has never failed to impress. This represents ideal customer treatment. I'll return with friends, the quality stands out.

Amazing spot family friendly great food and drinks my goto when I’m in the city ♥️

My friends and I came on a Sunday and did the 3 hour bottomless brunch. The music was amazing, vibes in the air, drinks were flowing and food was delicious. The place is small but perfect because it allows the staff to cater to you without long wait times in between. The staff was friendly and attentive. I don't usually drink mojitos, but theirs was definitely yummy. If you're looking for a Cuban style bottomless brunch, this is the place to be.

This place is definitely a bang for your buck! A lot of food for the normal entree price in NYC. The place is small and kind of tucked away in the East Village. The service was quick and tables were intimate. Pretty casual joint as well. Food is good! I recommend to the restaurant for their chips though either swap them for plantain chips or homemade to tortilla chips to go with their guacamole! Everything else was fresh

The food was delicious and very authentically Cuban. I had the Cuban sandwich which was crispy, buttery and soft. My family loved both the oxtail soup and the avocado relleno which were both great.

Great Latin restaurant, not only serving Cuban food, but many traditional Latin dishes! Worth trying, good quality/value

The food was really great! Loved the churrasco & the plátano shrimp cups special. I would def come back again. 😋

I used to go to cafe cortadito and yesterday was my first time at cantina cubana! Ropa vieja was good and drinks were strong. Service was a bit slow but I don’t think it is always like that (according to regulars)

Great modern but authentic Cuban cuisine, delicious food, great service.

Arroz con Picadillo was amazing. Huge portions, friendly service, great atmosphere! Will be back!

Great brunch menu. Eggs Benedict and French toast were both unpretentious and crazy good. Will be back for regular menu soon.

Food was amazing as well as the service. Tables are slightly small though for multiple dishes but we were able to make it work. Thank you!

Chanel C

My friends and I came on a Sunday and did the 3 hour bottomless brunch. The music was amazing, vibes in the air, drinks were flowing and food was delicious. The place is small but perfect because it allows the staff to cater to you without long wait times in between. The staff was friendly and attentive. I don't usually drink mojitos, but theirs was definitely yummy. If you're looking for a Cuban style bottomless brunch, this is the place to be.

Catherine Berry

This place is definitely a bang for your buck! A lot of food for the normal entree price in NYC. The place is small and kind of tucked away in the East Village. The service was quick and tables were intimate. Pretty casual joint as well. Food is good! I recommend to the restaurant for their chips though either swap them for plantain chips or homemade to tortilla chips to go with their guacamole! Everything else was fresh

Andrés Berl

Great Latin restaurant, not only serving Cuban food, but many traditional Latin dishes! Worth trying, good quality/value

Kelvin

The food was really great! Loved the churrasco & the plátano shrimp cups special. I would def come back again. 😋

Cheyanne Allred-Lopez

Arroz con Picadillo was amazing. Huge portions, friendly service, great atmosphere! Will be back!

Phoenix

I used to go to cafe cortadito and yesterday was my first time at cantina cubana! Ropa vieja was good and drinks were strong. Service was a bit slow but I don’t think it is always like that (according to regulars)

Jayovoni Santana

Good all around better than el Camion

Fernando Diban

Great modern but authentic Cuban cuisine, delicious food, great service.

Came here with my husband and two young kids for lunch on Sunday. The server was lovely and warm, the food was fresh and delicious (we had a bunch of starters a Cuban sandwich and roasted pork) and very authentic. Really enjoyed it here!!

They make sure you feel appreciated. Impressive flavor profiles alongside truly professional service. They know good ingredients make better food. Superior tailored attention. This restaurant should be on your list when close.

What a great place! Best Cubano I’ve ever had. Ropa Vieja was so flavorful. Can beans be any more delicious! And the drinks were tasty and generous. Really pretty. Perfect for date night or dinner with friends. Go!

Great spot! Was empty on a Sunday morning for brunch, but had godly French Toast and Steak and Eggs? This place deserves more love. 10/10.

This place is amazing, so warm and friendly with the best food and drinks. Reasonable prices for the location and the staff is always attentive.

