Las Olas Cafe

I gotta say, Las Olas ALWAYS pulls through. Food is ready within minutes of ordering, and always tastes fresh. Best damn empanadas I’ve ever eaten. Picadillo is some of the best in Miami as well (I’m a picadillo expert lol). If you like coffee you definitely had to try their iced coffees. I come here 3 – 4 times a week to get one.

I came here super hung over and on my last piece of energy and this good food bought me back to life. I got the Piccadillo plate which included delicious rice and veggies. Couldn’t get through the whole plate and downed my Gatorade (they have a huge cooler full of assorted drinks). I wish I knew of this café before I went to the other one around the corner. The service and the food is much better. Will be back when I’m in Miami ven aqui!

We would come swing by this café on our way to the beach. This place takes cash only so make sure you stop by the ATM. This café is cozy with friendly workers and good-​smelling bakery goods. If you haven’t noticed, many shops and restaurants in South Beach are marked up with higher taxes. This is why I enjoyed this café so much because I can get more food than other places for a lower price.
Their Cuban coffee is amazing! Especially over iced coffee (and especially if you’re going to walk around with coffee). Learned the hard way when I was drinking hot coffee in the heat. We had their other foods (e.g. arepa, empanadas) too and they were all pretty decent. Come check out this place!

Less than stellar service to a say the least when you are not Latino. My order was the simplest ever — one Cuban sandwich and a sugar cane juice to go. The juice was ready to go but the sandwich for some reason held me at the counter waiting to pay and for the food pickup for 15 minutes. Meanwhile at least 5 Spanish-​speaking locals got their orders (literally bags and bags of food, including Cuban sandwiches) before me, even though clearly they ordered AFTER me. The woman seemed kind of nice but sort of (purposely?) clueless to the order of her customers when I obviously didn’t order in Spanish? Hm.
Food looks really great though. I really really wanted to love this place.
; (

Delicious, economic, clean and service is great! however if gets really packed can take a little.
Chicken empanadas, tamal en cazuela y pan con bistec my favorites.

Loved this place! This is THE place in Sobo for Cuban food. Cash only. The locals and the police eat hear. That says it all.

Cash Only! Thankfully we didn’t have to go back to get cash.
Extremely satisfied with this place. Tasty fresh food, easy on wallet and very friendly staff.
I had the fried fish with rice and my gf had the steak with onions sandwich and shoestring fries. I tried the sugar cane juice too which was so refreshing after a hot day in sun. Overall 5 stars for this little gem of a place. Another point to note is that the serving portions are huge. Came for lunch and had to pack the remaining food to go which was my dinner. So you better have a huge appetite!

Delicious food and variety. Only disappointed I couldn’t try more since they only take cash and all I had was 10 bucks. But, great little place for a quick and casual bite.

Came here three times during our one week vacation in Miami. One of those no-​frill cash-​only local joints that offers up solid Cubano, empanadas and of course, Cortadito.
After awkwardly sitting there the first time while other patrons’ shoulders and bags kept on knocking my head (it is quite small), I’ve determined it is best to get take-​out here.
Besides the limited seating, it is a fantastic place to get authentic food at a very reasonable price.

This place was probably the best out of all the restaurants I tried in Miami. I’m half Puerto Rican so I grew up eating a lot of the things they serve because of mi abuelita! She’s passed so I’ve missed the taste of foods like maduros and papa rellenas! And of course, no one’s cooking ever tastes like their grandma’s.
Until I get here. The place is small and no frills, but that’s because all the frills is in the cooking! They had a good variety of cold drinks that are welcomed in this heat and desserts that looked tasty (and so pretty, too!) They have a walk-​up window which is convenient if you’re on the go. I decided to come here for breakfast and because I’ve had such a craving for amarillos (what we call it.) I ended up keeping it simple with two chicken empanadas and an order of sweet plantains. Everything was super affordable which is a nice contrast to the higher priced fare in the area.
Can I just say WOW to the chicken empanadas and plantains!!! The chicken was seasoned very well and the breading was easy to eat with just enough crunch. The plantains were (almost) exactly like my grandmas that I practically wanted to cry. They had the caramely molasses-​like syrup that is reminiscent of my childhood. Because of that, they were soft and full of flavor which is just how I like them. I wish I could take home the cooks who prepared it because it’s so yumyum.
So yes, PLEASE make this a stop while in Miami. You will not be disappointed!

Great little breakfast spot! Affordable breakfast plate with tons of food. Tons of eggs, bacon, potatoes and bread. Empanadas are excellent too. Wish we bought more!

A hole-​in-​the-​wall off the touristy trap of South Beach! Extremely affordable and delicious Cuban food at its best! What a great find — thank you Unilocal!We originally came here for the Cuban sandwich, but realized the gem here are the EMPANADAS! So good and so cheap! The empanadas here are probably the best I ever had. The shell/​bread was crispy, yet chewy and the meat inside was delicious! We ended up doing a second round of the empanadas because they were just that good! However, the cuban sandwich was just so-​so. The ham was dry and the bread was not good. The sandwich was just alright.
Note: The plantains are highly addictive here… sweet, plump and perfectly caramelized. YUM
Wish I had a bigger stomach to try out the other options here! The meat and hot items looked good! Sorry, no extra photos. phone died when I got here.

CASH ONLY Authentic Cuban food. One of those hole in the wall places that the locals go to. Huge portions and affordable. If you want to get full go here. Indoor Seating limited.

This café had the best Cuban food I ate in Miami. I had the roast pork and it is amazing. It falls right off the bone and the servers used thongs to pull it off the shoulder. The yellow rice is full of flavor. The café also has the best plantains.
If you are visiting Miami and looking for recommendations, please see

Impressed!
We went around 5PM Sunday, no wait. The servers were so nice. They had ran out of spinach empanadas but offered to fry one up. Told us to pay after we’re done eating.
The cuban sandwich and cortadito are must trys
It’s no frills. Cheap prices. They give you a lot of meat. We are adding this to our list of places we will come back to.

