Havana Cafe

It’s good value here is the thing that I would probably take away from.
Most things here are under $ 10, and you can get some entrees for around $ 10 which is quite unusual around Walnut Creek. On top of that the food here is tasty for the value you pay for. I’m not a Cuban food expert, but what they did have I thought it was tasty.
I don’t know if it is authentic or not, but it taste good to me.
The Skirt Steaks are awesome, for $ 10.25, the portion will probably seem a tad small, but it’s perfect for lunch so you don’t feel stuffed. The roasted corn is amazing with the crunch and doesn’t taste too soggy, and the rice is well done, not too soggy and not too hard.

Deserves 6 stars! I keep going back for my faves and to try new dishes. Love the ambience and staff. Perfect place to relax and have a fun night out.

Great food here. Had the Cuban Reuben which is really good and filling. A lot of the dishes are under $ 10 including tax. Overall was a very good lunch especially if you want I grab something quick. Next time will sample more dishes there.
Only drawback is the parking situation. You cannot park behind the building or you will be towed. Not easy to find parking around but I might have missed something closer.

It’s mind boggling that this place came up as #1 on the search menu on Unilocal for Breakfast & Brunch in walnut creek!!! Horrible atmosphere — constant yelling and screaming from the car wash, no place to park, 3 items on breakfast menu!!! If I could give it Negative starts I would, but a Unilocal doesn’t allow for anything less than 1 star.

Food was OK and a little pricey, but their service was great. We had a waiter by name Caesar who did an excellent job.

This place is just okay. I absolutely love Cuban food… so maybe my standards are too high considering other places I love that are Cuban… but this place didn’t seem that authentic too me. We both left feeling like we ate at the Olive Garden of Cuban restaurants… probably won’t be back here to eat.

I just left Havana Café with cuban sandwiches for my boyfriend and I. This is our second visit and the first sandwich was great. This time we got ‘pickle sandwiches!’ I don’t know if they just made a mistake or if the thought we wouldn’t notice but it was gross and missing at least 3 things that should have been in them. Don’t know if we’ll be back.

Great service, drinks and fresh food ! Luv it for s girls night out
Can’t wait to go there again !

Considering the location, they have great sandwiches and salads, and really good service too. It is attached to a car wash, so the atmosphere isn’t great. In fact it’s down right unpleasant. The patio smells like car cleaning chemicals and there is the constant blaring of «white BMW ready for pick up…» but given the options in the area, and the high food quality, it’s my go to spot to pick up a salad.

On a Saturday beautiful Saturday night my cousins and I came here. We had about a ten minute wait to be seated and we sat down our waitress was their to greet us right away. Since it was our first time here we really weren’t sure of what to get and our waitress was more than helpful with recommendations and answered all our questions. I choose the ropa vieja empanadas, a Cuban sandwich and a mango mojito. Honestly the best way to describe the food is… I can still remember how amazing the empanadas tasted even after a week of ordering them. Defiantly will come again for those :) The Cuban sandwich was also amazing and the mustard it had was strong but the right kick for the sandwich! However at the end we did have to wait some time to grab the check and the attention of our waitress.

I wish there was a pedestrian bridge! This place is so darn hard to get to if you’re on the other side of the street. Still, the actual food was tasty! Nice roasted pork, soft, savory, good stuff. I’ve only been here once, so will need to update, but it seemed like it had the goods. It was kind of strange, but there is a gift shop and car wash attached to the place. Nice change of pace from the ordinary sandwich shops.

The sandwich quality and the plantain chips were very good. The tortilla soup, not so much, but what really sucked was the constant noise.
One thing these reviews do not highlight is the fact that this sandwich /​gift store shop is combined with a car wash. Most patrons of this venue are people waiting for their nice car to get hand washed.
So what does this mean? Every 30 – 120 seconds you will hear a loudspeaker blasting the make and model of the vehicle that just finished getting cleaned. It doesn’t matter if you’re inside or outside. The noise is blasted in both locations. If it’s not the loudspeaker, the noisy BART will interrupt you.
So, I’d get food here again, but only if I was waiting on my car getting washed. Otherwise I rather pick a venue with a better atmosphere.

It’s ok, but I have a pretty high standard on cuban food. The staff are nice and attentive, and the prices reasonable-​and the plantain chips are great, but you gotta deliver on the sandwich. Throw in the grating overhead intercom that interrupts every minute for the car wash next door and it’s just not a great lunchtime spot.
I’m sure I’ll try it again, maybe after the peak lunch hour, but so far I’m not impressed.

