Havana Central

This place is ok I went on a weekend with my son, we waited over 40 minutes for the table, the waiter was nice and the food was ok but not worth the wait or the price

I wanted some Cuban food and it was out of this world great! Our waitress Cathy gave us exceptional service! I recommend to all!

Let me start by saying that I made a reservation for 7pm. When I made the reservation, the young lady on the phone advised me to be on time, as the reservation will remain for 15 minutes after the scheduled time and after that the reservation would be canceled. So, I make it to the restaurant with 10 minutes to spare. I check in. The host tells me she will be right with me. After urging that I get to my reservation on time, 7 minutes had passed since my check in without so much as eye contact to remind me that she knows my party is still waiting. I walk up to the host and kindly ask how much longer will it be before we get a table for the reservation I made 2 weeks ago. She immediately grabs 5 menus and sits us down. We are seated at a booth large enough for a party of 6, we were a party of 5. That wasn’t the issue, the issue was that the benches hadn’t been wiped off. All the food crumbs that must’ve been on the table must’ve been pushed onto the benches. So before I sat, I wiped the bench. Now, we are seated with our menus and anxiously waiting for our waiter. Our waiter finally showed after 15 minutes. He seems very nervous almost as if this was his 1 or maybe second day on the job and with a party this size. I will not mention his name because he really isn’t fully to blame for the lack of service or crappy service we received. He introduces himself to us not once but twice and tells us he will be right with us, which was another 5 minutes we had to wait. Finally, he starts to take our orders. It was very simple s an appetizer: 2 orders of masitas de puerco, mariquitas with avocado sauce, 3 sprites, 1 virgin piña colada and 1 coconut mojito. For dinner: 3 pernil asados with white rice 2 with black beans and the other with red beans, 2 orders of tostones, 1 order of maduros and 2 mofongos one with shrimp the other with pork. Needless, to say the entire order had to be repeated to him 2 times. While we waited for our drinks and appetizers, we weren’t offered anything. Do they not offer bread with garlic like most other Cuban restaurants do? When the drinks were brought, I noticed that one of the cups with water had lipstick stain on it. I asked my son not to drink from that cup and I used it to clean the utensils. All the other ones were good. Well, we sat there for 20 minutes until our appetizers came. It took another lifetime before we received our dinner. Dinner arrived at 8:23pm. Just like I thought, he forgot the maduros. I knew it because I didn’t see him write it down when I said it. So another 10 minutes pass before they arrive. Now, lets talk about the bench that they sat us at. The backrest was our punching bag. See, the staff uses the other side to rest things up against it. But they don’t place the things gently. They needed to let us know they were there. Every time they rest something against it, our back (my husband and I) were sent forward with a bang. I decided to start counting after it happened the 3^rd time. The backrest was banged into a total of 20 times. After the 3^rd, my husband just leaned forward and rested on the table. The outside hostess came speaking very loudly about someone not eating since the morning. She was then searching for him to give him what I assume was cookies, but she needed to let everyone know she was looking for him because she was speaking so loudly. I guess Havana Central is considered a fast food restaurant because that’s where I felt I was accept that at a fast food place you get your food right away. Now, I am not sure like I stated before if my waiter was new on the job, but let me suggest to Havana Central that if that was the case, maybe moving forward you don’t give the new hire a large party especially on a busy day. Let the veteran handle large parties and give the newbie a party of 2 until he/​she is comfortable. Also, have your staff use their inside voices like they teach kids in school not to yell across the room. They shouldn’t be yelling anything across or over anyone. Furthermore, I would like to make it clear why none of this was addressed as it occurred, and that is because my husband is a believer that if you complain about anything and you haven’t received your food, that they will take vengeance on our food. We also tipped 20% because we know this is someone’s living and they depend on it. So in the total this is how I rate everything overall:
Service: poor
food: good
alcohol drink: very weak couldn’t taste any liquor
recommend: no way!
I chose this location because we didn’t the stress of the hustle and bustle in midtown and the Long Island location is pretty full all the time and I wanted to get out of our surrounding. I also wanted my husband to see this beautiful mall. Major regret! Lesson learned.

The wait was about an hour and a half long. Service was not that great. Had to a very long time for the food for there to be a piece of hair in it. Had to wait another 30 minutes or so for the food. Would not visit here again.

I found the service and food to be very good. I went with my sister and fiancé. Kevin our waiter was very attentive and amicable. The food this time was very flavorful. My piña colada was very smooth and tasty

Come here for lunch from time to time, very friendly staff, nice outdoor seating, good lunch specials.

Really good place to eat on a date or with family but avoid popping up on weekend nights without reservations you will be waiting for a while. The wait is worth wild you will not be disappointed.

Nice atmosphere but not ideal for brunch. I met my friend here for a weekend brunch. The brunch menu wasn’t really what I would expect for brunch. They offer dishes that are a little too heavy for brunch on my opinion. So I ended up getting an empanada and a salad. Food was OK and I wouldn’t mind coming again for dinner and seeing how they fare.

Usually the food here is pretty good but ironically the Cuban sandwich was awful. So much cheese, I felt like there was no meat to cheese ratio. All I tasted was cheese.
On top of that the bread was soggy due to the moisture from the excess cheese.
Thumbs down for a Cuban restaurant staple.

