Habana Calle 6

05/17/2008 Posted by JoeeI

I ordered what was billed as a Pineapple Margarita at the 6th St locale. What I got was half a cup of pineapple juice with a weak shot of tequila and something like looked like half a glass of foam (?) on top - foam? It wasn't sweet, it was bitter. The foam settled. I asked the waiter to take it back and ordered a Mojito. Said waiter charged me for the Pineapple Disaster and didn't bother to tell me it would not be taken off my bill. Talked to the manager who was rude and implied I had drank half the P.D. because I was a cheap drunk - nice. I told him I would not ever come back and did not leave a tip. Had I known they would charge me for the P.D., I would have left before ordering the mediocre food. A while a go they burned down. I certainly hope this never happens again. That would be a tragedy.

Cons: Rude, rude and rude.

04/07/2008 Posted by nicola74

This is the worst supposed 'Cuban' food I've ever had. I'm truly amazed the people of Austin give it such glowing reviews. It just goes to show that Austin is completely lacking in Cuban and Caribbean cuisine. And I know, because I am Cuban. The 'Puerto Rican' dishes also leave a lot to be desired. I dined here with a Puerto Rican friend, who ordered what he thought was one of his favorite traditional dishes, and essentially got bland, plain old fried chicken. Greasy, gross, and bland, bland, bland. I found a chunk of unidentified meat swimming in the greasiest platanos maduros I have ever seen in my life. My rice was undercooked and Uncle Ben's style. Are you kidding me? I even went a second time just to make sure it wasn't an off night the first time. Nope, it just is always that terrible. They told me they didn't have platanos maduros because they 'weren't in season' which is an out and out lie. You can go down to the Fiesta market and buy them fresh or frozen and ready to go year round. You can't call yourself a Cuban restaurant if you're not going to have platanos maduros available and done properly. Seriously! Their one redeeming point is that they offered Jupiña, a pineapple flavored Cuban soft drink, but I don't remember having that available on my return visit. Perhaps it is no longer available there? If you want to try Cuban cuisine, don't waste your money or taste buds here. It's not Cuban. It's crud.

Pros: they had Jupiña pineapple soft drink available

Cons: horrible food, rude service, way over hyped

04/06/2008 Posted by brain123456

I was part of a large party, on a Friday night. Besides the fact that they refuse to split checks, they also decided that you can only pay using 2 forms, and were quite rude about saying so. I have decided that if a business does not want to take my money in whatever form I choose to give it, and however many ways it needs to be split, then they just wont get it, so I choose to not order anything. Actually, several people at our table did the same. It is called the service industry for a reason. As a customer, who has been in the Customer Service industry for 20 years, I am appalled at the attitude so many businesses are taking. I know for a fact that it does not take much more time to split a check, or run several cards, and the dollar in fees that they may be charged by the credit card companies will surely be cancelled out by the $13.50 they could have gotten from me for the dish I was going to order. Especially since the cost of the actual food was close to $4.00, with labor. On top of that, there was a big brown la cucaracha stuck to one of the menus we were given, and the waiter really did not seem to care. Additionally, one of the people in our party got tired of waiting for him, so decided to go to the bar for a drink and overheard him complaining about people wanting to split the payment. Very unprofessional, and he was very rude the entire time as well. FYI- there were maybe 3 other tables filled the whole time we were there. I think they may wish to re-think their business plan, before they go out of business. I do miss the Empanada Parlor.

Pros: none

Cons: service, cleanliness

03/31/2008 Posted by pcolter

I dined here with one of my girlfriends, and we found the drinks made to perfections. I ordered the mojito with coconut rum and absolutely loved it. I eagerly await my next visit for another. My girlfriend enjoyed a few well made mai tai. We ate on the balcony and enjoyed the atmosphere. The wait staff was friendly and attentive. My only complaint is we both found the food to be bland. There were out of our first two appetizers of choice. We then ordered a total of four other appetizers: Spinach Empanada and Cheese Empanada were well made, but I was surprised you only got one. The Yoca Frita and Mariquitas is what left us disappointed. They lacked flavor. I have heard rave reviews about this place, so I will probably try them again.