Last night dinner with friends was nice and tasty. The service was good, but we never offered the dessert Manu, nor the server try to sell us more food or drinks.
To bad because I was to shy to ask.

Dry chicken with a few tiny cubes of mango (called mango salsa!). My husband’s sandwich was dry and mediocre. The corn was merely corn mixed with chili powder. The chips were the best part of the meal. I would skip the Havana Café and go for the Havana restaurant next time, to try it. Hopefully, the food is better, but not sure.

Tasty Cuban sandwich although an authentic version does not contain mayonnaise.
Breakfast burrito was delicious! Nice portion. Love the cheese they use for that.
Wish they offered maduros (sweet plantains) but still a great alternative to their other restaurant.

Came here for a friend’s 40^th birthday. Great for a mid-​size party (there were about 20 of us) as they sat us in an adjacent room to the main dining area. Lots of people from the ‘creek eat here.
Lots of cocktail options, particularly Mojitos! If you are a mojito lover they have TONS of options. I will come back to try several more and was the main reason I gave them 4 stars!
Great selection of appetizers (I particularly loved their mojo glazed wings and shrimp ceviche).
Their main dishes didn’t «wow» me but they were still quite flavorful. I had the Bistec and I enjoyed it. Just didn’t crave for more.
They had dessert options but we went down the street for ice cream.

We came here on Terri’s birthday for lunch. She raved and raved about the place so of course I’m excited. It is fairly small, and attached to a car wash, but the food is nothing less then amazing. After browsing the menu and looking over the many delicious sounding items I did settle on the chorizo burger. I’ve never had one, I love chorizo and I love burgers, how can it go wrong? Well it can’t. After a bit of a wait our food was up. Both of our lunches came with a load of home made chips that are too good to describe. But the burger, my god the burger was good. Cooked perfectly, nice and fat, no crispy onions but pickled onions instead which made the burger perfect. Thinking about it the pickled onions taste better then crispy onions would. I took my time savoring this masterpiece and was able to snack on the chips for days.

Twas two days before Christmas, and Terri’s at work
No lunch break til 2? What a jam, how I irk!
Allow me to share with you today’s George Bailey-​esque tale of delight from most dire circumstances. A busy day kept me chained to my desk until 1:40 or so, when I finally managed to emerge into the sunlight to refuel. The funny thing about Christmas Eve Eve is that even though you might be at work, the proprietors of many of your reliable lunchtime options are likely not. They were the smart ones, who took vacation time to be with their families! 3 places I tried were closed, and 1 was out of their usual Monday special. And I was short on time to find a solution since I had only planned to grab takeout and return to the office, not embark on a Tolkein-​worthy quest. Havana was my final salvation in walking distance, and as I walked up to their door, their sign said they were closing at 2. My phone said 1:56. This cannot be happening.
But the gent behind the cash register, Mike per my receipt, took pity on me and rang me up no problem. 10 minutes later as promised, I was served food just as great as it always is from Havana, and what was probably the best hot dog I’ve ever eaten. Juicy kobe beef, wrapped in crispy bacon, topped with a mango bbq sauce and a cool and bright mango relish, served alongside their always delicious spicy yucca chips. Not only did I find lunch salvation in the nick of time, it was a truly stellar meal.
So to Havana Café and Mike, thank you for being good samaritans in my hour of need, for making food as delicious as always no matter what the circumstances, and never letting the smile leave your face. Havana’s food is consistently delicious, and their employees are obviously troopers and wonderfully good sports — how could I not offer them a very sincere 5 stars. THANK YOU!!!

Stopped in here for lunch and was surprised at the set-​up they have inside. Lots of tables for dining, including a few on the patio out front. A speaker system announces ready cars to the people waiting for the car wash next door. What a smart place to put food!
The menu here is definitely more limited than downtown’s location, and you won’t find mojitos, but there was enough of a selection to tempt my girlfriend and I when we stopped for lunch. We ordered a couple of iced teas and I had 3 chicken tacos. I think it was around $ 9 for mine, but that may have been without the drink. I had the option of plantains or spicy yucca chips.
So glad I got the chips! They were awesome and I realized that these are the things in the bags of veggie chips that I like the most. A good-​sized portion of them arrived on my taco plate. I will totally be back for orders of chips to go. The tacos were pretty good. The presentation was nice and I liked all of the toppings but the chicken was a little dry. A small serving of salsa and some hot sauce helped with that a little.
This place is a stone’s throw from my office but I’m more inclined to just drive downtown for the full menu (and drinks) than walk over. Regardless, I’ll definitely be back for chips! Service was fast and the cutie at the counter was nice and helpful as we were deciding what to order.