This is a place that treats you like family, and the food is out of this world. We’ve been over ten times and will never stop going back. Best experience in my opinion is not brunch but dinner. Brunch is a party though!

Cuban Cantina met my expectations. Our waiter was a young man who was very polite, charming and attentive. However there was one waitress who kept interrupting us, I'm sure she meant well though. The food was good, the croquetas are a must! My cousin and I shared a paella which was more than enough for the two of us, it was really yummy! The mojitos were really good also! Will recommend and be back to try other dishes!

Isabel Turco-Rivas

Me and my boyfriends go to late night in alphabet city. The Cuban food is so sosososososoos good 10/10 recommend!!

Anya

This place is amazing, so warm and friendly with the best food and drinks. Reasonable prices for the location and the staff is always attentive.

Aaron Flores

Great spot! Was empty on a Sunday morning for brunch, but had godly French Toast and Steak and Eggs? This place deserves more love. 10/10.

Claire Brennan

Amazing food and staff. The perfect brunch, lunch, or dinner in the LES. Try the lechon you will not regret it 😋

Roxane Duchamp

They make sure you feel appreciated. Impressive flavor profiles alongside truly professional service. They know good ingredients make better food. Superior tailored attention. This restaurant should be on your list when close.

Sherri Vinton

What a great place! Best Cubano I’ve ever had. Ropa Vieja was so flavorful. Can beans be any more delicious! And the drinks were tasty and generous. Really pretty. Perfect for date night or dinner with friends. Go!

Jarred Reiling

This is a place that treats you like family, and the food is out of this world. We’ve been over ten times and will never stop going back. Best experience in my opinion is not brunch but dinner. Brunch is a party though!

M M

My ethnicity is Cuban American and this restaurant checked off all the boxes for me. I ordered the Oxtail which they served me 4 large pieces that were very flavorful and tender. Yucca fries were nice and crunchy , I requested a small bowl of Cuban mojo to dip my yucca fries. The white rice and black beans were very good. Staff very attentive.

Cindy Rodriguez

Cuban Cantina met my expectations. Our waiter was a young man who was very polite, charming and attentive. However there was one waitress who kept interrupting us, I'm sure she meant well though. The food was good, the croquetas are a must! My cousin and I shared a paella which was more than enough for the two of us, it was really yummy! The mojitos were really good also! Will recommend and be back to try other dishes!

Only ate there once at a piece of steak. It was very good

Food was decent. My FIL did order over easy eggs and they came out over hard to his disappointment. But other than that, good value for the area. I’d return.

Good spot for a nice Latino meal. I had the churrasco, which was juicy, but I was told the pork chops were a bit dry, but tasty.

Quick review: fantastic food and service is friendly though sometimes infrequent. Best personal suggestions are Mojito, Madurai’s, Elote, Pollo Empanizado.

The staff is overwhelmed, but the food is worth the wait. My biggest pet peeve was the heat, no a/c, the doors being opened was not great. Another issue they should consider is not having dogs allowed in the outdoor seating. They had two dogs who barked non stop, this was annoying.

Had planned to go somewhere else nearby but ended up coming to Cantina Cubana instead. Glad we did - nice ambiance, staff, and good food! Did not feel rushed at all to leave which I always appreciate in NYC. Guacamole was standard. Cuban sandwich was🔥 Noting there is a fee to pay with credit card!

Bella Clemente

Had planned to go somewhere else nearby but ended up coming to Cantina Cubana instead. Glad we did - nice ambiance, staff, and good food! Did not feel rushed at all to leave which I always appreciate in NYC. Guacamole was standard. Cuban sandwich was🔥 Noting there is a fee to pay with credit card!

Service was not very attentive. But we were still able to enjoy the drinks and food.

I ordered the Cuban hangover of eggs, salsa, queso, over tortilla chips. It’s was $19 for about half an egg’s worth of eggs over store bought, stale chips.

Food was good! Service was not the greatest. Definitely under staff on a Saturday night. Our waiter seem very busy back and forth and it was hard to get his full attention. Also it didn’t feel welcoming.

