cafe habana

café habana
229 elizabeth street, new york, ny 10012-5518
tel: 212) 625-2002
hours: 9 am-midnight, 7 days a week

what was consumed: cuban sandwich, salad, mexican corn, margaritas

i remember, a few months ago, stacey told me about a place she had gone to while in nyc. i remember her saying that she enjoyed the food that that when i made it out to nyc one of these days, i would have to go as well. when i finally got out to nyc a few months later, a friend of a friend also mentioned this place with mexican corn and about how i had to go there during my short stay. they were talking about café habana. well, my time has come!

over labor day, making a sort of last minute trek up to the big apple, christine, willie, and i were trying to decide what to do for the day. the conversation from the night before about mexican corn sorta suck out in all of our minds. so, we left the grimy and dingy existence of the “hotel” we were staying at and head toward soho (elizabeth and prince, to be exact) to this “café habana.”

by the time we got to café habana, the place was already packed with saturday morning brunch-goers. the entire restaurant probably holds no more than 40 people, but we were hoping that people were on the last legs of their meals (especially because there were about 4 parties ahead of us ... luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long).

café habana looks like one of those old time diners with a bar and then a few tables and a few booths. despite the space crunch, such tight quarters added to the charm of the eatery. we ordered our food (which came out in a timely manner) and indulged in such goodness!

first were our drinks – margaritas (yes, margaritas during lunch. we’re on holiday – leave us alone!), nice and strong, just the way we like it. they also have frozen margaritas normally, but not on the day we were there (which i was bummed about because i wanted a strawberry one – oh well). then came our mexican corn (note: one order of the corn yields 2 ears. now, in retrospect, i think i could have had just an order and half of corn – totally delicious!), grilled deliciously and covered with all sorts of goodies, such as chili powder and cheese (hooray for cheese!). finally came my cuban sandwich, which was delicious, with lots of goodies on the loaf of bread (pictured). i got mine with a salad, though it normally comes with fries (i ate willie’s fries – don’t worry, fries were still a part of my meal). i definitely ordered too much food, but most of it still ended up in my stomach (oh, how temporarily content i was~). delicious ...

the servers definitely looked like they enjoyed being there, dancing to the music, chit chatting with the customers, and overall looking quite happy to be there. i can see how this sort of working environment would be happy – happy customers, good food, good music, and all of this in the big apple!

café habana also has a “to go” area right next door. seeing the popularity of the place explains such an establishment as well as its success.

i look forward to more encounters with mexican corn here at café habana. hooray!

online: http://www.ecoeatery.com/