Casual Habana

I have been to Casual Habana numerous times, and I have never been disappointed. Their food, is most certainly some of the best cuban food around! Blows some of these other Cuban places out of the water! If you want traditional, this is the place to be. The atmosphere is great, the service is wonderful, and Ben the owner, what a gem! Their menu has all your ‘basic’, traditional meals. Churrassaco (their chimmichurri sauce, addicting!), Ropa Vejia, Maduros, Tostones, Yuca Frita, Empanadas, etc. Everything is fresh, well seasoned, and portions are a good size!
They recently opened another location in New Milford, which is equally wonderful AND they have a separate Catering Room, which, if you’re looking for a place to host a party, I would absolutely recommend Casual Habana!
Aside from their food being awesome, they are also a BYOB and offer a lunch buffet, every day (M-​F), for $ 10.99.
If you plan on going on a Friday or Saturday, I would recommend giving them a call and making a reservation! They get super busy!!!
Go check them out!
Enjoy!

Awesome food. Once the waitress new we were a good crowd she warmed up. Awesome prices. The menue was awesome.

I do not recommend this place. A little bit of food for a big price. No elbow space but the service was good.

Good Food, and service is good. Take-​out portions seem to be bigger. Parking is tough if your trying to dine inside.

Casual Habana is a cute Cuban restaurant that knows how to work with pork! — whether it is shredded, in cutlet form, in a Cuban, ribs, etc. The pork shank is a beautifully cooked piece of meat (& beautiful to look if you are a lover of pork!). Okay, enough about the pork (Can one ever rave too much about it? Sorry, Wilbur) The empanadas are also a great starter! Freshly fried and delectable — Manchego & Spinach anyone?
The restaurant is located on the main shopping/​dining area of Hackensack (relatively near the courts). You can usually find street parking right in front of the restaurant. The interior is nice and the vibe is casual but with dark lighting (in a good way). A lot of folks seems to take advantage of the BYOB aspect. My only recommendation is that you sit away from the door to avoid cold drafts during the winter. All in all, a relatively inexpensive Cuban treat in Hackensack — enjoy!

I love this place! I’ve been here a few times with my Cuban boyfriend and we always end the night ready to be rolled out, lol. It’s hard to move after a food coma.
I’ve tried a few of the dishes here and I’ve liked them all, but for me, the king of all kings is the baby pernil. My goodness, it is so tender and delicious. Cubans know what they’re doing with lechon. I also really enjoy the goat cheese bacon wrapped dates appetizer, they’re BOMB, try them if you’ve never had the combination, it will pleasantly surprise you.
The sides here are also very good, the rice is always on point, the beans are delicious (and I am picky about my beans, they need to have the right amount of savory) and the tostones taste freshly fried and crispy. The only thing I can’t speak on is the dessert because I haven’t had a chance to try any, but I will be sure to on my next visit.

1. BYOB — awesome. Bring a bottle of rum and be prepared for a spectacular Mojito.
2. Chimmichuri is insane.
3. Chicharones Mofongo is a must have.
4. Cool ambiance and great music.
Benny, the owner, is always around making due everything is great and is always happy to «talk Cuban history» with the guests.
5. If BYOB turns you of, try his other restaurant in West Milford. Just as awesome + a stupendous bar.

Hackensack is fortunate to have a great, little Cuban restaurant like this. You walk in, & you’re instantly transported to another country. The designers did a nice job with lighting & décor.
Their menu offers a good variety of options. The soup is excellent. –1 for the breading on the empanadas being slightly too thick/​dry. Otherwise, the food is solid, atmosphere pleasant, & it’s BYOB. I’ll definitely be back.

Super good, authentic. Cevice is different than in Mexico. Hey, threes folks know a little about celiac disease. This means they are aware of gluten-​free concerns. Try the pulled pork! The mixed grill for two is simple, but tasty.

This is my second time here, and I gotta say, I’m still not impressed. The only thing I liked about this place is the chorizo y tocino empanada. I had ordered the tilapia for my entrée, and it was way too bland for me. No flavor whatsoever. The fresh steamed veggies tasted like they were the frozen veggies you get at Shop Rite. The white rice was pretty good. I knew I should’ve ordered the fried red snapper, but my waitress said the tilapia was really good. I had to squeeze my slices of lime and lemon to add some flavor to my fish and added some salt.
My friend had the oxtail, and it was a little too salty. She also got the pollo empanada — it was good, but not as good as the chorizo y tocino.
Our waitress also took a while to give us our check. I probably wouldn’t come back here again. If I were to, I would only come to pick up some chorizo y tocino empanadas, but that’s pretty much it.

