Beautiful layout (ambience feels like you're in a Cuban garden). The staff and managers were friendly and helpful. The seating is both indoors and outside. After 11pm on Weekends they turn part of the restaurant into a "Hot Cuban Club" with a nice setup of Mambo music, disco lights and DJ. Be aware that you're in downtown DC so expect pricey food and drinks, but the Mojito and other Cuban food is great!
Great food. Fun atmosphere. Friendly service.
My husband and I had the picked grill for 2. We were told the entree required 20 mins for prep so we shared a nice salad. Everything was very good and restaurant is very pretty.
Great atmosphere. Friendly staff.
Just came back from our evening at Cuba Libre Restaurant in Washington D.C. feeling pretty resentful about our experience there. It was just over a month ago I wrote a rave review for our first-time experience at this restaurant location in Philadelphia. It was an across-the-board top-shelf dining experience for us and when we planned a trip to Washington D.C. we were really hoping for a repeat evening. Sadly, it was completely the opposite. Service here is abysmal. I don't know what is going on but there are a bunch of kids who are running around as servers and they are really screwing up the experience for customers paying good money (and this was an expensive meal) for a nice dining experience. To start things off, our server forgot our bread order more than once. And, each time we asked him where our order was, he said "They forgot it? And the second time, "They forgot it again?" My main entree was a Pork special. I had to eat it with a butter knife because the proper knife wasn't delivered to our table until five minutes afterward by another server. You might think these are all trivial issues, but this was an important and expensive meal and all I saw were a bunch of young kids running around looking like they didn't know what they were doing. And, to top things off, I had to go and hunt down our server who disappeared for a lengthy amount of time as we waited for our check. It's kind of crazy that service was this bad and unorganized. It was a Saturday evening but before 6:30pm and the place wasn't that busy. The entire dinner experience kind of had the feel that either this restaurant was short-staffed or the kids that were hired as servers (and they were all 20-something age) just didn't care. I am just completely floored that this is the same restaurant chain I was raving about when I was in Philadelphia. This dining experience in Washington D.C. was just bad. And to spend over $100 for two people with no cocktails and get lousy service is something I am still sitting here fuming about. Last time I am coming to this restaurant chain.
Great food , service and atmosphere!
One of my favorite restaurants in DC. The interior design is pretty cool, and the ambience is great. My favorite is the seafood soup, very flavorful with lots of seafood inside. During dinner time (after 4pm), they serve toasted bread with mango butter, super refreshing flavor! Chicken croquette, fried yuca and empanadas are all very good. Guacamole is beautiful decorated but not the best one I’ve ever had. Paella doesn’t feel right, pretty wet. Churro as an ending dessert to be meal is a great option. Reservation might be needed during peak hours.
Husband and I love coming here for lunch/brunch on Sundays!If you like high end shopping, there is a shopping center right by this place.The interior is really well done, you feel like you're walked into a Universal Resort or theme park Cuban/Hispanic restaurant! I love seeing the interior whenever we eat here.We've always walked here, so I can't comment about the parking. I also didn't use the bathroom, so I also can't comment.Our waitress Paola was very patient with our children and loved interacting with them, thank you!Our orders were put in quickly and everything was delicious.
Loved the music and the ambiance was very lively. Amazing vegetarian and Vegan options. Must try the Mojitos, Yuca fries and the Plantain chips.Had to call ahead and reserve a table and the restaurant was super busy on a weekday but was definitely worth it.
Food is really good and the decor is great. On Friday and Saturday nights, not sure the time (I think around 10) the place basically turns into a salsa dance club. Really cool. Only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me this time was because our service was awful this trip.