Cuban Cafe

Don’t really want to review this because it’s already packed all the time. This is by far the best Cuban food in the area. The service is great but the joint isn’t fancy (just they way it should be). Breakfast or lunch you won’t find a better spot for Cuban food. Try everything!

This little hole-​in-​the-​wall is a gem! It screams cozy, comfortable old-​school diner atmosphere but serves up some awesome grub! A client of mine is of Cuban decent so I asked him to take me to someplace that serves up down-​home authentic Cuban cuisine so here brought me here.
The special of the day was the oxtail soup. I had to try this because being Korean and coming from Hawaii, oxtail is a big part of both of my cultures. And apparently it is with Cubans too. Their twist on the oxtail was different, in a good way. It was more of a stew-​like consistency and I think it was tomato based. Nonetheless, it was awesome! Prices were reasonable and the only gripe I would’ve had if any, would be the lack of counter/​table room. Luckily our timing was perfect and there were two open seats for us.

Cuban Café is to authentic, neighborhood cuban food as Celia Cruz is to salsa music. They have put Pompano Beach on the map for all the good stuff you would find everywhere in Hialeah.
A pet peeve I’ve developed (as if there is not enough 1^st world problems), is Unilocalers stating that they denoted a percentage of their rating based on location (abandon-​looking strip malls, locating next to somewhere unexpected, ect.). With that said, located on a non-​favorable street, underdeveloped plaza, next to a run down tile store, almost might turn a potential patron away. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, your taste buds.
Immediately greeted when entering, even with counter full of patrons. I was treated as if all attention was on me, and my request (s) being 1^st priority. I was overhearing the owner? answering orders on the phone (ringing every 5min.), and seemed like those on the receiving side were granted a favor from the café versus the café granted a favor from receiving business. It says A LOT when the employees know the customers well and talk amongst one another like family.
I ordered breakfast (serve all day)-2 eggs, sausage or bacon (I chose no meat so they gave me cheese on top of my eggs), cuban toast, potatoes, and coffee. TRY THEIR CAFE CON LECHE! Dip cuban toast in it and you can die happy. I added a side of sweet plantains-​perfection! The potatoes were golden, crispy, fresh. On my 1^st visit, I had their guava and cheese pastry; delish. They have specials everyday (seems like their most popular). Prices are great, portions matched, diner style-​no booths/​tables. ***MINIMUM $ 8 ON CREDIT CARDS***

If I’ve ever hit a place on Unilocal that I would consider highly over rated, it’s this place. It’s nothing but a hole in wall of Cuban, mostly takeout food joint located next to a tile shop that does their tile and stone cuttings in the parking lot which assures your car of being completely dust covered by the time you’ve finished eating. The parking lot is also nightmarishly small, cramped, and with most of the patrons driving pickup trucks who really don’t seem to care about denting your car with their truck doors or adding to the multitude of dents they already have in their work vehicles.
As for the inside ambiance, divey at best. The dinning is counter only with no table seating. The food however is very authentic Cuban, but just because it is authentic doesn’t mean that it is good. Cuba itself has bad food and some not so good restaurants, and if this place were in Cuba, its authentic Cuban food would definitely fall within the not being very good category; low end bottom of the rung of Cuban cuisine.
I’ve tasted a few of their selections here such as their oxtail and their black beans. The best I can say about those, is that I’ve had better; much better. On this occasion, however, I went for their Cuban sandwich, figuring that would be pretty good but as far as Cuban sandwiches go, it wasn’t. The bread was fine, perfect Cuban and nicely pressed but whatever they used for ingredients, particularly the cheese, rendered it into being the blandest tasteless and least flavorful Cuban I’ve ever had.
With the food being nothing but subpar authentic low end Cuban, the horrid parking and the counter only seating I can at best only go One Star as Two Stars would simply be too much of a stretch.

With 4 of my co-​workers down here to help me out with Unilocal Spring Break I knew I needed to get them some food from my motherland at one point or another. Our event in Pompano Beach was the perfect excuse!
Picked up for the team a medley of delicious cuban treats —
Media noches — delicious! Super staked with pork, ham, cheese and pickles on a sweet bread. Media Noches are my favorite sandwich of all time. These were great!
Pastelitos de guava, pastelitos de queso, pastelitos de guava y queso — all of them were great! flaky, good amount of guava/​cheese. Perhaps the best pastelitos I have found in BPB so far.
Tostadas (toast) — I mean, it’s cuban bread with butter. Solid.
Jupina — pineapple soda that reminds me of my childhood. You can get this anywhere, but man I love it.
Café Con Leche — Super sweet… just how I like it. Really great coffee!
The place is tiny — get carry out (or they deliver). We cleared them out of pastelitos (granted, we got a lot) so make sure you come early if you want those bad boys, I heard the bring them in from a place in Hialeah (so you know they are legit!). As swamped as they were, the service was really good — and they banged out our massive order super fast. Even ordering a TON of stuff, the bill wasn’t all that much… so it’s super affordable for a quick, delicious lunch.
I’ll be back again to get my Cuban fix!