Habana Cuba Restaurant, San Jose CA

Anyone that leaves a good review for this place clearly doesn’t know about the Cuban food their missing out on! The traditional dishes like Ropa Veija and Vaca Frita are okay they taste as they should I suppose just mediocre. But the portions are so ridiculously small like $20 + dollars, that’s a double wammy just to get a medium amount of food or less is demoralizing. I almost feel like I’m getting a glorified sample. One trip to a Cuban mom and pop spot in Florida and $12 later might leave you with a whole plate and then some more for your mid day binge eating session. Even the cardboard highschool cafeteria plates they serve it in feel insulting. But what do you expect from California anyway taxes, traffic, quality of life. That’s my take on it coming from a Cuban in the flesh this place def doesn’t do my island justice. The flavors are kind of there but you can’t be lacking in portion size as well that’s a no no.

The SoFa Market food court on South First street is not nearly as nice as their former location on Race Street, and the menu is not nearly as good as it used to be. The Moros rice and beans was rather dry. Skip that and order the white rice and black beans separately and mix them yourself. Their Ceviche is still their strong suit.

I always get takeout from them, their lechon dish is pure heaven! Portion size is big, too. One dish is two full meals for me

Ordered the oxtail. It was amazing, but not worth the high price. Ordered a salad and plantains and was given 2 salads. Didn't have the courage to correct them. Overall the food is good, but probably a little over priced. I paid $30 including tip for not much food.

HellstotheYES!

I used to live in Key West and miss the Cuban food. Like, a lot. Sadly when I'm in a place and see a Cuban restaurant I rarely look at the menu because I can no longer eat eggs and, up until today, my favorite thing was the perfect Cuban sandwich on the perfect Cuban bread. I am SO glad I scrolled through the menu.

Today I discovered the Tamal Cubano (insert three hearts here)! This is located in the back of the SoFA market. Ordering is fairly easy, it's all done and paid for on screens set up outside their window (there's a search feature at the top if you already know what you want). You give them your name and cell and you immediately get a text to confirm they received it. They shout your name AND text you when it's ready for pick up.

Man, it was just as good as I'd hoped. I ordered it with the carne asada and YUMMMMMMMO. Sweet plantains are also one of my favorite foods in the world and these did NOT let me down!

There are quite a few options in the SoFA market, so if Cuban doesn't strike your fancy maybe one of the other places does (honestly, I don't remember what they are because I went right to the one thing I was looking for). Clean and a decent amount of seating, assume no one parks themselves for an extended period of time.

Thanks for reading my review. You're my favorite person of the day!:)

Maybe it's just me but I was not very impressed. The cuban sandwich was sub par honestly shouldn't even be called that, the pork was pulled not sliced im not sure if there was any ham in it either. The empanadas where the saving grace here as the were pretty good. I was unable to finish my sandwich, Maybe that's because I've expirenced true cuban food at other establishments.

The quality is basic, the taste basic and im being geniuse. I cook often and this is fast food to me and pretty disappointing. We need more Cuban and Puerto Rican food in the south Bay. Unfortunately on the west we are limited compare to the east coast.

Pork is dry. Saffron rice is dry and doesn’t taste like saffron at all. The only food that i had that tasted alright were the beans and the plantains. The cubano isn’t anything to write home about. Overall disappointing.

Quite delicious flavors from the vaca frita. Food was ready fairly quickly and was not badly priced. Unfortunately half of my vaca frita was just fat. The crispy pieces were incredible, but barely any of the meat was crispy except for the top layer. Will definitely return to try again and the other dishes they have

Had catered food from Habana Cuba recently. The chicken and plantain dishes were super yummy! Can’t wait to go there in person and try all the other yummy dishes. 100% recommend!

This place is disappointing, honestly the food is not great seems like it was made by someone who’s never made Cuban food. If you ever had Porto’s this place is about 40% of that. You’re better off eating somewhere else.

Finding authentic Cuban food is extremely difficult and this is the place to go if you're looking for it. My grandmother is a Cuban refugee and I grew up eating authentic Cuban food. This is as authentic as it gets prices are very reasonable and it's such a joy to enjoy a wonderful plate of Piicadillo since grandma has passed. I've been going to this place forever and I will continue to go to this place until I'm able to drive a car take a cab or an Uber lol 10 stars.

Decent food, but really expensive for what you got. It’s hard to stomach $100 for four when it’s all served in paper boxes. The plantains were delicious, but there were maybe six slices in the side order that came with my sandwich?

Nothing extraordinary, small portion serving, just like a fast-food Cuban chain resto. Better find another place to spend your money. Not recommended to satisfied your palate.

This is one of my favorite spots to eat (or takeout) when I'm in downtown San Jose. I like the Cuban sandwiches and the plantains. I don't have a deep frame of reference for what makes a great plantain, though I like the sweetness that complements the savory sandwich.

If pictures show up with my review, here is the menu as of Dec 2021. The other photos on maps were blurry so hopefully these pictures help.

The Cubano sandwich was fine, a little soggy. Fried plantains were tasty but a very small portion. Seating is bar style with a huge TV in your face. $3 for a can of soda.

Tidy little place serving delicious food. We had a sampler appetizer platter. All will well prepared and delicious. The garlic sauce is the bomb. The shrimp in garlic was generous portion. The tostones were perfectly caramelized not burnt. Thoroughly enjoyed a delicious meal. It's a food court area so different tastes can be explored. And there's a bar a few steps away should you wish for a beer with your meal. Good enough to go back and explore more.

I used to eat at this restaurant regularly in 2003 and it was my absolute favorite. I moved out of the area in 2004 but I never forgot about the Cuban pork dish that changed my life. I waited for a trip to the area to get to experience this meal again. It finally came two weeks ago, 18 years later. I planned to stop in San Jose on the way home from Santa Cruz JUST to eat here. It was SO disappointing. Nothing like it used to be. There was nothing wrong with It and it may be amazing to people who have never eaten there before but it's definitely not like it used to be. I guess all good things must come to an end.