Had the steak and eggs again for brunch. Green sauce is great. Kimberly was our waitress again and she was awesome. Very friendly and helpful. We will be back again and again

food is here is pretty good.
drinks are ok
and the service does not disappoint
had the catfish here and it was delicious
had the chicken and rice and it was dry
gets pretty crowded on the weekends
i like the outside seating

The Cuban food is delish. I always go for the ropa Vieja and the beef empanadas: I’m so upset they discounted the mango hot sauce, it was sooooooo gooood! (Sad)
Desserts are awesome. I love the caipirinha in flavor passion and also the mojitos are great.
The décor makes you feel like your somewhere other than Yonkers and the live band was a plus.
The waiters and managers are very nice and attentive.
But for some reason every single time I go here to greeting staff and hostesses are so rude!!! It’s frustrating because of the first person you meet upon arrival is the hostess, and the hostess is rude and obnoxious why would I ever want to come back?
So today I’ve just had it, the hostess Selena totally forced me to give this place a 2 star rate. She was extremely rude and not friendly at all.
My boyfriend and I asked for a table for two, no preference to inside or outside. She was rude and told us we had to pick. Our response was if we could just have whichever was available first. She rolled her eyes as if this wasn’t her job to find us a table and told us it was gonna be «like 25 mins» she scribbled our name down and just walked turned her head away.
Such a shame because this place is beautiful and is in the perfect location but like I said, if the hostess is going to be rude and act in such a nasty way toward me, a paying patron, I would rather take my money and enjoy dinner some place else.

Food was ok. Virgin piña colada was like sugar and ice juice. Waiter didn’t give us water and didn’t even come back to ask if we need anything. At the checkout we asked for a water then. But worst part is after getting home our stomach got upset. Either food poisoning or stomach bug from their food.
Pricier food.
Would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Wow this place is terrible. I’ve been reluctant to ever write a review for this place. I always try to give them another chance, but after many visits I can finally say this place is AWFUL!
DRINKS:
If you like pricey cocktails with tons of ice, mostly juice and barely any alcohol you should definitely come here! If you like cheap wine where one glass will run you $ 11, come on in! Our wine glasses were dirty and sticky too!
FOOD:
PRICEY for low quality and small portions. In my opinion, the entrees resemble tapas just slightly larger. I ordered the «Shrimp & Chicken» ($ 19.95). It comes with rice and beans. The tiny piece of chicken was extremely dry and shrimp was fishy (obviously frozen). You can’t serve small portions when your food taste like s*%# and is expensive!
As a side note, the last time we came here was for a holiday and everywhere else had a 3 – 4 hour wait. This was the only place with a 20 minute wait. Everyone’s reaction was the same … «We have to go to Havana, AGAIN?! The food sucks there!». My response «Obviously, that’s why there’s only a 20 min wait!»
The only positive I can say about this place is that the service is okay. My sisters live nearby and it’s convenient for a large family. I was here with my four nephews and newborn niece and they accommodated us. However, the food and drinks are horrid. I never intend on coming here and I hope never to end up here again. Don’t waste your money! I don’t give out many 1 star reviews but this place needs to get it together.

Was surprised to see Havana Central in Westchester. Really enjoyed their food at the locations in Manhattan.
The food is solid. Had the churrasco steak and the paella.
The restaurant is nice and big and well built however, the service seemed a bit slow, workers, looked tired. Took a while for us to get our water.
In any event the food was great. Only down side is they ran out of their habanero (green) sauce which is what made all the food amazing! How could you run out of your own sauce? ^^

Good food, Great music, Beautiful people, Good drinks, What more could you ask for?
I took my mother and grandmother here on a whim and we had a great time. My grandmother approved of the salmon, My mother of the pimiento relleno and I had arroz con pollo and black beans. Taste was good for me, a little salty for both mom and granny however. The music was also good for me, but too loud for my elders although they enjoyed the throwback salsa y cumbia del caribe :)

It’s my go to spot at Ridge Hill. The food is tasty, the service is good and every once in a while you may catch a live band. Sounds like a winner to me.
Lunch specials are especially great if you can make it in the daytime. Now, if you are a Cuban food connoisseur, don’t expect to get transported to the island. However, the food is flavorful, the portions are great, and everything is well made.

Maria’s service was attentive and recommended drinks.
The downside, the restaurant didn’t have any dessert plates.

I picked this spot to have a birthday lunch with my loved one and it was perfect. The Caribbean wings were very good. I ordered the pernil asado with white rice and red beans and a side of maduros. The pernil was very tasty.
My partner ordered a Cuban sandwich with sweet potato fries. He enjoyed his meal.
I would recommend this place. Very clean, nice atmosphere and great music. It reminds me of being on a island on vacation.
Our server Joshua was very professional and checked on us often. The service was outstanding.

I understand this place is just a chain, and I am marrying into a family that cooked homemade Cuban/​Puerto Rican food the ‘right’ way, but I still do enjoy the food at Havana Central.
Food is always fresh, and a pretty accurate representation to the culture. This Havana Central is pretty big, and decorated to look like a tropical Havana market setting. It is also located in a great area and shopping mall. But we don’t come here for the décor, we come for the food. Prices are on the higher end for a chain, but it is good for special occasions. I always enjoy the ropa veija, or the garlic chicken dishes. Any appetizers or meals with the sweet plantains or mojito sauce is a winner too.
They have a large waitstaff, so there is always a server around to assist you.