Alvarez Cafe

Food was great. The service was good, too. They start you off with some bread. They have nonalcoholic and alcohol drinks. Really great fruit shakes. The prices are good. We hit vaca frita which came with two sides and carne ripiada which is ropa vieja with two sides. We ordered a soda and a Papaya shake and a side of tostones. The bill came out to $ 37 which I think is pretty reasonable especially for how delicious the food was.
Parking not great. But other than that, it was a really good experience.

I ordered delivery from this place and asked if they were able to handle the delivery or if they were to busy. They assured me they could do the delivery. I ordered a tamale, fried yucca and spicy chicken.
It took them over an hour and a half to delivery my food and then made me come to the lobby of my hotel to pick it up.
Now for the food, the fried yucca was obviously from frozen sticks due to the uniform size and cheese stick shape. There was no dipping sauce with them. It was well… fried from frozen sticks! The tamale was not even close to being worth the $ 7.95 price. It also came with yellow rice that would embarrass every Cuban I know. The chicken was basically chicken breast cooked with Tabasco sauce on it and a few onions placed on top.
In the end ordering from this place was a huge mistake. Please don’t make the same mistake!

WOW! still the best cuban food anywhere! service, prices, Great! Parking not so much, but worth the effort, do not miss this if good food is what you want!!!

Omg so yummmmmy so glad we found this place my Cuban sandwich so delicious… fast delivery, affordable and good. I accidentally ordered what I thought was a papa rellena and turned out to be a sandwich lol but omg soooooooooo yummy too haha a good mistake… My husband orded shrimp with garlic sauce and white rice which was also delicious, the rice was a little hard so I think we got the bottom of the pot lol but we did order a bit late… but other then that the food was very good and we are very pleased

Order 7 steak sandwiches with everything on it, i pd $ 75 and they only brought me hard bread with a dry steak and ketchup, on top of that there were flies in my rice pudding disgusting !

Excellent Cuban food. Nothing I’ve tried here is bad. The waiters and waitresses are friendly and make you feel like family. I recommend the skirt steak with congris (black rice). The cured beef (Tasajo) is also awesome!

Not sure if this was an off day or anything however here with a few family members. Took 3 times requests to order a vanilla milkshake, croquetas never came. 30 minutes for a Cuban sandwich with no mustard? 45 minutes for my aunt to get a steak sandwich. Cousin received appetizer after his steak. If the place was packed then okay maybe this would make sens, but hey you know write an order and butcher it, that makes sense.

Solid spot for a reasonably price meal that’s delicious and authentic cuban. Love people and the black beans with one if the sandwiches they offer even more … Perfect lunch for about 8 bucks!

Can’t say I’m a Cuban food expert, but I can tell you the food here is really GOOD!!!
About two weeks ago I came here for a business meeting. It was the immediate halfway point between my buddy and I. While driving there I was nervous as I’ve never been and honestly it looked a little hoodish. Looked like I took a truckers route lol…
Anyhow back to the review. This spot is located on a Main Street and its metered parking. If you speak Spanish yall be golden here, if not the menu has numbers and pictures. We order the Garlic shrimp, steak and onions, fried snapper and pork chunks. Everything was awesome. Great seasoning and cool presentation.
I don’t really consider this a date spot, but my lady rides with me anywhere and we are definitely coming back here!!! I hope you enjoy as I did.

I came here for Mother’s day & the food is always absolutely delicious. We drive all the way from Brooklyn, NY because we know it is well worth our time! The Churrasco with Chimichuri is amazing and the bistec encebollado (steak with onions) is so juicy and wonderful.
Customer service is always warm, welcoming and very attentive. The staff is always so sweet! Definately recommend coming here

I love the churasco steak at alvarez café, its Allways perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection, the servers are allways kind and on point, going there now 8 years never been let down, the flan is also tasty

Too bad they don’t have a zero star option. Ordered a Croqueta Preparada and what a disgrace all it had was bread a slice of ham and a mashed potato like substance in it. Embarrassing to be considered a Cuban restaurant, and they should consider changing their slogan As Cuban As It Gets to
As Bland As It Gets.

