Tina’s Cuban Cuisine

Super quick delivery, and really filling food. I’m a total beginner when it comes to knowing good Cuban food, but the cubano sandwich and beef empanada hit the spot today! I work in the area, and will def be ordering again!!!

stopped here for to go lunch with my co worker. there was a line, but it moved quick. also a decent sized seating area in the back half of the place. we both got rope veja, yellow rice and black beans. for the price you get a ton of food ($ 11.97 after tax). we both made the mistake of eating almost the entire plate of food, this was a bad move as we essentially spent the rest of the afternoon in a sleepy uncomfortable state. note for next time– only eat half!
there is a good variety of options here from entrees to sandwiches and daily specials. like everyone says, the green sauce is CRACK and if you decide to sit down you get an ENTIRE SQUIRT BOTTLE of it at the table… i kind of wanted to steal one and bring it back to the office with me.
overall a solid lunch spot if/​when you get that cuban craving. the rope was very tender and flavorful as were the sides. crispy pork chop might have to be my next meal for when i go back.

A bit hesitant to go in but figured since I walk by everyday I would give this place a shot. Not crowded at all during lunch time which is always an alarming sign. Tried the oxtail lunch special and it really left little to desire for. If you like overcooked and rubbery oxtail then this is the place to go.
Going to stick with Sophie’s on west 45^th Street. The line is out of the door but atleast the food quality is a lot better.

Oh, Tina. I wish I could be the same Tina who can cook as delicious as you do!
Location: Tina’s Cuban Cuisine attracts zero attentions from me if I am on my tour for NEW YORK Food Adventure. Why, it seems like this place is full of people who work close to the area and the Unilocal review is relatively poor. But the greatest thing is that I got a chance to step in this place not much caring about Unilocal reviews. I am so glad I did it. This place is divided by to-​go and sit-​in areas. It is fairly crowded during lunch time. I walked back and forth deciding what I ;d like for most.
The menu is on the wall, including daily specials and some interesting entrees like sandwich, or plate choices.
My new year resolution is to be a vegetarian for a year so many choices (almost all) are not something I could try.
SUCH A BUMMER
Food: I ended up with a spinach patty, and guava and cheese patty, as well as black beans for side. The first bit elf spinach patty is, for god sake, good. The dough is not too soft but firmed in a good way. I chewed and bites and then a sense of spinach is flooding into my tongue. The freshness, and the flavor is trapped in my mouth that I barely wanted them to leave. Guava and cheese patty is a miracle. Can you image the hot version of sweets and savory immersed in your stomach. No, but it’s good. The contrast between sweets and savory is not strong and well balanced. I love to eat two more!
Blackbean is seasoned well, a good choice to go.
Price: they have a credit card limit for 7 dollars. N most entrees are not pricy and the portion is huge. I’d say it is very worth going if you are close to the area.
Overall: 4 stars for the cuban flavor.

The place is small and the staff are friendly, the portion of food is okay– I know tradition Cuban cuisine and this is considered grab and go 3 out of 5… Happy eating folks!

— overall rating: 3.5
— got food to go for lunch
— large portion for the price
— pernil was a mixed bag, moist or dry depending on the piece.. .was a little bland but nothing a little salt couldn’t fix
— rice and (red) beans was seasoned well and was plentiful
— maduros (fried sweet plantains) were good but I think that’d be fairly hard to screw up

This is a review for their take-​out through seamless:
I got the spicy chicken with the rice and beans and fried green plantains.
It took quite a while to get to me, and when it did it was only kind of warm.
It was a large portion but the dish was very dry overall.
The chicken was tasty but nothing that isn’t easily made at home.
The rice and beans were just that, they really lacked sauce. I asked for extra green sauce just because I usually like extra sauce — but I would suggest that everyone do this. They fill up their tiny containers maybe ¹⁄₃ of the way. They should realize that for the portion of the dish, they should be putting some of the sauce that was on the chicken on the rice and beans too. Even with the three containers of sauce my dish was still lacking taste and moisture.
I would highly recommend getting anything other then the green plantains. They were basically tasteless, hard, and again — super dry, not at all what I had expected.
For the one dish and $ 15 that my seamless order came out to including the tax and tip, I could have gotten a much better meal.
Definitely won’t be ordering from here again!

