Cuba Libre Cafe

They are remodeling now but used their upstairs area for a cocktail meet up… excellent service! Great fare options for a cocktail hour! Would definitely go back again.

Mojitooss!!! By the pitchers need I say more! This place is the greatest food, drinks, and people. The waiters are cool as hell the bartenders arent chisty with the booz and the food is rediculous good. Gets packed at night so make reservations and its free valet parking too. Cuba libre is one of the best restaurant in that little area.

I guess this is a post-​mortem review of Cuba Libre. Sad to hear that the menu and direction of the restaurant is changing. It was great while it was here.
Been there multiple times and the jerk fries are the stand out. The beans and rice is really good too, but the fries are always exceptional. Keeping it short since Cuba is no longer here, but my usual order was «off the menu» taco of calamari and one of shrimp. Their mojitos were good, but sometimes way watered down. Their slurpee cuba libre was nice too

i used to like this restaurant, but than i got to thinking… what is it that i liked so much about it? The food is just ok, and the drinks are good, but not great. I usually get the fish tacos, but they’re pretty hit or miss. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re fishy. The shrimp tacos are a little better and is probably a safer dish to order. I do have to say they have some pretty good fries. They’re crisp and you don’t even need ketchup as they already have some herb seasoning on them.
This place always seems to be full and loud around dinner time, so if you don’t want to wait, get there a little earlier — maybe 6:30pm? I’d say this place is worth a try if you’re having one of those days where you want to go out to eat, but don’t know where to go. Otherwise, you’d probably be better off going where you were thinking of or planning to go to.

Before it was closed for remodeling, Cuba Libre was one of the best joints to go for tacos. Period.
I’m very hopeful that when it re-​opens, it’s awesomeness will be retained.
It’s a bit expensive, but I used to really like the Jerked Beef Tenderloin Tacos. That was probably my favorite item on the menu.
Additionally, the unique Chili Con Queso definitely deserves mention. The queso wasn’t incredibly different itself (though it was excellent), but rather the chips had a mixed-​in thinly sliced bananas (actually, not Banana, but Plantain) that were covered with a sweet cinnamon /​sugar flavoring. This was an AWESOME match for the queso.
If they remove these items from the menu, I’m going to be super f**king pissed off.
As for a more detailed review, I will wait until the restaurant re-​opens, which is supposed to be towards the end of this summer, 2010.

Hmmm, Cuba Libre. Me likey. It has its ups and downs. For instance… their late night scene is obnoxious and their wait on a Saturday night (without a reservation) is NOT worthy. OH! If you make a reservation, they will NOT seat you until your whole party is there. HOWEVER, if you can get right in or go for lunch I would definitely give it a shot.
Few things you MUST try…
Pitcher of Sangria OR Mojito, enough said.
Plantain chips (sprinkled with sugar) and served with 3 different kinds of dipping sauces. A Jalapeño Ranch, Sweet BBQ and then a spicy red chipotle somethin… keep these sauces for future dippage.
Any two tacos from their taco menu (some can get a little soggy, so be wary of liquidy types of tacos), I usually get Mahi Mahi and their Shrimp one. The rice and beans are… eh…so I always sub out for their jerk’d fries (hence the keeping of dipping sauces). Fries are the bomb! Spicy and fabulous! Occasionally they have this taco special which is flame broiled shrimp with a pineapple salsa served Mexican style (2 tortillas). Um, amazeballs!
Their Voodoo Blackened Salmon is delic as well… served with Mango-​BBQ sauce. Gah!
For dessert get the… Cuban…Coffee…Crème…Brulee — with Duo Chocolate Cigarettes *fanning self*
Couple things:
If you order their salsa, its very tomato-​y. So if you like spicy salsa order it extra spicy, it will dilute a little of the tomato party. The ceviche is not bad either… fresh and not entirely to salty. Calamari is calamari… can’t really mess this up. So its good.
If you want, after dinner you can go upstairs to their bar, but like I said earlier… I’d rather go down the street to other places. The music they play makes me want to rip my hair out.
I’ve always had decent service, nothing to write home about, but also not bad enough to keep me away. It not entirely Cuban… its more of a melting pot of Latin and Mexican food.
I would def give it a shot… I mean a pitcher of Mojito with a side of jerk’d fries sounds like a dinner to me… what? No good?

