El Colmao

The only SALSA that should EVER be present at a CUBAN restaurant should be the musical kind, you know Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Willy Chirino, Albita, La India, etc. NEVER EVER EVER have I heard of a Cuban restaurant serving salsa to accompany food. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good salsa, and I won’t doubt that the salsa here is good but IT HAS NO PLACE IN A CUBAN RESTAURANT. CUBANS DON’T LIKE SPICY FOOD. I wish that there was some other clue to lead me to believe that maybe El Colmao is now a fusion restaurant, but nope it isn’t.
I don’t think I have ever been more disappointed with a food establishment in my entire life. El Colmao USED to be such a great Cuban restaurant with delicious AUTHENTIC food.

I’ve been all around doing standup. Suffice to say, I’ve had lots of Cuban food. I ordered the oxtail and the milanesa. Both were full of flavor and beyond ample.
I got great service too! Lolita and Lily were exceptionally sweet and even gave me a flan despite my timid objections. I’ll be back!

Pure heaven. Don’t let the security guard or location scare you away! Food is always served hot and fresh. It is authentic Cuban. I love everything I’ve ever eaten. Ropa Vieja and Hornado with Maduros and the avocado salad are my go to choices. It like eating at your buddy’s grandmothers house!

This restaurant has long been my favorite for Cuban food.

Authentic cuban food. great lunch specials. this place is an institution — been here a long time… make the effort to check it out. free parking lot patrolled by a security guard.

This has become a go to for my coworkers and I. The food is still very good and the service is friendly.
However, if you want a quick lunch, make sure not to go during rush hour. They usually only have two servers at a time, so if you go when it’s busy, it could take a while…

My parents brought me here as a small child almost every Sunday. The breaded steak is still my absolute favorite! Love bringing my kids here now.

Delicious food. Colmao doesn’t use a lot of salt and spicy peppers in their dishes, but have lots of flavor and fresh tasting seafood and vegetables.
I ordered the Chuleta, salmon and chicken dishes. Yum.
I am now carb and calorie watching, so tonight I chose a shrimp salad with avocado. See the picture, doesn’t it look delish? Sprinkle a little taco seasoning and lime for extra flavor.

Came here twice and have had the opportunity try the salmon and halibut fish special because Cuban food is primarily beef. My biggest suggestion is to try the plantains and the green spicy sauce to mix with white rice. This restaurant has been in existence according to my dad for over 40 years and was one of the first Cuban restaurants in the area. The Cuban coffee is delicious and gives you that boost you need.

Such great food and service! Feels like home! Ropa Vieja with tostones is the best!!!

Where is the passion, the flavor? I feel like this place has lost its touch. My first time here i ordered the paella. It took over 30min to prepare, but it was worth it. I’m cuban so I know what the food should taste like. I came back for lunch and decided to order the Bistec Empanizado con platanos maduros y moros y Cristianos.
Let’s start with the beans. They tasted like they came from a can and we’re heated up. No flavor was developed at all. you should pay special attention to black beans let them simmer. They should be infused with the taste of bell pepper, garlin, cumin, oregano, onion. Geez come on guys!
The white rice was cooked fine, but it’s difficult to mess that up.
The breaded steak tasted bland. It was underseasoned.
The plantains were soft and sweet, but we’re plated poorly, all stuck together with burnt pieces that should’ve never left the kitchen let alone arrive at my table.
The only thing I enjoyed was the espresso, and the music which is why they get two stars from me.

It wasn’t awful, but I was expecting a lot of t from this place. The reviews were positives, but when you try Cuban food in Miami is hard to eat somewhere else.
I ordered palomilla steak, it came with rice and beans. There was something about the meat I didn’t like, it came with raw onions and I asked for grilled onions on the side, I could not even eat the steak. The rice and beans were below average, the beans did not have that Cuban delicious flavor. The plantains were not sweet.

