La Cabana Cuban Flavor

Ordered a catering of yuca frita, meat empanandas, tostones and maduros. Everyone loved it but me. The tostones and yuca frita were not crispy and the maduros were never a favorite for me. I think the tostones and yuca frita would have been great fresh.

First off if I could rate zero I would but here’s the break down. When we came into the restaurant there was 2 tables open they had us wait for 10 min on stools, another customer came in and they were going to be offered one of the 2 tables. Then the waiter saw us and gave us one of the tables that had been cleaned for like 10 min then the other customers the other table. Then for drinks he took our order, I ordered a fruit smoothie and, it took about 2 min for the 2 teas to come out and it took about 20 min for my smoothie to come out. We ordered our food at the same time as drinks it took about 30 min for our food to come out. Now to the food it was mediocre at best not only mediocre but extremely pricey 12 $ for a grilled chicken about 4 by 3 inch piece, then again you could get 2 sides and the sides were better then the chicken. Then they got one of our orders wrong and then complained to us that we got the order wrong. When it was all said and done it was 50 $ for 3 people. Also only 1 of the employees spook English so yea. Over all service wasn’t good either took a while to get refuels and such. So in conclusion not a good place and would not recommend, I did see a review saying they might of gone under new management and that it sucks now and they were right it does suck. 0−1÷5

Great first time experience. Food was really good and they worked hard to make sure I enjoyed it.

Had the Ropa vieja, although the flavor profile was ok the meat itself was very tough and chewy to the point I could not really eat it. The black beans were very sweet almost like sugar had been added to them. The customer service is quite lacking and it was difficult as the kids who work there do not seem to know what to do. Hopefully they can fix that. However, we wanted to try this place as both myself and my husband enjoy Cuban food. However, we will continue to look for one as the quality of food here was not very good. So I would look at the newer reviews in making a decision as perhaps as another review suggested they have changed owners.

The grilled Mahi-​mahi was very good with the yellow rice. Very friendly service. Latin music playing over the speakers added to the experience. Tried the smoothie of the day and it was very tasty and a large serving.

We have been fans of this restaurant since they opened. Their cuban sandwich is actually the only one I would have.
So, when we went yesterday, excited about having great black bean soup again, we were greatly disappointed.
First of all obviously we chose a bad time to eat. There was a group table celebrating a birthday which made us wait for our lunch more than 45 minutes. They brought my husband’s entrée first. Then 10 minutes later they brought the appetizer (great croquetas) and by the time he was done they brought my entrée.
They have possibly and most accurately probably changed owners. They changed their menu and now they have gone from being a predominantly Cuban cuisine, they have a few Cuban dishes that are not cooked the Cuban way and they have added a lot of South American dishes that per se, should not make the restaurant bad, but definitely makes it not Cuban.
Bottom line, salty, slow and not Cuban. Their black bean soup was too sweet, too watery and too acidic. I am disappointed and certainly missing what this restaurant used to be

I spotted this place on the way to check in to our hotel. My husband was working and I knew it would be a late dinner night. What could be easier than walking across the street and trying new food?
Ricardo waited on us. He wasn’t one of their regular servers. He was filling in for someone who needed off and they had just changed the menu. He was very helpful at explaining the dishes even though he wasn’t familiar with the new menu.
My husband and I started with empanadas because we love them too much to ever turn them down. They were wonderful! I ordered the #14 Pastelitos for my entrée. It was three flour pastries filled with ground beef and topped with cheese and salsa. I loved it.
The service was prompt. It didn’t take us long to get our food. They didn’t serve wine but they allow you to bring it in and there was a liquor store very close by so I made a quick trip while I was waiting on my food. We will be back to try other entrees on our future Knoxville visits.

The food here is acceptable and nice addition to the Knoxville food scene. However, they aren’t always open their posted hours. Headed there with a group for lunch today at noon, and they were inexplicably closed.

Very limited Cuban items on the menu… more self-​labeled «Latin» and Mexican. They got my order wrong, twice. The vaca frita was okay, rest only so so.

Not impressed at all. On our way to Pennsylvania from Texas we stopped in for some Cuban lunch. I guess you can’t expect much from Cubans in the north;) I looked up their menu online so I kind of knew what I wanted but when we got there the waitress gave us a different menu that was different from the one online. Our waitress sounded bored. Food was less than desirable. We were too hungry and were let down. Do not recommend this place!

So wonderful! The owner and staff were friendly and helpful. The food was so flavorful! I highly recommend the pupusas, it was the tastiest thing we got. Also got the carne asada, good. And the empanadas, good but not great. They give you thinly sliced toasted bread with THIER version of mojo sauce. Next time we will try the sandwiches. Also get a Cuban coffee for a pick me up! I would give it 5 stars but they need to up their cleanliness and brighten the restaurant up a bit.
Overall we will be back. It’s nice to get away from these chain restaurants that all the taste the same.