I’ve long been a fan of Cuban food, and have had the opportunity to sample Cuban food across the country. One of my favorite places bears the same name, but is in Philadelphia, so I felt the urge to give Cuba Libre a chance here in Dallas.
Now, I should note a few things: I have been to this Cuba Libre probably about 3 – 4 times now, and I struggled between a rating of 2 and 3, and I’ll explain why.
The most redeeming quality of Cuba Libre is the ambiance. While having some aspects of the «scene» that can either draw or detract from a location, those aspects are predominantly in the décor, and not in the service, clientele, or food choices. Cuba Libre is, for all intents and purposes, a small venue, with one and a half bars. The downstairs bar is my «½ bar,» as the entire venue is stuck between two stories, with both floors having limited seating space, but the balcony and patio almost doubling the capacity. The bar upstairs is not anyplace to really go and grab a drink; Cuba Libre is really a dinner spot, and not much else considering they close fairly early (~11PM) even on Friday and Saturday nights.
My biggest complaint about Cuba Libre is its lack of authenticity. The menu is not Cuban. No yuca, no plantains (except for their Hawaiian Plantain Chips… Hawaiian??), no chimichurri anywhere on the menu. Dungeness Crabcake BLT Tacos? How is that Cuban? This is where the restaurant lost a whopping three stars from me. Despite it’s ambiance and very attentive staff, the food selection is distinctly lacking.
Cuba Libre does redeem itself for an additional star, however. Despite the lack of authenticity, almost every dish that I have had at Cuba Libre has been very well prepared and executed, and has been quite delicious. My last trip saw me order the Grilled Churrasco Tortilla Salad, and it was delicious. Chopped skirt steak mixed with iceberg and romaine lettuce with sliced avocado, black beans, shredded jack cheese, roasted corn and a spicy and non-​overwhelming ranch served in a taco salad shell. I enjoyed every bite, and along with the average-​to-​above-​average mojitos, I quite enjoyed my meal.
La Cubanita was decent while it lasted, but Dallas still lacks any considerable Cuban-​themed restaurant, which is a shame, as the concept can lend itself very readily into a nightlife venue on the weekends. For the time being, Cuba Libre is your one spot to go, and a mediocre one at that.

Two words: Mango Mojitos. By the glass or by the pitcher you can’t go wrong with these. Combine them with their plantain chips and their amazing array of sauces and you’re in heaven for happy hour. This place is well known for all of their drinks though, so make sure to take advantage of their specials!
I usually get their pulled pork or the jamaican jerk fish of the day, and I’ve never been dissapointed. This is a spectacular place to unwind after work and enjoy the uptown-​ish atmosphere. Their patio has fun views of the skyline and is always heated in the cooler months.
I love love love it, and I’m sure you will too!

This past weekend was my second time at Cuba Libre. Granted that my two visits were years apart both were very similar… just okay. This place is always buzzing on the weekends and any time the weather is nice the patios are packed.
We got to the restaurant around 8pm on a Saturday and of course it was slammed and our wait was about 45 min for four of us. However, our group was originally six people and for just those two extra people in our party the hostess told us that the wait was three hours! Three hours?! Basically that a restaurants friendly way of say «screw off,» but we waited anyway at the bar. When we updated the hostess that our party is now four she said «thirty minutes!» Amazing! Two people less saved us two and a half hours. It’s like Survivor… which must go? Either way the bar is a good place to grab a drink while waiting. It’s perched above the dining room and right at the kitchen, so there is plenty of entertainment while waiting. The drinks are always good but I tend to stick to the basic cocktails… nothing fancy.
We started off dinner with their chorizo queso, which is outstanding. I’d never had it before but one was raving about it and they were right. For my entrée I had the pork tacos with cabbage and pineapple relish. This is was the major let down of the evening. The rice and black beans were bland and had no seasoning… I just pushed them aside. The meat had great flavor but came out warm. The girls had one of their salads which they both really enjoyed. If I ate rabbit food I would give a better description. However, after dinner both me and my friend, who also had tacos, began to feel pretty bad.
Our server was on all night, our glasses always full, and we never felt rushed even though they were busy that night.
Cuba Libre fell way short of expectations and the fact we were quoted a three hour wait… c’mon it’s Cuba Libre! If I go back I’d opt for just cocktails and appetizers upstairs or on the patio and pass on dinner.