Amazing authentic Cuban food. Family run, friendly atmosphere, quick service and the food is out of this world. I would strongly recommend

I’ve been eating here for years now but what made me post a review was this. A few nights ago I went to Alvarez at a very late time, maybe 11:30 PM and they were pretty much entirely closed due to construction. He told me I could still get deli sandwiches. Stupidly enough after he just told me the kitchen was closed, I asked if he could make us two steak sandwiches and without hesitation he said yes let me go see if I can still cook it. He went to the kitchen and literally cooked us some steak for the sandwiches at almost midnight. All I wanted was some good food after a very long day at work and he gave that to me (the sandwiches were AMAZING) and also threw in a free empanada. I believe he was the owners son. Just wanted to say thank you again and even though I’ve always come here I’ll forever be a loyal customer.

Amazing food, the freshness of the entrees seemed like everything is made from scratch. Open till fairly late in the night. Staff is very friendly and proud of their heritage!!!

This place sucks. I just picked-​up food from here and I was compelled to write a review about my overwhelmingly disappointing experience. I ordered the skirt steak (with chimichurri sauce), chorizo appetizer, and a Cuban sandwich.
First issue. The portions are laughable at best. It’s absolutely ridiculous how cheap the portions are especially with the expensive prices they are charging. The rice that came with the skirt steak was a joke. The chorizo app was probably a quarters worth of a full chorizo. There was probably 5 thing slices of chorizo in the order. And the chorizo seems like it was boiled. No texture at all. Didn’t seem like they pan fried or grilled it (LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO)…mind you, they charged me $ 6.50. Absolutely ridiculous.
Second issue. After I got my order at the counter, I asked the old woman if the chimichurri was in the bag/​tray that she gave me. She said «yes it’s there». I get home, open the bag, and surprise surprise… NO EFFIN’ CHIMICHURRI SAUCE. Totally ruined my dish. You can’t get Cuban churrasco WITHOUT the chimichurri. I’m still boiling over it.
Third issue. Not sure what the other Unilocalers are talking about, but the Cuban sandwich totally SUCKS. If you think this Cuban is good OR authentic… YOU’VE NEVER HAD A CUBAN SANDWICH.
Our saving grace is not eating at the restaurant, so at least we didn’t have to sit down in the outdated and dreary décor and provide tip.
For all the Unilocalers saying that they come here all the time and say that this place has good Cuban… let me help you out. Without having the expense of a plane fair to go to Miami, your next best bet is bergenline in Union City. Unilocal or google «Cuban restaurant» and you’ll find a handful of places that puts this imposter of a Cuban restaurant to shame.

Authentic Cuban food in a friendly atmosphere. I spend a lot of time in Miami and eat a fair amount of Cuban food. Alvarez would be successful on Calle Ocho. The menu offers all the Cuban classics — Vaca frita, shrimp in garlic, whole snapper, lechon asado, Cuban sandwiches, batidos. They make a terrific café con leche. The food is delicious and very reasonably-​priced. The owners are friendly and work hard to make sure the restaurant is well-​run and clean. I wish the neighborhood were a bit nicer. But I continue to come here for the only really authentic Cuban food I’ve found in NJ.

When to check a place for a Party and ended up staying for Dinner.
Food was great
prices are good for the amount of food you get
The Staff was on point, very friendly
Drinks excellent, not water down.
We will be back !

My favorite Cuban resturant in the world!!! I’ve been eating here for years and the consistency is always there. I live in new York and when I can I will travel here just to eat. I wish there was a NY location … 10 stars!!!

A hidden gem in Elizabeth! My boyfriend and I were leaving Jersey Gardens Outlets and decided to eat somewhere on our way back. With the help of Unilocal we found this hidden gem! We both ordered the churrassco and we both thought it was delicious, the best we’ve had in the area. The churrasco was perfection… very flavorful and perfectly cooked. The rice was also nicely seasoned and the tostones were nice and crunchy but still pulpy inside… overall everything on our plates was very yummy. The service was very good, very nice people, they would make recommendations and were always very attentive and smiley, prices are very reasonable and although the restaurant is small, it is very welcoming and well organized, wait time was normal, parking is a little inconvenient… its metered street parking and since it’s a busy main street it was hard to find a close parking spot, but the food is well worth the inconvenience. Can’t wait to go back! Highly recommend if you want authentic Cuban cuisine.