Carlos’ Cuban Grill

Just left here dissappointed. I’m cuban and I know certain areas vary recipes a bit. Piccadillo for example sometimes has potatoes or raisins but NEVER hot sauce. Cuban food is not Mexican food and had I wanted Mexican, which I enjoy, I would have gone across the street. I expected some variation of CUBAN picadillo and hot sauce just doesn’t belong. It’s a shame too as the flavor was otherwise goos. The beans were good as were the maduros and croquetas. Make sure you don’t need to go back to work because you leave with a strong smell of food on your cloths. It seems their air extraction system is either broken or not working right.

Simply awesome, the food, atmosphere but mostly Carlos! We ordered the arroz con pollo with beef empandas and some platanos maduro. Exquisite. My wife had the lechon asado, which is a typical Spanish Christmas dinner. This lechon put my mother in laws to shame and hers is great!

By far the worst restaurant i’ve been in Tallahassee.
I took the family Friday night, dec.5,2015, service was quick, but the restaurant was plain, no «cuban» atmosphere. The smell was awful, burnt grease, as soon as they started frying the whole place got smokie and our eyes burning, my kids tender literally burnt. I returned them, my masitas order was 6 little pieces with a ¾ of a cup of rice, not even a whole cup, even though i payed over 12 bucks. My wife ropa vieja tasted like pure tomato paste, and she got two and a half maduros, i repeat two and half maduros. thats it. And all the orders were cold. I ordered tostones, they looked big and delicious, but when we bit into them, they were half cooked and mushy inside.
No i would never go back or recommend this place at all.

It was high prices bollocks. I tried the bean soup and Cuban, edible, but not worth the hype. I’d give it another chance.

I judge Cuban restaurants by how good their black beans and roast lechón (pork) are, which earns this place 5 stars in that regard. I tried their ‘pan con lechón’ sandwich, which included a side of beans and rice. The lechón was juicy, well-​marinated and great – even by Miami standards. And the beans were excellent in that regard as well. Unless you’re lucky enough to ever be invited to my house for dinner, these are the best Cuban-​style black beans in Tallahassee.
The restaurant itself is a very plane, no frills place, but clean and welcoming. You go up to the counter, order and pay for your food, and they bring it out to you. There’s a beverage fountain that you can help yourself to, unless you opt for a can of Cuban soda such as Iron Beer (preferred), Materva or Jupiña.
But by far, my favorite thing about this place is Carlos the owner. I came in to have a quick lunch and try out the place, but I stayed for an extra half hour chatting it up with Carlos, who is an absolutely salt-​of-​the-​earth gentleman, a scholar, and most importantly an old guard patriot – anyone who knows me knows what I’m talking about :-)
I highly recommend this place to anyone in the area, especially for lunch as their deals are great. I’m looking forward to visiting again soon to try out some of their other dishes – and finish my conversation with Carlos.

The best Cuban sandwich for 50 miles. All the food is cooked by a master Cuban chef named Carlos who is here most of the time. The portions are good and the flavors are fantastic. My favorite sandwich is the Pan con Pollo.

The food here is great and I highly recommend this place. Causal dining with a lunch and dinner menu available. Service is also excellent.

Great food for the price only when getting the combo. The owner has a fantastic sense of humor. The carpets could be cleaned along with bathrooms. Other than that nice little place to have lunch.

I ordered the masitas, delicious but under seasoned. rice and beans also underseasoned, however. loved the vibe of the establishment– hole in the wall feel and the owner feels like family the moment you walk in, will deff go again and order a Cuban :)
Pricey, but probably worth it for the quality

Great little Cuban place tucked away behind Carraba’s into Esposito ’ s shopping center. Have about a dozen different sandwiches and about 10 different entrees and numerous sides. So far I have had the Cuban Sandwich and just now had the Pan con Lechon and both were exceptional. The portions are very large — the ½ sizes will fill you up. Highly recommended!

I am in LOVE with this place. They serve the BEST Cuban sammy I’ve ever had! It’s so delicious!
The owner… Is absolutely precious and I just love it when he’s there. He truly adores what he’s doing and really loves his customers and treats them like family. He remembers me and greets me when he sees me.
Go to this place. Eat the food. You won’t regret it!
Side note: this is a place that locals frequent. It has a hole-​in-​the-​wall feeling to it, so don’t expect fine dining.
On the pricey side– but 100% worth every penny.