This restaurant serves Red Bull Sugarfree. Awesome from the start because i was able to order my favorite drink before dinner.
Like the mood and ambiance here. Kind of a cool bar feel. Like it. The prices are good too. Totally fair prices. You get good value for your money.
We started with Chicken Nachos to snack on as we waited for friends. They were good. No complaints. Waiter was cool to let us hang out and enjoy the nachos we waited for the rest of our party.
I had 2 tacos off the mix-​n-​match tacos menu: Steak n Egg and Grilled Mahi Baja. Both tacos were excellent. Wife had grilled Chile-​Garlic Chicken. The chicken was very good. The portion was HUGE. You could have fed three people with it.

Been coming here for years and I’ve always had a good experiences. It’s located in a very busy area with other nice restaurants and bars next door. I always make reservations a couple of days in advance and unless I have a large group they’ve been very accommodating. The prices are fair for the area and they offer complementary valet if you dine during peak hours.
Drinks:
Mojito — one of my favorites in Dallas. Do yourself a favor and order a pitcher.
Frozen Cubra Libres (rum and coke) — pretty good too.
Food:
Seafood Ceviche — generous portion served with tortilla chips.
Chicken fried chicken — Why here? Because it comes with jalepeno cream gravy.

Cuba Libre used to be the place where you would go for your girls night out to get the party started before heading somewhere else. It also used to be the place to go on Tuesday nights when they had a DJ upstairs and the whole place turned into more of a dance club vibe. Yeah, now it is just a place to go eat.
The large space, including a two story patio, ensures that your group of 20 squealing bitches will be able to be seated together… or 10 of your non-​squealing workmates that I joined last night. If you are not with your workmates you may want to wear something short and tight if you are a girl or something shiny and tight if you are a boy (spike your hair too yo). Yeaaaah, it is full of pretentious «OMG I am SO cooler than you, just LOOK at me!» 20somethings. Yet I don’t really care because the food and drinks are good.
I usually get the Baja ceviche for my dinner… it has shrimp and tilapia mixed in with spicy cocktail sauce — man that ceviche has a bite! It used to be served in a huge martini glass which I really liked, but now it is just in a bowl and you get an ENTIRE BASKET of tortilla chips to eat with it. It is on the appetizer menu so I guess you are supposed to share, but I didn’t. Tasty! Other food items here like the tacos, the plantain chips, etc. never really disappoint. And I really do want to come back and try the Dungeness crabcake BLT tacos. Yum, how good does that sound?
Drinks…mmmmmmojitos! Whole pitchers of mojitos! Different mojito flavors! And a Cuba Libre which is rum and frozen coke. Like a coke Icee with rum! Ask for 151 and get ready to rrrrumble. Be warned: drinking pitchers of mojitos on the patio on a hot day leads to extreme overconsumption (try 9 pitchers downed between 2 people)…that leads to having to go home at 11pm because you could no longer stand up without feeling as though you would black out. Yeaaaah, you were warned!
Tip: valet park or take a cab here. Parking yourself is now like parking in Uptown or on Greenville avenue, it is not going to freakin happen unless you are the luckiest person in the world. What a beatdown!
Overall Cuba Libre is a-​ok. It isn’t a place I am dying to go to because so many better places are in the area, but it isn’t bad either.

MMMMMmmmm, last nights dinner was absolutely yummy.
I’ve never been to Cuba Libre before and I think this place will be quickly bumped up to one of my top Hispanic places to eat. Well, any place that you can purchase a PITCHER of mojitos, yeah… it’s going to the top of the list pretty quick.
First we ordered some chips and queso. The queso was yummy, but I couldn’t resist eating all of the cinnamon and sugared plantain chips, it was like dessert before dinner.
I ordered the Jerk’d Chicken Quesadillas and asked for extra cilantro (I can never get enough cilantro). It was very good and very stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, chicken, and red onions. Everyone else ordered the tacos, which they mentioned where fantastic. I think one of those are going to be my next entire… with a mojito, of course.
The service was very nice and attentive and always kept our water full. I believe that service can really make or break a restaurant, and their service defiantly helped.
The only complaint I had, which was corrected very quick by the manager, was the floor. When I sat in my booth, the floor was awfully sticky. I asked the hostess if she could get someone to mop under the table, and she mentioned that they didn’t own a mop. So, my next curiosity was… how in the heck to do you clean your floors each night??? I sure hope they get a cleaning service in there at least 4 times a week.
Other than that… the sticky floor couldn’t keep me away from wanting to try more.
****UPDATE****
I just received a wonderful message from Jewel, the Catering Coordinator at Cuba Libre. She mentioned to me that I was misinformed about the mop situation and they do clean every evening. After reading her reply, it dawned on me that it really isn’t proper to pull out a huge mop during dinner service and Jason, the manager, handled the situation in a wonderful manor by cleaning the floor with a wet towel. It was much appreciated.
It really shows how much they all care about their restaurant by getting a reply like that and makes me want to visit there even more.
Thank you Jewel!