Only tried the breaded steak, but it was extremely delicious. I’ve only had something similar to the breaded steak one time in Puerto Rico and it was about 4 times the cost. Good food and great value.

Hi All! the food at El Colmao is the bomb! Great place for lunch and a quick bite! The fajitas and blacks beans and ripe Plantain are awesome!

i ordered a ceviche-​ish tomato based seafood cold soup (?)
it was tasty and full of shrimp but a little flat and boring
it would help if they added some spice to it
my coworker ordered her standard dish of breaded beef
with a side of beans
she also ordered us a side of plantains which were tasty

This placed BOMB!!! Maybe it’s because I’ve never had Cuban food before and this was my first time trying it but it was absolutely delicious. I came with my friends and they both spoke Spanish so I let them do all the ordering and talking with the staff. They speak English also but I could tell they really appreciate it if you speak Spanish to them as well. They were very friendly to us and gave us really good service.
We ordered the vegetarian plate which came with beans, rice, plantains, and yucca.
Got the beef steak and it came with rice and beans also. Lastly we got the arroz con pollo and fried plantain chips. We all shared the plates family style between the 3 of us and there was still leftovers after the throw down.
The roasted plantains were so delicious, yucca was on point, and the arroz con pollo was so divine. The only issue is that the arroz con pollo takes about 30 – 45 min to prepare so if you’re willing to wait go for it, and it also had a bunch of chicken bones. Other than that the food was so delicious I want to come here again and try some of their other dishes and their cubano sandwich.
On a side note they noticed my friend was charging his phone and offered to let him leave his phone charging while we went walking around the area. Who does that? So nice and friendly, they were the sweetest.

I was looking for a dominican restaurant in la, so that my hubby can celebrate independence day (today). I didnt find one so my next option was cuban food. I havent had any since I moved from Miami (my hometown) yes im cuban to ;). I was tired of the mexican dishes in every corner of CA, so I found this place. As soon as we pulled over I noticed that it was in a «not so nice «area. As soon as we walked in we were seated to the the pungent odor coming from the carpet.
We were so hungry that we stayed and ordered. It looked like we were stuck in another era. It really needed some cleaning, the menu was dirty like they had spilled oil it.
I had bictec de palomilla and my hubby had the bistec de lomo they were both good. HOWEVER, the congri i had was
looked like they used food coloring. La ensalada de aguacate was the only really good dish I had. Definitely not coming back.

I loved the Tostones (deep fried plantains for those who don’t know), Pescado El Colmao aka Red Snapper with a Cuban Creole Sauce, Frijoles Negros /​Black Beans, garlic oil sauce, salad & Inka Kola, a yellow soda that reminded me of Vernor’s Ginger Ale, even though it wasn’t ginger.
The food was delicious, the portions were good, and the waitresses were all nice. We didn’t leave a bite.
I also liked that they had a Vegetarian Plate of black beans, rice, tostones & yucca for $ 8.
I will be posting them on my foodie website in the future.

My cuban husband trying to enjoy a good cuban meal, took us to this Place, really sucks!
We order the Palomilla steak (no seasoning at all, rice was lack of saltmor flavor)
Fried pargo came perfect, too pricey for my taste (close to $ 28???)
Also ordered the famous garlic shrimp, meeeen i was just bathed on garlic and nothing else.
We will never go back, worse experience ever.

Increible los platillos autenticas con las recetas original les recommend un buen lugar pare disfrutar con la familia y lao meseros as buen srvicio la mesera iris exelente la recommend gracias colmado.

Awesome Cuban sandwich and garlic shrimp! Other notables included breaded steak, the braised oxtail pictured on the back cover of the menu. The avocado and side salads were disappointing… plain avocado with onion and iceberg mix; both served naked! The rice and beans were plentiful — I would recommend getting the plain rice and beans rather than mixing (couldn’t taste the pork.) Happy to have found a great Cuban sandwich in Los Angeles.