This place is a regular in my rotation of lunch spots. They have plenty of seating as they make good use of the space. I usually get the Cubano sandwich. The bread is always crispy, never soggy, sometimes too flaky. The combination of the cumin scented roast pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese & pickle inside is on point and sliced very thin making it easy to bit into. A small side of pickled red cabbage can be used to add to the flavor of the sandwich. It also comes with a side of plantain chips and garlic dipping sauce (which I get extra of to put on my sandwich because it’s that good).
If it’s a good buffet day, where they have one of my favorites (pastel de picadillo y platano-​ground beef layered with ripe plantains & smothered with melted cheese), I will opt for that and some yucca. The hot foods vary, but there is always a salad buffet. I’ve also tried a bite of my friend’s empanada with spanish manchego cheese & baby spinach inside which oozes out when you cut into it.
Lastly, to quench your thirst, you must try their basil lemonade. It is delicious & refreshing! And you can get it to-​go!

I have been wanting to try Casual Habana and I am glad I finally went. The food is very tasty! I tried the yucca fries and had the Cubano sandwich for lunch. The meat was tender and the portion was large and came with plantain chips. This is definitely a restaurant where you get value for your money. I’d like to try the lunch buffet some time.
The staff was very nice and allowed us to stay and talk without making us feel rushed.

I had a variety of this delicious Cuban food at a lunch at work back in June and I was really impressed; the flavors were fantastic and everything was cooked really well. The pork was particularly amazing and I could have eaten a whole plate of that and that alone. I haven’t had a chance to get to the actually restaurant (the lunch was catered by this restaurant), but this is an easy 4 stars on the taste of the food alone!

Solid cuban food. Also, one of the few air conditioned places I have found on Main Street.
Went there for lunch, decided to order from the regular menu.
Ensalada Cubana Tradicional
Fresh romaine hearts, red onion and tomato in red wine and extra virgin olive oil
$ 5.00
Probably the one main dish I wasn’t a big fan of, not enough flavor in the dressing, fresh though. 3.2
Caldo Gallego
Peasant Style white bean, chorizo, morcilla and kale soup
$ 5.00
Excellent, a lot of meat/​beans and a lot of spice. 4.2
Minuta de Pescado
Crispy tilapia, lettuce and tomato with garlic and cilantro aioli
$ 7.00
Tried some of it, excellent sandwich. Fish was well not fishy. Good sauce. The side of crispy plantains was excellent. Nice crunch. 4.1
Pastel de Picadillo y Platano
Our savoury beef, layered with ripe plantain and smothered with melted cheese
$ 10.00
Oh my was this rich. Then again, I knew it was going to be. Picadillo had some great flavors, nice amount of plantain. Super rich and it came with 2 sides because why not. 4.2
Yuca Frita
Chunks of steam cassava smothered with tangy garlic and aromatic garlic oil and cilantro dip
$ 3.00
it was OK. I don’t like the texture of this usually and I forgot it when ordering. Good portion for the side. 3.1
Frijoles Negros
Traditional Cuban black bean potage
$ 3.00
Solid, not the best nor the worse. 3.3
Food is solid, prices are fine. Took a little while to get everything but solid good.

Love this place. The flavors are amazing, the décor is fantastic, and the prices are very reasonable. Wish I could come back more often. Next time I’m in town, I’ll be back.
Highly recommend the Cubano sandwich. The Chicharroncitos de Calamar is awesome, not your same old calamari.

