Critic's Review
Cuba Libre quietly opened last week and I thought I'd wander in and get a feel for the place.
The first impression is that it's not nearly as impressive inside as their other restaurants, which feature all kinds of murals and interesting architecture. This place is just a big room with a bar like every other restaurant on the street. And it's the most expensive location in the chain to boot.
Bar on one side, and a dining room on the other. Very Edgy.
There's some sort of grill bar in the back although it's not clear what's going on back there. Open flame grills are in now. The entire place is equipped with uncomfortable seating.
Note to restaurant owner wannabes:
Nobody wants to sit on a stool. It tells me you don't want me hanging out for long, because nobody can sit on a stool for more than 40 minutes.
I grabbed a stool at the bar and ordered an iced tea, because I don't start drinking at 4:30pm during the week unless I'm on vacation.
The bartender provided me with a tiny sliver of lemon; not a good start.
They didn't even bother to turn on the TVs before they opened at 4pm; a guy came around with a remote and turned them on a bit later. Happy hour isn't really full service restaurant time.
I could have gone for a beef empanada; I asked if they put raisins in their picadillo; and they do, so I ordered the chicken croquettes. The menu is disappointing to me; there's a lot of pineapple and non-Cuban dishes such as Ceviche and guacamole and Paella; and the happy hour menu is even worse.
The food came out in a few minutes.
There really isn't much of a happy hour here; you get half an order for about half the price, and the drink prices aren't that great either; $8 for sangria is the regular price I'd expect to pay for cheap wine and fruit.
The croquette's were "OK", nothing really good or bad about them. If I got this at TGI Friday's I'd be equally as pleased. The sauce was supposed to be "roasted cachucha pepper sauce", but if you told me it was milk, flour, salt and pepper I wouldn't argue with you.
Two people sitting next to me ordered Ceviche to share; I couldn't even see it in the bowl it was such a small portion. 2 tiny bites each and they were done. The bartender asked them how it was. "Very Good". What are you supposed to say?
The tea was mostly ice so I finished it rather quickly; no refill was offered. The servers were overmatched with the modest crowd so it took a while to get my check; $4.50 for an iced tea, which matches up with the rest of the pricing in this place.
Conclusion
Mario's (now Cubano's) has been the only "high end" Cuban place in Fort Lauderdale for a long time, and the place is kind of a joke because of their ridiculous prices for what is fundamentally peasant food. This place is a chain restaurant; if Darden were the owner it wouldn't be much different; and they're $10/dish more than the Padrino's chain.
A traditional Cuban restaurant on Las Olas (think Versailles in Miami) would be awesome; but I struggle to find something here that interests me. Will I stop by for some ropa vieja and a beer for $35? Doubtful.
Paying more for a better experience is OK sometimes, but I don't see why this place offers a better experience. Eventually they'll have late night dancing and entertainment, but they don't have it now (nor do they serve lunch), so for the time being they're just a restaurant with uncomfortable seating and an overpriced, uninspiring menu.
The pictures I've seen of the so-called authentic dishes look terrible; they seem to throw plantains and olives onto everything to try to claim authenticity. The only thing that looks good are the ribs, but I can't see myself chowing down on ribs in a Cuban restaurant for dinner.
My guess is unless they up their game it will close within 1 year.
They need to come up with a more friendly lunch menu. Long grain rice in the Paella; it's difficult to justify paying more for stuff when they're not even using the correct more expensive ingredients like bomba rice.
We have the menu.