Mouthwatering Cuban in Chicago

90 Miles Cuban Café

★★★★☆ 4 (860) • $$

"Cuban food is becoming much more common. It has some well established places that have been around here that many people don't know. 90 Miles is one of the established places, and has a couple locations, with this one in Roscoe Village. Get some super good authentic food. There's stuff for either meat eaters or vegetarians beyond just the Cuban sandwich, which is the thing most people are familiar with. A lot of good sounding stuff to get. It's among the most authentic Cuban restaurants around here. The atmosphere features authentic music playing and even makes it feel like you're in Havana or somewhere over there. Cute little place of which only a few people can hardly fit in. Shit tons of Cuban classics on the menu. It's about $12 for an entree. Prices have increased up a bit from what these were. A few pretty good vegetarian choices. I like the Veggie Sandwich. Make this vegan by ordering without Swiss. Comes with black beans, mixed vegetables, and portobello mushrooms. The seasoning is hot enough without being so spicy. Has another location in Logan Square which is just as good. It's about the exact same menu. The best is whichever one is the closest of these."

Mima's Taste of Cuba

★★★★☆ 4.2 (498) • $

"Best ropa vieja I've ever had - bar none!It came in a cute little caldero and was packed with flavors.The kids had empanadas with cheese and it came with guava dip/salsa. My wife got the pica kos bowl and it hit the spot!We both had sangria which completed the vibe.The maduros and tostones were perfectly made.Highly recommend!!"

Senor Pan Cafe - Fullerton

★★★★☆ 4 (547) • $$

"Very good experience, our waiters were very helpful & nice. Miguel was very attentive, happy birthday!"

El Cubanito

★★★★★ 4.5 (405) • $

"The sandwiches and empanadas here are delicious! Great food, cute establishment with the front part of a Cuban classic car as part of their decor. They make their own sauces too which pair well with the sandwiches. The staff is friendly and the service is fast. Awesome place to go for lunch."

Cuba 312

★★★★☆ 4.3 (368) • $$

"I have been wanting to try Cuba 312 for a few years. Last month my love and I were wandering around Roscoe Village and decided to have an early Saturday dinner at Cuba 312, which is located on Roscoe. The restaurant has a compact interior with very colorful art and murals on the walls, and there is an outdoor patio that is probably pleasant to sit in during nice weather (the day of our visit was a bit drizzly).The menu seemed about as compact as the interior. It looked like they offer jibaritos for lunch, but not for dinner. I wound up ordering ropa vieja as my entree. The little pot of shredded beef was accompanied by white rice, black beans, plantains (quite yummy), and garlic sauce. My love decided to go appetizers only and chose two beef empanadas and ham croquetas (four to an order). The bite of beef empanada was pretty good. My love was a bit troubled by her tropical sangria, which was $9 and not a particularly large serving for that price. I'd say overall our visit to Cuba 312 was good, but not great."

1492 Cuban Fusion

★★★★★ 4.5 (291) • $$

"CUBAN SANDWICHES ARE SOOOOOOOO AMAZING HERE!!!!!! I love food so I've tried my fair share of Cuban sandwiches and this place BY FAR still has me dreaming about going back everyday when I'm craving a Cuban! It's so delicious and such quality and the service is amazing and the ambiance as well!"

La Unica Food Mart

★★★★☆ 4 (251)

"La Unica was the location of my second outing with my husband back when we were first dating. Once I wowed him in my neighborhood with La Unica, apparently he was hooked for life! We recently returned, and I have to say, it was delicious yet again. We appreciated the fast service, clean environment and excellent taste to everything we have tried. Though we have never purchased anything from the store, we have browsed and enjoyed the variety of goods they have for sale. If you are a fan of oxtail, you must check out their platter. It's delicious. Pro tip - meals are large, and we really enjoyed splitting one and choosing a few apps for lunch."

