Copacubana Cafe

Ordered the fricase de pollo (chicken) and the portion was very big. It came with a lot of rice and plantains. It was very good and I had a lot of stuff to take home to eat for another meal. The price was affordable and a steal for the very tasty Cuban food made by this family owned restaurant. The staff was very nice and accommodating to our questions, since we had little experience with eating Cuban food. The restaurant felt very homey and it was clean. Overall would come back again!

Greetings my Foodzies, last night we went Cuban. We dined at Copacubana cafe at 5800 w Irving Park Rd in Chicago. The decor is thatched roof cabana style meets Cuban garage sale with cafeteria style seating. They had a large screen TV playing Latin music videos way too loud; especially since we were the only patrons. We sat down to view the menu and waited for service. Then we noticed a lady at the cash register and asked if we had to order at the counter (good thing we asked or we might still be there). We placed our order and went back to the table to await our order.The same lady brought us toasted bread rounds with butter. Our appetizer came, empanadas (one with ground beef and the other with ham and cheese) not bad needed more seasoning. The highlight was the oil with garlic and pepper (not spicy) that came with it. It even brightened up the toast.Our entrees came next; Glenda opted for the Bistec Encebollado (Seasoned Steak served with grilled onions Served with white rice, black beans and maduros) basically thin piece of steak lightly seasoned not char grilled with boiled yuca which was mushy and the beans were watery. I went with the Pan Con Bistec a steak sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo with shoe string fries for texture. This was served with yuca chips (appeared to be from a bag) they were unseasoned.We won't be returning there.I give this restaurant a 1/2 of a star. Well give it a try if you like and let me know your opinion. Ciao Ciao for now.

My bud and I went to Copacubana Cafe the other day for a casual Cuban dinner. Copacubana Cafe is located at the corner of Irving Park and Menard and has its own parking lot. You have to order your food at the counter first, and they will then bring your food to your table. Overall the food was pretty tasty. My jibarito with pork, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and very fresh-tasting tomato slices was served as two mini-sandwiches. My bud polished off his plate of fricase de pollo - a heaping order of chicken seasoned in tomato sauce and served with yellow rice. We also split a couple of appetizers. The pastellito (meat pastry) with ground beef looked like a biscuit but was delicately flaky. The papa rellena with ground beef came out piping hot. The kind owner also gave us complimentary sips of sweet Cuban coffee.

Found a great new spot for Cuban sandwiches. Best Cubano I've had in Chicago. Bread was crisp outside but pillowy soft inside. Perfect amount of pork, ham, mustard and pickles inside. Also got the black beans and rice (not pictured) The beans was wonderfully seasoned and very delicious. The maduros were excellent as well. I don't know if they were freshly cut and fried but they sure tasted like it. A perfect accompaniment with the other food in our order. Service was extremely friendly. We will definitely be putting Copa Cubano on our list of favorites.

I've been here several times foods always great but if you want it to be fire you must request and add the homemade garlic to everything you won't regret it. Their steak sandwich Carlitos way is bomb and my new favorite Chicken Sandwich I order it with extra mayo, lettuce, onion, tomato and Swiss cheese. And don't forget the Garlic I'll update my review on next visit and will have more pictures soon

Got the chicken noodle soup and it was so good I love that you can tell it's homemade.Its a mom and pop shop and the service was nice, I like that they had a sense of humor!

The cook there is amazing, great value and great food. There is no better place for Cuban food.

Good food and solid service at this Cuban cafe. Everything took a while to come out but it was because everything was made fresh upon order. Lots of Cuban folks from around the neighborhood were eating at this establishment.

Excellent & authentic Cuban food made by an actual Cuban chef! The boliche and bistro en cazuela specials were outstanding! We were able to bring our own wine, which was easy. The owner was very accommodating and made us feel welcome. We will be back for sure!

My family and I were in the Portage park area so we figured we'd give Copa Cubana a try. Our first impression of the restaurant was not impressive. It was as if we were walking into our own garage with clutter everywhere. There was a guitar at the entrance and the decorations looked really tacky and ghetto as if the owners made no effort into making the place look like a nice restaurant. We sat at a table and waited about 15 minutes for someone to even acknowledge our presence. A waitress in a white sweater comes to our table holding two cups of water stuck to her exposing chest. Completely unprofessional and definitely not appropriate for a family restaurant especially in front of my two young children. I almost thought I was at a strip club. The woman did not speak good English and because of the language barrier, she became frustrated and began to raise her voice at me as I tried to place our order. We again waited over half hour for our food to arrive. When we finally got our food, it tasted really bland and flavorless. The pork meat looked pink and under cooked, the bread was stale and hard, my wife's chicken was also pink and flavorless. I was disgusted with the food, service and presentation of the so called restaurant. I lost my appetite, left all of our food on the table and paid for everything before we left. We received not one thank you or any form of appreciation for coming to the restaurant. Overall impression, the long wait, undercooked bland old food, along with the rude waitress was definitely not worth it. I can't say anything positive about this place although I was expecting to really like it but that wasn't the case. Unless you want to throw your money away, I wouldn't recommend this place.