El Tropico Restaurant

So I went to this place one time because someone recommended it and wanted to try something new. I ordered the special «El Tropico» sandwich which I got after about 20 minutes of waiting there. I paid with my card about $ 8.00, signed my receipt and left. Now I didn’t tip for take out (I always tip around 20% when I sit in and get full service in regular restaurants) and to my surprise today while checking my card statement I noticed that they charged me an extra $ 3.00 on top of what I paid I guess as their self claimed tip.
I personally think that this is very unethical and poor practice and it also sorts of turned me off for the future from going to this place. I am assuming that the employee who did that really needed those $ 3 dollars so I don’t really care for the amount at the end of the day but I do care about the principle and want to point that out. I am not sure if I was maybe wrong not leaving a tip for take out but I was under the assumption you don’t have to, but in any case the self entitlement was in my opinion wrong and inappropriate.
This being said, I thought the sandwich was pretty good.

The empanadas! That’s all I gotta say! Delicious!
It’s is so good. My coworker bought from here and I fell in love! Empanadas are great.

Best Latin breakfast in Doral! I’ve been coming for the last 10 years and the tostada y café con leche is fuego! Oh and Sunday is breakfast buffet for cheap! Shhh

This place is the worst. They never have the food ready. The specials of the day are never ready. How can you run a place without having the special of the days not ready?

What kind of Cuban place has breakfast with no café con leche!!! I wish I would have looked at Unilocal before we walked in!
Better off going to McDonalds across the street and get an egg mc muffin! So disappointing.

Good tilapia and friendly staff. The plantains were a nice finish to the meal of flight to Latvia and vegetables

Four of us stopped by for a quick lunch before a business meeting. Unlike the experience of others our service was fine. I’m not a Cuban food expert but my dining partners said the food was very good and authentic. Our lunch entrees were 2 shredded beef, beef tongue, and chicken. All three were very good and spiced very nicely. The beef tongue was fantastic, tender and almost melt in your mouth good. Finishing my meal with a Cuban coffee was a nice ending to a good meal. If there are better Cuban restaurants in the area I am open to suggestions for my next visit.

No comments, just mediocre cuban food and bad service.

First and last time coming here. Cold rice and subpar beans. Service a bit slow too. 3 of 3 people were unhappy with meals. Travel down the street to the one on 79ave and NW 36^st! Food is much better there.

Its like regular cafeteria serving Cuban food. I ordered the Cuban sandwich thinking this place should at least know how to make a decent simple dish. But I was pretty disappointed because its just so-​so. Nothing special worth mentioning. I guess its only good for a quick and cheap fried food for lunch.

I was treated to lunch here once but it was not a treat at all.
The Cuban sandwich was terrible. It was cold, the bread was a bit stale and very flaky, the side choices weren’t good and the plantain chips I got were nothing but a pile of crumbs, finally, because my sandwich was so dry and about 70% bread I asked for mustard but the gave me old packets that were hard brown mush.
Only went this one time and my coworkers had a so so experience but I would not recommend.

I have eaten here for lunch a few times, as it is close to my work. The food has only been so-​so and after my visit earlier this week it will be my last.
A few months back after paying my waiter in cash he never returned with my change. After waiting for 10 minutes I had to leave to return to work and the waiter ended up with what amounted to a 35% tip for mediocre food and service. This week when I received my check I noticed they charged my friend and I $ 3.00 more than what the menu stated their prices were. When we alerted the waiter about this he took the check back and went over it with a few other restaurant employees before returning with a new check 5 minutes later. He didn’t apologize for what had happened, just left the corrected check and went away. Between the food not being very good and the way they treat their customers I will never go back there again. With all the other Cuban restaurants in the area there is no reason to put up with this nonsense. Adiós para siempre El Tropico.

The truth is that when I want to eat good home-​style seasoning and as always here, most of the time for my work I have to eat in my ofc so I called and they bring no additional cost.
What I like is their neegros beans or black beans. truth are divine! red meats in general are very good, my husband is Uruguayan and says it’s the best steak I’ve eaten at Doral, the fish is divine chicharron and have a salad called Killing the truth this rich … I think I’ve eaten here and all I can say in general line q is very good.

Service is horrible. Been sitting here for 15 minutes and haven’t even been asked what I want to drink. So I ordered breaded cuban style steak, with Black beans, rice, and yuca. The steak was ok, but the beans were canned beans (not good) and the yuca was hard and tasteless. They decorated the yuca with some onions and some olive oil, not even mojito or fresh garlic. White rice is white rice anywhere you go, at least I think. They place used to be better, but i think management and owners changed. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE! I will not be going back anytime soon.

For a retro cubanita lunch experience — this spot can be really interesting. Inside, it’s like a time warp to a 50’s diner somewhere in Cuba. A mix of business professionals, laborers, and laxadasical loungers fill the seats. I like to sit at the bar to order/​eat ad watch the waitresses bustle and yell at the cooks. I love that they serve beer & wine with my $ 2.95 large sopa de pollo. The especialidades alao come in gracious portions and relatively fast, in case you just need a quick takeout. Go on, step inside & back in time.

Breakfast was what we would usually eat here. It was just OK. The omelet was always pretty greasy although the coffee and toast was good.
For lunches I was never too impressed. Anything fried tasted like it had been fried in the same oil over and over again, it has that ‘old pig fat’ taste.
I don’t know if all the Tropico’s are owned by the same individual (s) but I do much prefer the other one on 36^th.

I have never been to a restaurant that is not serving 3 of the 5 Sunday specials. I have been here plenty of times and service has gone to the dogs… please think before trying and if you’re a customer you’ll probably agree with me.

I agree with Gus and J.L. this is definitely a good stop for a quick breakfast and a mid-​day lunch as there is definitely a lack of suitable eateries in this area due to it being primarily of use to industry and office environments.
I probably eat here on average a couple of times a month at least on business, so my meal is comped about half of the time (yup, I have great clients! Yay!). But when I really want to choose a more, how would I describe it, «dynamic» an establishment, I’ll head over a bit further west and hit the primary spots in Doral or head out to Dolphin Mall for a few diggs that are there.
Overall, the place satisfies and is a good pick but nothing to write home about.

i agree with gustavo a l (hey, dont you owe me a beer? :P) this place is pretty good but its pretty generic cuban food. i come here often because i work in the area. sometimes i stop by for breakfast … for around 5 dollars you get café con leche, a cuban toast and two eggs with ham. nice…
then for lunch i usually stick to their daily specials cause it comes out pretty quick and theyre usually pretty good. the ropa vieja is my favorite. i still gotto try more stuff and write about.
el tropico has free wireless so i sometimes geek around with my psp … its also important to know that this restaurant has been open for over 15 years.
i rate this place 4 stars cause i had lunch here one day and me, being the burn out that i am. forgot my wallet at my office … so i talked to my waitress and told her. yeah, i forgot my wallet… ill come back within minutes and ill take care of my bill i swear … she trusted me and said ok with a smile. so i went back to my office, got my wallet and paid for my stuff. yessenia was happy to see me back so quick and she even made fun of me for being forgetful, (she blamed it on my psp but its really all the pot…) i was happy that she trusted me, so just for that i give el tropico cuatro estrellas

Generic Cuban food. Pretty good in general terms but really nothing to write home about.
This place is good for a quick lunch or maybe if you are lazy on a Sunday morning, come by and have an egg white omelet with a café con leche, this will definitely set you up.
We have been here a bit too many times so we are kind of getting over it, and we notice that the food is a bit greasy.
The service is good and the menu has good variety.