Bia's Café Marianao

★★★★★ 4.6 (167) • $

"When I worked closer to the financial district, I used to go to Cafecito's locations on Wells and Roosevelt, but that seems like a lifetime ago. So it's been tough to get a decent Cubano or Vieja Ropa samwich. I'm also a big fan of the Philly cheese steak, I love beef and cheese and onions and peppers, etc. so when I saw that Bia's has both sandwiches, along with credible reviews and ratings, I said to myself, "Get yourself over there and get some pronto." There's plenty of pahking on Addison St., fyi. Inside, there are a few tables and there's a long table along the wall, where you can grab a stool and have your meal. You order upfront and they'll bring your food to you. I'm really into protein so I got double meat on both sandwiches. The Cubano comes with roasted ham and ham slices, along with cheese and mustard. The steak sandwich is really where it's at - so tasty and flavored just right. Between the two - the steak sandwich reigns supreme. The empanadas were a little underwhelming but at least I gave them a shot. I believe it's byob, not 100 percent sure though, fact check before you bring your Schlitz. Hope to be back asap and go Cubbies!!"

Cafecito

★★★★☆ 4.1 (179) • $$

"This is one of the best places I ate on my recent trip to Chicago. I am a picky eater and breakfast is the hardest meal to find, I spend hours reading menus and trying to find a place that will make my partner and I both happy. It's extra hard to find a place with the right hours, open on the right days and close enough to some sort of public transportation. Choosing to dine here is the result of that and I admit that I loved it so much that I tried to go to another location to recreate the whole experience a few short days later. This was not successful, this is the best location of the 2 I tried. If you are like me and do not know Chicago or Cafecito know that there are 4 locations, they all seem semi easy to access, have mostly similar hours and share a fairly similar menu minus a few things. This location is the full meal deal, sit down type location with a full bar and everything. The one we tried second was not. It was good too, but much more take out oriented and casual. This location is where I would come for a meet up meal with friends or to sit and scroll my phone while I ate. This is a great place for a leisurely meal, full menu is available early. You can have caffeine or an adult beverage. It's not too loud or crowded, but has a steady stream of people coming in and others grabbing take out. My partner and I both loved our Cortadito, Cuban espresso on this visit, they were nice enough to allow me to do mine with non dairy milk. What brought me to this restaurant though was the huge section of the menu labeled vegan specialties. There were so many things to choose from, I had such a problem deciding, also why I opted to visit another location a couple days later. I ended up getting Salsichon Platillo and was so happy with this choice. It was a huge meal and I ate it all. I loved the rice and beans so much more than other rice and beans I have eaten in recent memory. It's so nice to find a place with fake meat and cheese options trying to adapt them for me to traditional dishes. If I lived here I would try the whole menu, this would be a real life goal of mine and I would make it happen. We both enjoyed the hot sauce and the chimichurri as well. I can't remember what my partner had, but he liked his enough that he agreed to humor me by taking me to a different location while in a new city with a million other choices."

Tropicuba

★★★★☆ 3.6 (190)

"For my money, Chicago's Cuban eateries provide some of the best value meals in town. On this visit, I stopped in at Tropicuba with my daughter, who lives nearby. We were in search of a quick breakfast before heading to a morning class we had booked. Tropicuba hit the mark with a super tasty, affordable and substantial bacon and egg sandwich and a delicious cafe con leche to get me going. Service was prompt and attentive. Definitely looking forward to going back when I'm not in a rush to try a Cuban sandwich and some of the many tempting sides on offer."

Bia's Cafe Marianao

★★★★☆ 4.3 (122) • $

"This isn't the first time I've been here. Bia's Cafe has 2 locations. The original one is on Addison near Milwaukee Ave & the High school. This one is located on the SW corner of Addison & Narragansett. Originally this was a hot dog stand that was torn down and Bia's Cafe replaced it.I pass this location all the time as my brother in law lives right down the street on Nagle & Belmont. Duhhhh it took me a while to realize that this was the same owner as the place near Milwaukee & Addison. They have the same GREAT steak & cheese sandwich for a reasonable price. Definitely a place worth checking out. I will absolutely be back again as they have an awesome sandwich for a very affordable price. I mean who doesn't like that in this day of ever increasing cost of living.CHECK IT OUT YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!!!!"

D'Cuba Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.8 (141) • $$

"You all with the 3 stars are tripping. Iv'e eaten at calle 8 in Miami and this as close as it gets. Service does need some work but I go restaurant for the food. I truly think this is the best Cuban food in town. I go to this restaurant at least 1 to 2 times a month and love it."