Pros: Great drinks, service, and atmosphere

Cons: Food a little bland

03/24/2008 Posted by mari0727

My two friends and I went on a Thursday night when they have their very much promoted happy hours from 4-7. We sat in the patio, and it took us about 15 minutes to flag down a waiter and order our drinks. He didn't bother asking if we needed food menus. Finally, we had to ask for them. My friend ordered a wing appetizer, and another 15 minutes later the waiter comes back and tells us they are out of wings. That seemed weird since there were not very many people at the restaurant. The waiter suggested that my friend order what I believe was called "pollo asado" or something like that. He assured us that is was a huge serving. My friend believed the waiter's suggestion and ordered. Well, when the plate arrived, it was ridiculous. Even the waiter said, "well, it used to be big!" The order consisted of a piece of chicken thigh and leg...that was it. My friend also ordered a tamal. I am not sure how much my friend paid for his food, but he said it was outrageous. Save your money, you can spend it elsewhere for much better food.

Pros: $2 Tecate on Thursdays from 4-7

Cons: Food, Service.

09/06/2007 Posted by velvetspel

My mom came to visit and we wanted to go somewhere to have some appetizers and drinks. I only wish it weren't so hot out! I can't wait to come back to this place on a cool day. They have a nice patio downstairs and a kind of balcony with tables on it. The frozen mojitos are awesome and I noticed they had great beer specials on certain nights of the week-only problem, how to get home after consumption of such great specials! We had the cheese empanada and beef one, they were awesome, with flaky crust. Definitely will try the spinach and cheese next time. Also got the little disks of fried plantain (forgot the name), they were yummy, as were the maduros(?), the soft, (sauteed?) caramelized plantain. Only downer was that I like sour cream with mine, and they don't carry it. We also split the Cuban sandwich, very good, but it was HUGE! Definitely split it with someone, unless you are really hungry. We did try the rice pudding for dessert, it was kind of bland, will not be ordering that again. But, other than that, will definitely go back, and would also like to try the Congress location.

Pros: yummy food & frozen mojitos, patio

Cons: slow service

08/13/2007 Posted by griptape138

I've been here twice, as it was orginally recommended by a close friend, and both times I have left with positive feelings. The rice is cooked golden brown and has the cuban flavor I've been missing all these years. The bananas or plantanes, whichever, seemed to be fried but it didn't scare me away. They did knock my socks off. Service was slow, food was great. But, I mean, it's Austin! I drive up from San Antonio to enjoy this restaurant and i haven't been disapointed yet. But then again, I don't have too much experience with latin food. It's like some kid from New York telling me of this GREAT BBQ or fantastic tex mex. Anyway you shake it, I love this place.

Pros: Great food, decently priced

Cons: parking

08/02/2007 Posted by mckenk

I just ate lunch at Habana for the first time (at the South Congress location). There was a group of about eight of us, and no one liked their meal - it was all so bland! We ended up asking for limes, cilantro, and hot sauce to add some flavor. I ordered a pork sandwich - the pork was the house specialty, but it was on the dry side and had no flavor. I also ordered fried plantains with mojo sauce - the sauce tasted like nothing. I would not eat here again. However, I will admit that I have never eaten Cuban food before, so the issue may simply be that I don't like Cuban food. I gave it two stars because the food was edible and the service was fine.

Pros: Service

Cons: Food is Bland

07/22/2007 Posted by kgarza2

Ive been to Habana on 6th for several occasions, including my birthday and have loved the food and gotten good service. The last time i went was sometime last week, the waitress was good, I ordered the "pollo salteado with maduros" (sweet plantains) as i usually do, my plate came out with tostones(another type of plantain, not sweet). We couldnt find the waitress anywhere so we got a manager to come over and correct the small error. The manager was very rude and condescending, he was defensive and responded with the maduros being a "garnish" just like the mint leaf he pointed to that was on my plate, while the mint leaf was not described on the menu as the maduros were. He said it was also just a seasonal item, which is untrue according to my cuban friend. I then said i had just watned to have been informed that my plate was not going to come out the way that it was described on the menu, and he threw out his arms and said "well what do you want me to do about it?" he also said "well i'd hate to think that you ordered a plate for just 3 little maduros". He said he would be right back because he was going to check if there was a chance that they might have some back there. 10 minutes later he miraculously found 6 "out of season" maduros. If i ever do go back to Habana it will not be at that location while that manager is employed there. I didnt get his name but he was a short man with blonde hair, sarcastic and on a bad power trip. I only gave one star for the food only because it couldnt outwiegh our experience with that manager. Everytime Ive gone in its not at all busy, you would think the owner and /or manager would want to try to keep the customers that they do get.

Cons: MANAGER

07/20/2007 Posted by cken

Delicious food and Mojitos. Dined at both locations many times! The outdoor seating at the Congress location is very relaxing. We've dined in large groups and as a couple- service is always great (well, there's this one waitress, but you cannot judge by one employee.) I love it!

Pros: It's just delicious!

Cons: Might be busy on weekend nights at the 6th St location.