Food was okay. The Cuban sandwich needed more cheese and it was bland. Won’t have that again, the empanadas are really good. If you go and it’s busy you’re not going to get nice service. I’m going to try food off the buffet line. I’ll keep you posted.

After coming here for years, we are not coming back. We were here a few months ago and the food has gone way down hill. Their lemonade is still good but food was bad.

3.5 stars… The food had flavor, that’s for sure. We only ordered delivery so that’s something to consider, but the food was kinda thrown together. Some of the meat was moist, some of it was dry. If prepared better this would be a 4-​star place. But it wasn’t so there you go…

Came here for lunch during my quick NYC visit back in September. I absolutely LOVE oxtail. And I wanted some while in the city. Found Tina’s on Unilocal — so it’s not the cheapest, but it’s Manhattan. $ 15 with tax & tips but I got a good amount of food. I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish it but it was SO good I cleaned the plate.
I’m sure by now you already read about the green sauce. Every table has a squeeze bottle of this creamy green sauce. I didn’t know what it was, but I saw everyone (looking like regulars) dumped it on their plates (as in cover the entire plate of food with this stuff). I tried a little at first, and by the end of my meal I was covering my plate with it too. Green sauce = GOOD CRACK. If you don’t eat there, make sure you ask for their «crack sauce», a lot of it, to go.
Definitely recommend as a quick lunch spot for some Cuban flavor in this part of NYC.

Really such an awesome surprise in an area without many options for Latin food! Freaking amazing. I had the pernil, roasted pork, boiled yucca, roasted carrots and yummy garlic sauce… so delicious…

Coming from California, I’m no stranger to Mexican food, but I can’t say that I’ve ever had ‘real’ Cuban food before. If any of you are in the same boat, Tina’s is a great place to get your feet wet. :)
The guys at my office have been raving about Tina’s for weeks, so when they brought it up as an option for lunch, I decided I would tag along.
There are a variety of hot foods to choose from — you can get a platter or a hot sandwich at the bar — and I believe there are also a few prepared options in the fridges across from the cash register.
We all went with sandwiches. I got the grilled chicken sandwich with all the toppings, INCLUDING the potato stix. Best. Decision. Ever. The portions were humongous, the bread was freshly toasted, and the chicken breast was nice and plump. For $ 9, I got a sandwich big enough to have for lunch AND dinner!
Now I see why the guys always rave about this place!

I had the Cuban sandwich. Pork roasted to perfection. Lean not fatty. Brea light soft and crispy. BTW done in a panini maker, love!
Green hot sauce is so delicious! 1^st there and will be back to try all the other fabulous stuff they have!
Everything hot and fresh for lunch! Service is fast and pleasant.

I was in the mood for Cuban food, and decided to try the closest/​high rated Cuban restaurant that delivers to my office. I got the Grilled Chicken Breast lunch plate, which comes with two sides. Because my friend also ordered from Tina’s we selected a total of four different sides and shared.
I got my Grilled Chicken Breast with a side salad and boiled yuca, while my friend had the ox tail stew plate with Fried Yuca and Fried Green Plantain. we also added a side of Fried Sweet Plantain.
My plate had two large pieces of grilled chicken atop a bed of «salad» (more like pickled/​marinated onions…) and a piece of boiled yuca. I was expecting fresh, unseasoned greens so I was a bit surprised by the load of onion I got, but the seasoning actually helped to balance out the otherwise bland and dry chicken. The boiled yuca was super dry and I didn’t really like it very much.
The Fried Yuca, Fried Green Plantain (flat and round), and Fried Sweet Plantain were all super greasy and heavy… I think it was a bit too much grease for one meal!