Pleasantly surprised with the majority of my experience here.
I was given a recommendation by a coworker who lives nearby, so I took it with a grain of salt. I went with a group of girls for a night of catching up and it ended up going really well. It was in the middle of the week, around 7 and there weren’t too many people. Throughout the meal, the waitstaff was attentive and they even were helpful in ordering appetizers and entrees.
To share we ordered the Chicharon de Pollo, Camarones al Ajillo and Chorizo Johnny. All really flavorful. I especially loved the dipping sauce for the chicharon. For entrees my friends got the Ropa Vieja and Churrasco and veggies, maduros, rice and beans for sides. I had some bites of each of them and they were all well-​cooked and really flavorful.
It seems I made the wrong move by ordering the mofongo. I absolutely LOVE mofongo, so much so I consider myself a snob and only order it at select restaurants, throughout Passaic county and Washington Heights. When I saw this enlarged menu item splattered through the middle of the menu, it caught my eye and the description made it almost impossible to avoid. When it came out, I already knew it was going to be a huge disappointment. First of all, it was flat. Nowhere else in the world has a mofongo been served flat on the plate. Drizzled on top was some kind of chipotle sauce and the chicharron chucks just scattered throughout as a topping. It was nothing like what a mofongo should be, and I regretted ordering it. I would have given this place at least 4 stars but this was a major shortfall in my eyes, especially after their advertisement of it.
I definitely recommend this place, but do not get the mofongo.

Had a nice evening at this busy, local find. We all tried each other’s dishes which were comprised of Chicken Milanesa, Churrasco and the Baby Pernil pork shank. First, for appetizers, we had the «sample tower» of three choices — chorizo, shrimp in cream sauce and beef empanadas. All three were delicious. Back to the entrees: The Milanesa was OK — my wife described it «chix parm with some sweet plantains shoved in the middle». It was just OK. The Pernil was good for a fix of wanting crunchy along with tender pork but I think the Churrasco was probably best of the three. Although here I am at 5:00AM writing this, thirsty as anything! The marinade was pretty salty.
Bring some cheap, fruity wine and they’ll gladly whip up a nice red sangria for you.
Flan w/​coconut shavings was a delicious dessert choice.
Throughout the evening our server, Alex, was terrific. Overall, nice evening out. Would gladly pay them another visit to explore the menu some more.

Went for dinner with friends and this place was hoppin’ on a Saturday night. Servers were friendly, attentive and helpful.
I had the baby pernil, which was a slow cooked pork shank that had some «mojo». Wife had the Oxtail stew which was even better. The whole cooked fish was good too. The dirty rice and sweet plaintain sides were very good. The chorizo was gooood, the garlic shrimp was yum too.
Place is BYOB and they’ll make sangria with your wine if you prefer. Fun vibe, good food, good times…

Holy smoking sardines wet hogs sizzling in blue chip whale sauce «This place is on point» on every level. From the ambiance cozy inviting décor to the authentic Latin music playing at a reasonable sound level. Allows you to have a conversation with whomever you are sitting with. Unlike other places that blare the music to the point that your ear drums hurt.
They have a large screen for your viewing pleasure and even the corridor to the restrooms is cool. The Mans room (which was clean) has a photo of Desi Arnaz and the Women’s rest room has Lucille Ball at the entrance door… Hey its a Cuban place who do you expect to see, David Bowie and Iman… lol NOT!
We ordered the Palomilla Steak and not only was it delicious but they give you two nice portions. They don’t play here… amazing…Their rice and red beans along with their Moro which is brown rice and beans combined was amazing. Even their plantains were good.
We also had the Arroz con Pollo (rice & chicken) was certifiably approved by my Father in law and he can be picky.
Now the Drum Roll Please!!! We had Flan for dessert with coconut shavings on top and let me say that was the Grand Slam to this great experience. Goodness cocunt shavings on Flan who would have ever thought.
Although our waitress didnt stop at our table enough times we enjoyed watching her dancing in the kitchen which we could clearly see through the glass panel on the kitchen door. Lol… But hey at least she was having a good time lol… Either way, this place should be on EVERYONES list to try. And for those who have had or may have a less than steller experience, my condolences… lol…because anything less than what we had is like a wrongful death.

I had ordered the bistec de palomilla encebollado to go during lunch hours. The plate included two sides: I went with the dirty rice and regular french fries though more classic sides like plantains. I didn’t wait long for my order and once I was ready to eat, the food was still warm.
The bistec was thin and the onions didn’t add any flavor to the steak. The rice was good and wasn’t mushy. The fries appeared to be straight-​cut frozen fries.
I was expecting a more flavorful bistec and to be honest, the rice was just average. I’ve had the joy of eating authentic homemade moro rice where I could not stop stuffing my mouth with it but Casual Habana’s rice flavor just didn’t meet that expectation.