Cuba's Cookin'

We were introduced to this wonderful establishment over 20 years ago and it is still on our short list of "musts" every year as we return to Aruba. The appetizers are suberb, the entrees as well (try the Mofungo for an incredible experience) and the desserts are top notch! Oh, did I mention the best Mojitos in the Western Hemisphere?

I have eaten at Cuba's Cooking several times over the years mostly for the atmosphere and entertainment, and secondly for the food which is always hit or miss. We went for lunch on one day and our 3 appetizers: empanadas, serviche, and calamari were all good. Our dinner later in the week was okay. My Cuban meat dish medley was good, presentation was lackluster and as other diners have noted the ropa vieja was very chewy. Pork roast and seasoned ground beef were good. My wife's Cuban Boulliabaise was good but nothing special. The service was mediocre after our entrees were served, our waitress disappeared until we grabbed her for our check. The entertainment was also not very good.

Went to Cuba's Cookin based on the recommendation of a friend and probably wont go back. The atmosphere was casual and ethnic, with a good vibe and entertainment, but the food although authentic, was hit or miss. The empoanadas were the best I;'ve ever had. The chicken soup was intensly flavored but they did not skim the fat off, so it just coated your whole mouth. And it was only chicken, nothing else in it. The black bean soup was different (a thick puree a little loser than refried beans) and good but definitely needed salt for flavor. Two of us had the roast prok that was great. The ropa vieja was flavorful but extremely stringy and tough to chew. Service was good. Watch the prices, they seem much less on the web site as compared to in person.

This is definitely a fine choice and we are so glad we came here. The staff are awesome and very friendly! The music was wonderful. We enjoyed the whole experience! I had the Seafood Garden Trio which consisted of shrimp, mussels and calamari. The grilled veggies and spiced sauces were to die for! My husband had ribs and a Chocolate cake dessert and then they brought us a rum flan dessert which we didn't order but left it with us! Delicious!!! We will definitely come back here again!

We own timeshare in Aruba and it is one of our favorite places to vacation. When we go down the first night dinner is always at Cuba's Cookin. 7 years ago while shopping in town we notice this cute little resturant and went in for lunch. We had the most amazing meal of our lives. Every year now we go there to celebrate the start of our week in Aruba. The staff is friendly, the music and entertainment is superb and the chicken with olives is to die for. Dont leave Aruba without checking out this little piece of heaven in Aruba.

Cuba's Cookin was an excellent choice. The atmosphere is quaint, the servers friendly, and the food and drink were exceptional. The authentic Cuban cuisine was extremely tasty and healthy portions in addition to some of the best mojitos on the island. Although the location is a couple blocks away from the center of downtown, the walk is well worth it. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone interested in experiencing a little slice of Havana.

The food is amazing..one of the best dining experiences we had while in Aruba! The drinks are great..service very good. Love the decor, I tell everyone going to Aruba that this is a must dine!

We made yet another return visit to the restaurant in September 2010 - can't wait to be there again in December. It is definitely one of our favorites and so convenient, as we stay at the Renaissance. Since 2002, we have had consistently wonderful food, service, and especially Mojitos!

We were in Aruba for 1 week with our 2 adult children and one 9 month old grandchild. Our children wanted to come back to one of their favorite restaurants from previous visits. The food was a disappointment compared to every other restaurant we ate at last week. Sorry

What a fun place with great food! Love the ambiance of the old style cunucu house (had alot of character) and also live music (guitar) during dinner. Food was good, traditional Cuban food with alot of flavor. Staff was also excellent and even honored our free mojitos after I realized I had forgotten the coupon. It's also open for lunch, too, and this may become our new "lunch spot" when we're downtown shopping.

We found this eatery online prior to arriving in Aruba. It is a fairly small place so reservations are suggested. It has a nice, warm feel and the singer/guitar player was good. We ordered and shared a combination of items which was fun. Slow with taking our order, serving, etc. An unitemized check was presented to us and the total didn't look right. We were charge for an appetizer that we didn't receive. Keep track of what you order and especially how many Mojito's you get billed for. All in all, we enjoyed it.

What a perfect place to spend our final evening -- from the Mojitos to the ribs to the lively and friendly service -- to the live music. We felt like we had been invited into the owner's Cuban home and served a wonderful meal.

This is an amazing restaurant. Charming and delicious. Where else can you get great Cuban food, wonderful entertainment and a walk through the kitchen across a little alley to the restroom. All the charm wrapped up in one happy restaurant. Also, great mojitos. If you happen to go on an evening when Yessie is performing, well, you have everything there for you in one stop. She will even get you to join in on the fun. Don't miss this great restaurant.

We had a great time at Cuba's Cookin. It was one of the places we were looking forward to after much research. It is very close to the Renaissance Marina hotel; less than a 5 minute walk.

The bar was hopping and we waited only a little while for a table. We did not have a reservation but I would recommend one if you are on the island during high season.

The live music (and the free mojito!) helped the time pass quickly while we waited for our table! We enjoyed the plantain chips with the various dips served when we were seated. Had the guac and plantain chip appetizer but if we had known how large the meals were we probably would not have gotten an appetizer. My husband had the Shrimp Enchiladas and I had the Chicken and Olives. WOW! Both meals were delicious and very large. The black beans and rice sides were ample and very good.

The atmosphere was a lot of fun and the singer with the guitar was a wonderful entertainer. The crowd joined in on instruments, singing, and dancing. The time it took from placing our ordered until we had our food was longer than normal but the live music helped the time fly. Very reasonable prices and a free mojito with each entree. Highly recommend Cuba's Cookin' for an entertaining and lively dinner.