Need a salad that could feed you for 5 days?
Need a big bowl of Black Bean soup so good you’ll slap the waitress?
Need to try something out of the ordinary like Dungeness Crabcake BLT Tacos???
I got you, boo. Cuba Libre. TA DAAAAAAA.
This place has the atmosphere of a hopping Dallas hot spot, a menu that always leaves you saying «I’ve gotta come back and try THAT next time», portions that make even the biggest of appetites get a little nervous once the plate is in front of them… and cocktails that keep me coming back for more. You can’t go wrong choosing this place to take your gal on a firs date… trust me, it worked on me… or choosing it to just go chill up at the bar, order some chips and salsa and drink the afternoon away.
Lance braved the Dungeness Crabcake BLT Tacos… omg so good. You just have to try them and see for yourself. I got a big bowl of black bean soup once… best I’ve had yet. Everything that comes out of that kitchen looks and smells amazing, and will feed you for days. But I think what brings a lot of people back to the CL are their cocktails. Need a good Mojito? They make one of the best in town. But my fave, by far is THE Cuba Libre. What is that you ask? Well, basically… it’s a coke icee with booze. And I cant get enough of them.
So call up that girl… and tell her to meet you at the bar… and have a Cube Libre waiting for her. All I ask is to be invited to the wedding ;)

Still a fan! So this is not the most amazing place in town, but it is a really really good dependable place. The servers and managers are all very good, and you can expect to enjoy your meal without a hiccup! (unless you drink too much and get the real hiccups.)
This time around I ordered the Baja Ceviche Cocktail made with shrimp, tilapia, tomato and avocado in a spicy Cocktail sauce. The tilapia came in huge chunky pieces and the shrimp were perfectly sized. The dish was served with crisp, warm tortilla chips. I was in Heaven.
For my entrée, I ordered from the taco platter menu that comes with red chile rice and Cuban black beans or jerk’d frittes. I couldn’t decide between all of the tasty flavors so I got CRAZY and ordered two different kinds. (You can do so for no extra charge.) I chose to go with one grilled Mahi Baja loaded with island slaw, pico and avocado-​jalapeño sauce. My other choice was the spicy BBQ shrimp filled with island slaw, lime sour cream, pico and queso fresco. I was extremely stuffed and extremely happy.
Another great thing about this place is their drink specials. Cuba offers half price margs the whole day on Tuesdays and their happy hour goes from 4−7pm on weekdays. The specials include $ 2 off specialty drinks like mojitos, mango mojitos, pomegranate red sangria, frozen margaritas, mango margaritas, the frozen cuba libre, and the Pama Mojito. You can also get $ 20 mojito and sangria pitchers. Um yeah. Sold.
This place is great for a date, lunch with the fam or happy hour after work. Do it. Do it.

The last time I went to Cuba Libre I couldn’t help but think of the scene in Swingers where Mikey and Trent go to the Stardust casino and say that «this place used to be a player back in the day but now they’ll appreciate the business». When I moved here Cuba Libre was THE place to hang on Henderson. Now its younger siblings have taken over with the cool crowd moving on to The Porch and Victor Tango’s. Funny thing, though… I actually think Cuba Libre is better now.
The chicken fajitas practically melted in my mouth the last time. The pork tried the time before was amazingly flavorful. The mojitos are some of the best in town and the kick from the roasted tomato salsa never fails to satisfy.
Ultimately, the atmosphere sells the place more than anything else, however. A nice evening spent on the patio is well worth the wait. Sure the service left a little to be desired but when it means they bring you food you didn’t order and then insist you keep it in addition to the items that you did, it’s hard to argue with that. I do wish they had more traditional Cuban food but what they do prepare is tasty enough that I can live with it.

One of my favorite places to eat in Dallas!
I have eaten here a dozen times and never stray from the taco combo entrée. It just doesn’t get better than that.