This place has delicious food at a great price. My husband had a unique crispy shredded beef dish and I had grilled tilapia. It was all delicious! Since it was my birthday, we followed it with guava cheesecake. Yum! We’ll definitely come back.

No idea on the authenticity, but the food is fantastic. Drove my Motorcoach down from PA for service at Buddy Gregg and needed a place within walking distance on a Sunday. Checked Unilocal and in a whim wandered in here. Smelled wonderful when I walked in. Had the ropa vieja, a shredded beef dish. Was a great choice and would recommend.

I believe it is important to mention the significant difference between Cuban food and Mexican food. Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican food is not pepper based or pepper dependent. The flavor base is very different. Historically these lush island paradises had a wealth of fresh seafood and fresh tropical fruits and vegetables.
Updated 9−6−15: I brought my family here tonight. I loved the picadillo and fried yucca. I would give that dish a 5 star rating. My wife had tostones rellenos– she would give this dish a 4 star rating. My daughter really wanted pork, (no pork dish available), but settled for the grilled steak. She would give that dish a 4 star rating. My son had the empanadas 4 star.
Cuba is a long flight from Knoxville, and you still need a special Visa from the State Department to travel there. So, meanwhile, go here, the food is as close to real Cuban food as you can find in TN. I suspect more focus on Cuban food and culture will occur now as our nation is thawing out chilled relations. I had the sampler plate which gives me a good cross section of a few dishes. The chicken and picadillo (spiced ground beef) were terrific. The yucca on mojo was good. The platanos (sweet plantain) was just right. Rice and beans hit the spot. I finished up with a rice pudding which was excellent. I will return.

Great little Cuban place just off I-​40, it’s an unassumingly located in a small strip mall. They have excellent sandwiches, sides, samplers and plates. The fried yucca is excellent, as are the black beans. I think I’d have to say this is the best Cuban food I’ve eaten west of Miami!

Awesome service by Katia!!! The tostones are amazing! I usually eat them with mayo and ketchup mix (so I ask for that on the side). The food was great!!! ^_​_​^

The food was nothing special. I got the number 10 which I do thank them for that because I can’t pronounce a lot of the food there. Which I like because I will try anything once, sadly this restaurant fits in that category one and done. The sampler came with chicken, ribs, rice, two sweet plantains and yuca. The best part was the yuca and that was because it was drenched in garlic. The rest of the food had no flavor. The sad thing is that Cindy and I left there and went to Smokey Mountain Brewery to eat and drink.

Very friendly establishment. My meal was excellent. We started with a couple tostones as appetizers which were a little salty but went down well with our beer. After that I had the chicken with croquettes and beans with rice. Each had good seasoning and were filling. We then finished with the Cuban coffee which was an amazing combination of sweet and strong that complimented the flan extremely well. Great place!

This is the only Cuban food you can get in Knoxville, and thankfully, it’s authentic. The staff is incredibly nice and the food is reasonably priced for the portions. I got the dinner sampler to get a feel of the quality of their food. The yucca and rice were amazing soaked in lard for taste (not as fattening as it sounds). The meats were equally as great and authentic. I plan to return soon.

Me and my buddy Dean went here for a quick lunch as we both love Cuban food. As usual with us, especially with my buddy dean, we ordered way too much and got too much food but we wanted to try the various sampling of what they have to offer. So Dean orders 2 appetizers, one was an empanada, and another I honestly don’t know what it was but it was fried goodness. Both of these have pretty good flavor and I believe the fried goodness was filled with ham.
Dean got the ropa vieja, & I got the Cuban Bistec which is basically a flank steak, but this one was fried I believe. It was marinated and had decent taste, but I believe that overall the flavor was lacking and I don’t really care for the method of preparation. It would have been far better had it been grilled or sauteed on a very hot surface. This one tasted almost steamed. The fried plantain that accompanied it was pretty bland to be honest, and it came with a side salad which was uninspired.
While eating this, I thought of my Unilocal buddy Gabriel who I can only imagine would have been rolling his eyes and shaking his head NO while eating this «Cuban» food. I honestly don’t know how authentic this really was, but I did see an older Hispanic lady preparing the food in the back. Now she could have been Mexican or from Guatemala for all I know, but I don’t believe this was truly authentic Cuban food, at least from what I recall of my days in Ybor City in Tampa or in Miami.
I’m giving this 3 Unilocal stars because it was average, not bad, not great just average. However my buddy Dean’s ropa vieja was actually very tasty and had I order that I probably would have given this place 4 stars.
I would recommend this place with a little reservation, but I would love to try their Cuban sandwich which I saw another gentleman across the way eating, and that really looked delicious. So I would definitely come back to try this place again.