Cubaneo

★★★★☆ 4.4 (100) • $$

"Churros in melted thick rich hot chocolate with a hint of Nutella. Are you kidding me? $9 for a single order pricy? Yes. It is however cheaper compared to a plane fare to Madrid, Australia's Gold Coast or Manila. The 3 places I've had Churros with melted chocolate. Madrid being the first and the best. Cubaneos version however comes in a really close second. So yes it's worth it!"

Sazon Cubano

★★★★☆ 3.9 (50)

"Time for some Cuban food. The only requirement was that they open for lunch and for sit down dining (with the usual Covid precautions).The menu features the usual Cuban dishes (like ropa vieja and pork stew) plus some pan-Hispanic choices such as jibaritos or tacos. And the menu features fried rice which I learned is a quintessential Cuban offering due the influence of Chinese sugar cane workers.We started off with appetizers - empanadas and ham croquettes. After the appetizers we went with sandwiches instead of main dishes, washed down with tropical sodas. Didn't have room for dessert but took home a couple of the homemade guava turnovers.This is a typical owner operated place with a counter and six tables. Service was pleasant, prices were reasonable and most importantly, the food was very good and had that homemade taste. I have to stop by for breakfast next time I'm in the area."

Tropicuba Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.2 (38)

"My fiancé and I decided to ring out the new year by trying the locally acclaimed Cuban restaurant. I had low expectations because I've always despised this parking lot (growing up in Portage Park) and have always tried to avoid it at all costs. Still, I had to see what it was all about!Parking lot is cramped. The location is small and right in between little cesar's and 711. Service was friendly. Since they just recently opened, they don't have "to-go" paper menus just yet. There was one menu at the cashier. We decided to get all the fried shit that was left out for the night. (It was close to 7pm and they close at 8pm). Everything cost just under 40.00 and we ordered quite a bit of food.Two jibaritos to go. We live in the area and by the time we brought it home, the "tostone" for the sandwich was soggy. Always best when crunchy. We waited a good 30-40 min for the food. Overall, everything was good but it did lack a little kick. Food tasted great with some hot sauce but you know it's really really good when you don't need any sauce. My expectations were exceeded but still wasn't mindblown. Very good. B+"

DeBorincuba

★★★★★ 5 (24)

"Nice business... Affordable, delicious food!Husband got the steak sandwich... Really good! I got a half pound of the pork that was tasty... Some pieces a bit dry but overall a steal! We also got casava... I could have ate those all night .We will be back for sure!"

Senor Pan Cafe Express

★★★★☆ 3.6 (43)

"My brother and I found out about this Cuban gem through UberEats. We were craving Cuban food for breakfast and as we typed down Cuban food, this restaurant was one of the first one to pop out on the list. We searched through their menu and saw some good breakfast sandwiches; I tried their Pan con tortilla de vegetales (veggie omelette sandwich) and my brother tried their omelette sandwich with meats. They are delicious, and I love the butter spread on the bread that gives it that flavor! So since now, this is probably our 5th buy from this restaurant and I continue trying their veggie omelette sandwich and also tried their cafe con leche and cortadito (espresso with foamed cream) .. I've also tried their fried yuca, but seemed a bit dry for me. But altogether, delicious Cuban sandwiches! I will surely order from here again"

Sazon Cubano 2.0

★★★★☆ 4 (28)

"This place definitely has potential and I'll absolutely been trying it again - we took this order for dine out but they do have a great outdoor space. The cubano was amazing and the highlight of the meal was the app tostones lechonsita .The only complete was the lechon asada - the pork was a bit dry and underwhelming"

Dulce Cafe Cubano

★★★★☆ 4 (4)

"I unfortunately don't have pictures of the many sandwiches ive ordered and picked up from here, but as soon as I do, ill come back and update this review. I've had a couple of different sandwich heres....the breakfast sandwich, cubano, and steak sandwich, and they have all been absolutely great! It is usually a lunch for me and that is perfect! Not too big, not too small, plenty flavorful and accompanied by some great salsas! Something else that really grabs my attention is the price, its about $8 for a sandwich (plus or minus a dollar or so) which is.... very competitive. They recently relocated to 55th and california and you are able to sit down and eat there. Friendly people. I really encourage anyone that wants a good sandwich and feel as if its being made right at home, to try this place out!"