*CASH ONLY*
I was visiting Miami Beach for approximately 3 days, and I was at Las Olas Café 4 times. It’s that good.
My first visit I was there for the Cuban sandwich. While the various plate options looked enticing, with stewed meats bubbling away, and beans and rice steaming, I was scared away by the colossal portion size, and went with the sandwich. The sandwich was a large portion as well, but not menacingly so, and I was able to polish it off with no regret.
The sandwich was cut lengthwise, and I enjoyed seeing the slender cross section of thin ham, Swiss cheese, tart pickles, and pork shoulder (hold the mustard, please). The pork shoulder was remarkable, with the sticky smack that comes through from slow cooked meats cooked perfectly. All the ingredients joined together to form one delicious composition, incomparable in its savory quality.
My husband also ordered a side of Cuban black beans, which were very flavorful and complex, and a colada (Cuban espresso), as he is a coffee addict, and we had an early flight. Now, I don’t drink coffee ever. It’s bitter and relies on being aromatic over flavorful, and it’s just not my thing. I had a few sips of Parisian espresso during a vacation last year, but sitting in a street café seemed appropriate (and it was loaded with sugar). All that said — I LOVE THIS COFFEE. I actually finished off my own individual cafecito several mornings!
My last compliment is for the empanadas, which have a crisp bubbly outer texture, and juicy fillings. I know they didn’t just come out of the fryer, so I was astonished when I bit into a ham and cheese empanada to find a juicy combination of ham and cheese. These things make my mouth water.
If I lived nearby, I would certainly frequent Las Olas. They are also a Miami mini-​chain, with other restaurants around the city, and in my opinion, worth a special trip.

Tiny authentic hole in the wall that clearly caters to true locals, if you catch my drift. We had a cuban sandwich which was very tasty but could have used more pickles or mustard or some other tangy flavor. We also got a plate of their short rib special which was super flavorful and tender and a LOT of food — definitely enough to share with 2 people!
Cash only.

We arrived by citi bike around noon and saw both tourists and local construction workers there. Good sign. Close to Washington and 7^th where you can drop off bikes and walk a block.
There is limited seating — ¾ tables inside and a few outside along the west wall. The same wall has a window where folks were ordering. Most carried out.
Lovely Cuban sandwiches sliced lengthwise for perfect eat-​and-​walk ease. Great café con leche and a buffet of Cuban/​Latin food under glass that you could point-​and-​eat.
The lady offered me a napkin for my sweaty brow and then took my order with a smile. Most were ordering in Spanish. I love this about South Beach. I could have been ordering coffee in Cartagena.
Great Cubans with real pork and cheese that was not from the deli. Tart mustard and pickles made the breakfast Cubans a savory brunch treat. Freshly made juice drinks with ground sugar cane on the spot was an added delight.
We will return.

Those beans!!! Those BEANS! Amazing doesn’t quite cover it. As an Americanized Cuban I’ve been yearning my grandmas flavor and cooking. The authenticity had been lacking in other Spanish places I’ve tried. But the moment I tried these beans I knew they had gotten it right. I tried the white rude with black beans, pernil and yuca con mojo. Everything was delicious on point. Everyone else raves about their Cuban sandwiches so I took one to go for lunch tomorrow.

OMG OMG OMG! I love my Cuban sandwiches and being on the West Coast, we get «Cuban sandwich variations.» As soon as I was in Miami, I absolutely had to get a Cuban sandwich and this place HANDS DOWN had one of the best Cuban sandwiches I’ve ever shoved in my mouth.
The bread was toasted perfectly, smeared with the right ratio of mustard and then stuffed with enough ham and roast pork so the balance of carbs to meat to pickle was PERFECT.
Plantains were delicious, and the empanadas were also fantastic! I’d stay away from the guava pastry and stick with their savory food. Service was fast and the food was amazing for a really reasonable price!

Si eres una persona que te encanta comer rico y barato! entonces este es el lugar xa ti! Literalmente! es demasiado bueno! te sirven un mega plato por $ 10! y me refiero a 4 cucharadas de arroz en cada plato! bien facil comen 2 de un plato… vayan, tienen tamales y empanadas tambien

Super petit Resto. Dès portion énormes. Une adresse de travailleur à Miami. Bien connu des locaux.

Das Essen war sehr gut, eher StehCafe als Restaurant! Zu jeder Zeit sehr gut besucht! Zu empfehlen sind die Schinken Käse Empanadas und die Boxen mit frischem Essen! Was mir persönlich noch so gut geschmeckt hat war das Steak Sandwich, dann nächstes mal lieber ein Kubanisches Sandwich!
Preis /​Leistung stimmt auf jeden Fall!

Almoço e Café da Manhã são de excelente qualidade, comida bem saborosa e atendimento rápido além de ser barato!

Finally, I’ve found the spot for my café con leche. Unlike the lovlies at David’s that cater to a highly tourist clientele, Las Olas is that off-​the-​beaten-​path Cuban rest stop.
Complete with everything I could ever ask for in a café: there’s a walk up window if your transport is a pied, they’ve got super solid croquetas de jamon, the freshly squeezed orange juice is stellar and the service is speedy and friendly.
What proves to me that this place is legit is probably the clientele though. At the outside ordering window, you’re likely to find old Cuban men in chancletas, Spanish speaking construction workers and the casual Sobe residents with enough Spanish vocabulary to get them through an order. The best thing to order? Café con leche, poquito azucar, 2 croquetas. I love it.