Found this place walking around midtown like a starving beast. The place initialy looks small, but they have an extended floor in the back. The tables are tightly positioned on the floor with just enough room to maneuver around. The staff seemed like pros though, not bumping into me/​others at all.
The only real, real disappointment I had when I first walked in is that they didn’t even greet me and when I asked where I should be seated, I was blatantly ignored (not sure if it was because English wasn’t fully understood or they were just being rude). I got over it though.
I order the rice, oxtail and beans meal, with a side of potato salad. The food was A-​ok, nothing extremely memorable. There wasn’t much meat on the oxtail, which was a disappointment all in itself and the plate itself wasn’t generously portioned. The food was good, but it missing that «ummmph» I was intentionally looking for. But the price was agreeable. The lunch portions range from $ 9-​$ 11. I was in love with the Passionfruit w/​water shake. it was so good.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again, but if I was in the area, and my friends were in the mood for Spanish food, i’d probably stop by

3.5 for the hearty, lip-​smacking lunch specials ($ 11 for a meaty main, and diner’s choice of two sides) that have no business being so tasty for an ostensible diner on the worst stretch of Madison Avenue in Manhattan.
Good food, good service, good sauce.

Tina’s is probably the only option in an 8 block radius for decent Spanish food so it’s worthwhile to occasionally hit up. However, their food is a bit pricey and the portions are just okay so it’s really only a place to eat at when you crave some Cuban.
I’ve gotten small lunch platters with some pernil (pork shoulder), rice and beans and maduros (sweet plaintains) and it comes out to about $ 8.50. A Cuban sandwich is about $ 8. The area has been getting pricier over the years so it’s not entirely their fault but still you want to get a good value for your meal.

I’ve never had Cuban before, so this is coming from a newbie perspective on Cuban cuisine. I was attracted by their meal specials which consisted of an entrée and two sides. We came a bit late to Tina’s, but they still served us nonetheless with good service.
The atmosphere is kinda homey, a pretty spacious restaurant in my opinion. Feels kinda dirty, but that’s fine as the food is a good price.
I ordered the steak and onions, yuca, and black beans. Black beans were plain, but the steak and onion was pretty good for $ 12 steak and onions. The yuca was fabulous though– with their sauce, it tasted almost heavenly.
My friend who prides herself in tasting the authentic Cuban cuisine in Jersey City absolutely felt the food was mediocre. Well… this place is certainly appealing if you’re on a budget and love good food!

Fast-​paced, hearty Cuban delights.
It was a Friday, I had run out of homemade lunches, and it was time to explore the work neighborhood again. Tina’s has always been a workplace favorite so I figured it was finally time to test it out myself.
Although right on Madison by 34^th, I could easily walk by it and never notice it. The setup is very structured: depending on what you need (pickup, takeout, eat in, sandwiches), there’s a certain place to stand. Despite being in the takeout line, I still didn’t really know what to do. I blurted out random foods and two seconds later, I had a packaged container in front of me.
I opened up the container at work and the smells instantly hit me. The turkey wasn’t mind blowing, but it properly seasoned and went nicely with the black bean rice. I got onions and plantains for my two sides. I’m biased towards plantains and Tina’s didn’t disappoint. I especially loved the pieces that had caramelized sugar chewy chunks. The onions were surprisingly a good choice. I was annoyed initially because when he asked me if I wanted onions, I thought it was a topping for the turkey. When I found out they actually counted as a whole side, I felt cheated. Luckily, the sour marinade and kick of the onion made for a nice pairing with the rice. I actually wished he gave me more.
All-​in-​all, a great deal ($ 9) for a decent-​sized meal. Not the healthiest option on the block, but if you want a filling lunch, stop by Tina’s!

grandes porciones y buena comida a buen precio.