Cuba Libre
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: (323) 661-5900
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- Prospect Avenue
- Specialties:
- Outdoor Bar
- Hours:
- Daily 5pm-2am
Editorial Review for Cuba Libre – by Martha Burr
In Short
Located in the combined former Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop and Michael's Room bar space, this upscale eatery features luminescent curtains, swank red leather booths, dark wood, flickering candles and ornamental mirrors. Global club beats energize a good-looking Eastside crowd, particularly in the adjacent saffron-hued lounge. The far-reaching pan-Asian menu ranges from appetizers like Mangalore calamari, mushroom goat cheese wontons and tuna tataki, to main plates of Malaysian lamb stew, Burmese chicken and Hunan osso buco.
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Insider Tips
Look GoodThe bar and lounge features small, smokeless Shichirin clay grills with cubed steak, prawns, salmon, tuna and veggies for patrons to cook themselves and dip in sauces like miso-yuzu aioli.
Save MoneyHappy hour takes place Sunday through Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm, and includes a selection of discounted appetizers and drinks.
The ExtrasThe Red Room at the back of the restaurant is available for private parties or VIP events.
User Reviews for Cuba Libre
08/16/2008 Posted by cubbieinla
Being Los Feliz folk, we take pride in our restaurants that line Vermont. We've been to this place back when it was the retro Hollywood Hills restaurant.Then wet saw it was reincarnated as Tiger Lily, but it always looked empty-a bad sign in our eyes.How interesting that they split the place into TWO different restaurant!We've been over to Mes Amis. TRES BIEN! Definitely a step above the OTHER cafe down the street. Anyways, we decided one evening to get our Mojitos on and try Cuba Libre as we love latin cuisine too! We REALLY wanted to love it, but it fell short unfortunately. The place was NOT packed, but the poor overwhelmed young lady at the host stand said it would be a 20minute wait. I used the restroom and looked at the floor plan of the place indoors. A very large party was inside so they had to push many of the tiny tables together. So it's a few booths and tiny tables. The host DID offer us an even smaller table on the sidewalk butt up next to one where two women were chain smoking. So we waited, but did get seated sooner. Our waitress was a cute latin gal that really knew how to charm my husband while not making me dislike her-guess she charmed me too! First mojito-fabulous. 2nd one-all ice and mint. I know this because I took one sip out of my straw and all the liquid was gone!! Our appetizers were good, and I ordered the skirt steak-a Cuban specialty. The rice was ice cold and the steak was fatty. The topping was also very cold and since it's a raw sauce, all I could taste was the cold onions and garlic smothering the grilled steak. Thanks goodness the plantains were edible. Everyone BUT us on the patio got bread and my husband could not eat his rubbery shrimp.We had bad tummy aches. I think this place has a funky vibe that would be great if you have a group of friends that want to sit on a patio in Los Feliz and drink cocktails and nibble on appetizers.I would have to pass on the idea of coming for dinner again though,
Pros: fun vibe, good waitstaff
Cons: food prep, layout
07/14/2008 Posted by UlisesLima
So my friends and I had just read about this place in the LA Times a few days ago, and we were interested in trying it out. We weren't disappointed. Great vibe and decor, attentive service, and fantastic Sunday Evening Happy Hour pricing made this a great choice for a relaxed evening, and the mojitos weren't too bad either. Re: Service. One of the waiters happened to have a slight accident with a drink out on the patio while we were outside, and he very quickly went to each individual table in order to made sure everybody knew that the patio was wet. Before we knew, it was all mopped up. Great handling of the situation, I'd say.
Pros: Ambience, service, Happy Hour Menu
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