My wife and I ate at Cubans during our stay in Aruba.My wife had Ribs and I had the Pork. The ribs were great and the Pork so-so. There was a small group playing whom were great. All in all we had an enjoyable evening and the bill didn't break the bank.

We came to this restaurant 2 years ago and it was wonderful, this june of 2009 we retruned and brought back someone new to arbua and the restaurant. We where very very disappointed, we are all Cubans and we ask for a DAQUIRI, and the wait person didn't even know what it was , she offered frozen etc, the second national drink in cuba after the cuba libe is a daquiri, what came to the table was blue and inspidid. We ordered roast pork what came out was a piece of old cold and tough pork, with rice that u can make a ball and throw, we ordered mariquitas for appitizers they must have opened a bag and put them on a plate, another person orded the stuffed pork and what came out was the same abou meat with a teaspoon of dry chop meat from last week. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS PLACE? 2 years ago it was delicious , will never ever go back or recommend ur restaurant and u should be ashamed to call urselves a CUBAN RESTAURANT !!!

We went to Cuba Cooking 1-09 and had a horrible experience. We had a coupon for free mojitos which was not honored because we had to order them during the first round which was not stated on the coupon. I think they just made the rules up as they went along. They were out of black beans although the table next to us ordered after us and they got black beans. 2 out of 3 of the things we ordered they were out of. They served us rice from the bottom of the barrel (hard and dry. The waitress was not friendly at all which was surprising because most people in aruba are. I will never return to this place!!!

We ate at Cuba's Cookin' in June 2007 and really enjoyed it. I got the chicked entree and thought it was very tasty. There was a guitarist and vocalist there...there really added to the ambiance...we had a great time. Going back on our next visit!

Cuba's Cooking is very good. 10 of us ate there last week including 4 children. The food and service were excellent and they had a great kid's menu. Tres leches cake is worth getting even if you're full. We went back twice for carryout chicken soup. I have eaten there many times over the years and I don't understand those other recent reviews.

The food was not good. I was served fattiest piece of pork Ive ever eaten at Cuban cooking, probably had a bite or two of actual meat. Further, Ive had better mojitos at the college bar down the street from my apartment in Boston. The waitstaff were extremely impersonal and my family had to bend over backward just to get a drink after waiting in a filthly room for about 40 minutes. Don't waste your time here.

Bitterly disapointing. Granted it was Christmas Eve and they were busy, but I have never been treated so rudely by waitstaff in my life. Our party of 7 was herded into a backroom with filthy sofas to wait for service for cocktails that never happened. Food was bland and cold. Don't bother with this place.

Thoroughly enjoyed our evening at CC. Food, entertainment, atmosphere were all out of the ordinary, which is exactly what we were looking for. The live music and artwork on all the walls provided for a very lively atmosphere. Restaurant serves baskets of yucca chips and 3 dipping sauces when you first sit down, and we went through several baskets. Appetizers: Black Bean soup, ceviche and empanadas were all wonderful. The gazpacho was nothing like we are used to in the US. It is not a red tomato based soup, but a greenish tint instead. Not what we expected, and I guess we were a bit thrown off by it. Entrees: Chichen mufango was outstanding, as were the roast pork, skirt steak, and seafood platter. Fried plantains were also noteworthy. And yes, the tres leches (3 milks) dessert was as good as everyone said it would be.

We went here for the amazing mojitoes, bummed we did not eat here, the food looked and smelt great, good entertainment, nice and cozy setting, at least go for the drinks!!

Having read the glorious reviews, we were truly looking forward to experiencing Cuba's Cooking. After successfully maneuvering through a maze of one-way streets, we managed to locate the place and entered, through a quaint, small entry door that evoked an era long past, into a very funky stuccoed space whose walls were covered in a variety of artworks (some interesting, others...ehr, not so much.) All our entrees were served with white rice; no black beans, no mashed potatoes, or any of the sides described on the menu. Our youngest ordered chicken (from the children's menu) which specifically said that it would be served with rice, and a choice of french fries or maduros (sweet plantains.) He was given french fries only. When we pointed out the various discrepancies, we were confronted with rudeness, arrogance, and utter lack of professionalism. In fact, we were told that if that's what the menu said, it was wrong and they would have to change it. The staff could certainly benefit from a stint in some NY restaurants where they can learn the value of patrons on an off-season, otherwise just-about-empty restaurant, Friday night. It's really very unfortunate, because one would think that getting the menu down would be the real challenge in an establishement; getting the staff to behave professionally would be a piece of cake by comparisson. Not at Cuba's Cooking. And it really is just too bad because, although the food was very good, it wasn't good enough to make dealing with the staff worth going back to the place. What was noteworthy, however, was the solo accoustic guitarist/singer performer. An accomplished musician in his mid to late 20's with a captivating voice, surpassed only by his repertoir. What ruined this for us was a local couple with two very young children, one of which was allowed to scream throughout the evening while the other one took a tambourine and just banged away at it for the better part of the evening. The musician was too kind and the staff was, unfortunately, too unprofessional to handle the situation. The upside is, this is one of the few places in Aruba where the gratuity is not automatically added onto the bill. That's a good thing because it afforded us a subtle way of letting the staff know what we thought of their service by leaving...none. Other than this, our stay in Aruba so far (five days plus)has been fantastic; lots of terrific experiences all around. Too bad we can't count Cuba's Cooking among them!

The food was dry and overcooked...how do you dry up rice and beans? Our rice was hard as a rock. Service was not good...we really did not have a dedicated waitress. The women's toilet was out of service. I didn't eat my meal at all because I didn't like it, no one checked on us and they still charged us for it...and took about $6.00 USD off. Fun atmosphere with live music.