Best pulled pork I’ve ever eaten. Can’t wait to go back and taste other dishes. People were so nice and friendly.

Carlos’s is great Cuban food, and when he’s there he’s such a trip! Best black beans in town. The media noche comes on a small circular sweet egg bread and is great for a light lunch! His specials are always a solid deal and a lot of food.

Best Cuban food in town. Very good food, though it has some variations from the Cuban food I grew up eating in South Florida. I have no idea where someone got off comparing this place to the Black Bean Café, that place was terrible (FYI this is real Cuban food people, not prepackaged food for college students). The owner is very sweet and will serve you himself most days. Has a smaller menu than other Cuban places, but they get the rice right which is important to me as a carboholic. Good prices and good portions too. Awesome tostones!

Great family who cares about the quality of the food they serve. The Cuban dip Sammy comes with a black bean au juice that is excellent. Food is served fast and with a smile. Order at the counter and take to a table to enjoy. It is nice to support a place that is not a frozen food chain which seems to be most of what Tallahassee has to offer. Black beans are good !

Delicious, I was in town for business and passed by this joint a few times before I decided to try it. Like I said before Delicious, growing up in Miami and living in Atlanta good Cuban food is hard to find. This place brought back memories of my south Florida youth.

Awesome food and wonderful service !! Carlos has a great selection of Cuban dishes and is a true locally-​owned restaurant. Our last visit was fantastic! I just had a Cuban with beans & rice, but I tasted my friends dinner dishes and they were all delicious. I highly recommend. (just an additional note — I visited the restaurant a few years ago, after it first opened. Carlos was not there and it was not that great. I think Carlos got it back on track now!!)

This is as close as you’ll get to a «Sawesera-​style» Cuban restaurant/​diner in Tallahassee. In fact, I think Carlos’s should take the lead and be the first to be opened up for breakfast. Anyone who’s enjoyed desayuno in one of miami’s hundreds of Cuban cafes knows it’s a great place for breakfast!
Today — eight of us converged upon Carlos’s. They handled the order without fail — and we all enjoyed it.
I’d give this place 5 stars but I’m withholding one until the coffee situation gets righted. I’m not a fan of the Nescafé auto-​Coffee creator. We ordered two coladas, but they both came out a far cry from what any Cuban restaurant would offer /​on non-​automated equipment.

Why should you go to Carlos’ Cuban Grill? Carlos’ Cuban Grill has the best Cuban food in all of Tallahassee-​I am from Miami and have Cuban relatives so I know real, authentic and delicioso comida cubano! My friend and I had the pan con bistec and pan con pollo, side of tostones and a guava and cheese pastelito (for next days breakfast). Both of the sandwiches were huge, flavorful and pressed to perfection. Carlos gave us a generous portion of scrumptious tostones, and the pastelitos made my morning pleasant (and I am not a morning person. The reason why Carlos Cuban Grill is a step above the rest when it comes to Cuban cusine is because Carlos makes all the food by hand, no frozen or stale pastelitos here!

We wandered in well after lunch on a Friday and there were a few tables occupied but it was not bustling by any means. We ordered at the counter and went to have a seat. We moved from one booth to another, trying to find one that actually had some support in the seat. The tables were less than spotless, the floor even less so.
The meal came up fairly quickly. The portion sizes were nothing to write home about — a tiny chicken thigh and drumstick on my husband’s arroz con pollo. I had *maybe* a ¼ cup of black beans in the black beans and rice side. The beans were bland at best and would have improved with the traditional garnish of onions and lime wedges.
My pan con bistec was tough, the bread was soggy and I’m still trying to figure out the excess of yellow mustard on the sandwich.
We ordered yuca frita to share, but what we got was tepid boiled yuca. I had to ask for mojo to put on it.
We cleared the table ourselves, but had to shove the garbage into the (too small and overflowing) bins.
Maybe they’ll get their act together in a few weeks… here’s hoping.