Cuba Libre is the place to go if you and all of your hoochie friends are celebrating a birthday, holiday, induction into delta delta delta, bachelorette party, break up, girls night out, boys night out, or any other event that requires about 2 yards of fabric and a clothespin.
I was there for a bachelorette party.
Cuba Libre is alright. The food is actually pretty good. They have a few specialty mixed drinks– awesome mojitos and mango mojitos that you can buy by the glass or pitcher, and a tasty «cuba libre» that taste like a coke slurpee with rum in it. The appetizers are good, tacos are great… but I just CANNOT get over the crowd.
I’ve never, in all of my years living in Dallas, have I seen in such concentrated form, so many hootch-​ed up girls. I saw them wearing shoes I only giggle about from Electric Boutique. I saw backless dresses with pink underwear sticking out. I saw more «Hills» looking bee-​yotches with that neuvo-​farrah-​faucet looking curled and hair sprayed to perfection. One actually rolled up in a pink convertible Volkswagen bug with a personalized license plate that should have said «Still On Daddy’s Payroll». All squealing and «ohmygawwwd”-ing.
Jealous a little? Yeah, I probably am. Wish I was back in college and still spoiled? Yeah, for sure! But is this place absolutely perfect for what it is… an inexpensive but cool restaurant to go to before you hit Ghostbar or Candle Room (or whatever else is cool with da’ kids these days)? Definitely YES. I just got hit in the head with a baseball bat that I’m now, officially, too old for this shit.

We went to Cuba Libre before the Rascal Flatts concert this past weekend. We had made a reservation for the 5 of us, but then we were late but they still had a table for us (yay!).
I ordered a Sangria — don’t bother it wasn’t very good. We had the plantain chips as a starter — they were yummy! We loved 2 of the 3 sauces that came with them — the BBQ and the avocado ranch were super yummy.
I had done my research and saw the overwhelming recommendation was the roasted pork so I stuck to it and ordered that for my meal. It was fantastic. Fall apart tender while not being dry. The BBQ sauce was the same one we loved that came with the plantains. I used the tortillas that came with my meal to make little BBQ pork taco things and I was a happy girl. My only complaint was the pico on top of my pork — totally unnecessary and the cilantro didn’t add anything to the flavor — just gave me something to pick off my meat before I could eat it. If the menu description had listed pico on it I’d of asked them to leave it off, but it didn’t.
Which leads me to one of my main dilemmas with this place — make the menu accurate! If you don’t list whats in/​on a dish — how will people know what to have left off? Aimee ordered a spinach salad and when it arrived it had iceberg in it. Iceberg? In a spinach salad? When she went to send it back (and told the waiter had the menu STATED iceberg he could have saved himself the double trip to the kitchen to exchange it) we saw him pull out a menu to verify that it did indeed NOT say iceberg. The salad issue on top of the unexpected pico on my pork (cilantro on BBQ? bleh!) equals — one star.
Why then does my review only have 3 stars? Well my friends. the other negative star is for the service. Our waiter was pretty slow and I detected a little attitude from him. I don’t want to deal with that in a place like this.
Overall — food is good, but you never know what unexpected ingredient might make an appearance and the service is ehh. I’d go back here, but I definitely wouldn’t wait for a table if they were busy (which they were when we left).

Cuba Libre = tasty food, decent prices, trendy atmosphere, cool second floor, close to my apartment, long wait without reservations.
I also have to add another vote to the good-​place-​to-​take-​out-​of-​town-​guests evaluation of previous reviewers, mostly because of everything I already listed above (minus the long wait, I guess).
I always get the salmon because, well, I love salmon, and the Cuba Libre version is very good. I also love the popcorn shrimp appetizer.
I can’t help but start out with a mango mojito even though I don’t like carbonation. It’s just yummy, and you just have to have a mojito at Cuba Libre.
On the negative side, I don’t know if they train the hostesses to be snotty, but I don’t think I’ve ever been greeted with a smile. I had my birthday dinner at Cuba last year, and the hostess who helped us wasn’t friendly at all. She also made sure to tell us how long we we were allowed to have our table before we would have to leave, which I’ve never experienced anywhere else. We ended up having plenty of time anyway, but hearing that made me less comfortable than I would prefer to be at my own birthday celebration. The waitress, however, did a great job with our table of 12 people, and I haven’t had any issues with the food service the other times I’ve gone.
Cuba Libre is too trendy and not quite relaxed enough to become one of my favorite hangouts in the neighborhood, but it’s a great spot for dinner and drinks every once in a while and definitely worth a try if you haven’t made the trip yet.