I really think maybe it's overrated or it was just a not so good experience for us. The waiter who served our table did not know what non-alcoholic drinks were on the menu, we ordered appetizers and they never arrived at the table. And on top of that, when the bill arrived, they had been charged. Luckily there was a very attentive waitress who helped us. The food would not give it a 10, the “arroz con pollo” had absolutely no flavor. I think the only really good thing was the Cuban sandwich and the steak. The only ones who ate everything were my father and husband, and that's because we had been all afternoon without eating. I really wanted to go to this place due to the number of good reviews it has. The atmosphere was very good.

Went here during the week after work. I had the ropa vieja & the portion size was decent & the food tasted good but is nothing to brag about. The service was less than okay. The waitress just brought out what we ordered but didn't come by to ask if we wanted anything else, such as another round of drinks. We had to call over another waiter for a refill on our water. Had the service been better I may have felt inclined to go back to this establishment.

G G

Went here during the week after work. I had the ropa vieja & the portion size was decent & the food tasted good but is nothing to brag about. The service was less than okay. The waitress just brought out what we ordered but didn't come by to ask if we wanted anything else, such as another round of drinks. We had to call over another waiter for a refill on our water. Had the service been better I may have felt inclined to go back to this establishment.

Not very good food for top dollar

Service was awful. We waited more than 40 min for the main dish. And the server didn't check for us frequently. I was able to order my second drink about 30 min later since I finished my first. And the second drink came wrong. So the food and the coctails was good overall, but the service really sucks.

Incredibly mid food. Had a Pargo dish that only had 3 filets of Pargo for 28 dollars, along with some maduros and rice. For 28 I expect the entire fish. The taste of the other dishes i tried, along with the pargo, were fine. Nothing special. Very ok. Mojito wasnt good. Food was a little slow. 10 dollars for a few sticks of yuca.

They say and advertise They close at 11pm on Thursdays. False Advertising!!! I got there at 9:30pm Thursday night and the kitchen was closed. They Suck!!!!

The only good experience I had with this place was over the phone while making the reservation. As soon as we arrived, the table that was supposedly ready was still dirty, so we had to wait while they cleaned it — despite us having a reservation. After we sat down, they immediately started pouring tap water without even asking what we would prefer. When our drinks arrived, they didn’t bother to offer or ask if we wanted glasses for the beer; they simply assumed everyone drinks straight from the bottle. When the appetizers came, I had to ask for forks, knives, and napkins because none had been provided. Throughout all of this, the front door was kept open. Although it wasn’t freezing outside, it was cold enough to make the experience uncomfortable, especially since our table was right next to the door. Their explanation was that the kitchen made the place too hot, so they reopened the door again later without much concern for the customers sitting nearby. To summarise, this is probably a place for a very informal dinner, but don’t expect the level of service or manners you would normally find in a restaurant, because they clearly lack them. The food is not truly Cuban cuisine; I would say it is more Cuban-style inspired food. The service was poor, at least on the day I visited, and if you choose to pay by credit card instead of cash, they charge an additional 3% fee. The place name is Cuban cantina but if you are expecting to have anything that is authentic Cuban, then don’t waste your time, because as a Cuban I can tell you that nothing is authentic or close to Cuban cuisine but they will explain this saying that is Latin not precisely Cuban so I will respect that but I want to leave that clear. Only one waitress was taking orders and we had to call her to ask questions about the menu, t

Website link through Google Maps appears to be compromised. I called to notify them, but they rushed me off the phone and didn’t seem concerned.

We went on 6/25/25. After driving in the madness of NY looking for a Cuban restaurant, we are from Florida and visiting NY for just the day. Decided to take a family member that lives there, and the place at 1p is not open. The lady said something about the kitchen but her English was really bad and we only understood “not open”. If the restaurant is closed due to issues they should’ve updated google maps and put “closed”for that day. So people don’t waste time going to a place that is not operating. Very disappointing!

Beatriz Aviles

We went on 6/25/25. After driving in the madness of NY looking for a Cuban restaurant, we are from Florida and visiting NY for just the day. Decided to take a family member that lives there, and the place at 1p is not open. The lady said something about the kitchen but her English was really bad and we only understood “not open”. If the restaurant is closed due to issues they should’ve updated google maps and put “closed”for that day. So people don’t waste time going to a place that is not operating. Very disappointing!