Marabu Cafe Restaurant

Not sure how to put this. We came here sort of by mistake and the vibe was weird… completely spanish speaking with luxury cars from Rhode Island sitting outside? What were hopefully cocktail waitresses appeared around 7 scantily clad… Some wearing only bustiers as tops and some with backless blouses… all very well endowed front and back. Our waitress was very nice and seemingly surprised thar we wanted to eat… we were a family of 4. We opted to just have apps and get while the getting was good. So we had mojitos… which were VERY good, buffalo wings which were fine but they came with fried Plantains and Yucca fries which were both very interesting and pretty good. So bottom line… this is a Spanish night club on Friday and Sat nights, complete with a security guy with a metal detector.

stopped by yesterday around 5pm and sat on the patio.
i’ve been watching this place for a little while now and finally made my way over. they replaced the large blue dining fly with umbrellas and it’s not a bad spot, however once the shrubs grow in they will be a better screen from traffic.
we ordered some beers and got the fried chicken ($ 12) and pork ($ 14) dinner plates. both plates were really pretty good with the fried chicken being a mix of 2 – 3 bite chicken pieces both white and dark meat, with and without bones. the accompanying iceberg salad was simple, fresh and lightly dressed, the tostones were pretty good. the pork were bite sized cubes well seasoned and pretyy well done but not too dry. i also got the octopus salad and while the octopus was tender the salad was a lot of chopped iceberg, green bell pepper swimming in italian dressing. it would of made a decent taco.
service was pleasant and the beers were cold. the bill was $ 48 (before tip) which i thought a little much as you can get better and more at so many other places in Lawrence albeit without the setting.
we’ll probably be back to try the rice and beans and the fried whole fish with coconut sauce