My favorite place locally for Cuban Food. I would recommend picking up take out as it is always cold on arrival with delivery but excellent when I pick it up myself. I have not tried every menu item but a variety of items and I have enjoyed everything I've ordered even deserts. The meat is always high-quality and very tender! We eat here at least 2 to 3 times a month. read more

So, I went to Francisco's a few weeks ago and we were waiting for our food. I was bored so I was watching the woman behind the counter. She was wearing gloves. She would go back and forth between touching people's credit cards or cash and then start doing stuff with the food. She NEVER changed her gloves. Just kept touching dirty cash then food. Absolutely disgusting. I was repulsed. How does a food service worker not know that you need to change gloves and wash hands between touching cash and food??? Do not go here unless you want germ-ridden food. read more

Francisco's is a must go-to if you are in Rochester. The restaurant is a little mom and pop shop run by a husband and wife team. So not only are you supporting a local restaurant by eating here, but the food is also amazing! I got to speak with the owner while I was waiting for my order, and he told me how he gets all of his meat and produce fresh from local farmers. And let me tell you, it shows! We got the steak and onions, braised oxtail, and Jamaican patties. Everything was so fresh and cooked perfectly. The patty was crispy, flaky, and so flavorful. The oxtail was fall-off-the-bone and melt-in-your-mouth good. Highly recommend getting the oxtail with the coconut rice and beans. The steak was marinated and cooked BEAUTIFULLY. All the dishes also came with a slaw that was full of herbs and delicious spices. The food on its own shows how much the owners care about making good food for good people. Plus, the owner treats you like family. I had ordered the cheesecake (which is also amazing!) but he thought the slice was a little too thin, so he threw in an extra piece for free! Fransisco's Restaurant is one of the places where you want to come back again and try EVERYTHING on the menu. I couldn't recommend it highly enough! Easiest five stars ever! read more

I love this restaurant. One of my favorites in Rochester. Friendly, fast, and incredible food. I love the Caribbean Fish Sandwich, the Cuban steak, the saffron or coconut rices. The empanadas. And to top it all off, the price is great. The place is clean, bright, and the workers are very nice. I'm going there more often. read more

Went with my family one evening, as it was across the street from St. Mary's, they had outdoor seating and our young daughter has not been vaccinated. They have counter service, so you order in advance and they bring the food to you. I was a little taken aback by a sign near the register stating that due to increases in costs from suppliers, they have increased their prices. The sign adds that these increases are not on the menu but will show up on receipt. We ordered and paid, including tip before receiving food. The only price on the receipt was the final sum, so I can't comment on how much prices have increased. We waited 45 minutes with two hungry kids for the first two meals to arrive. The remaining two meals arrived 15 minutes later - a full hour after ordering! We didn't order anything fancy - sandwiches and tacos. The restaurant wasn't overly busy, but appeared to be understaffed. The food was good, but that was overshadowed by the service. We're in town for another 3 weeks and will not be returning. read more

So many great reviews for this place, but I was disappointed in the output. The picadillo beef special was ok. It was a huge amount of rice and a scoop of the beef. I didn't care for the sweet plantains or the tostones. There was an incredibly pungent vinegar odor with both the tostones and the piece of bread served with the meal. The bread appeared as if someone had tightly squeezed it in their hand. The menu said you could substitute the sweet plantains with tostones for $1, which I did, but I somehow ended up with sweet plantains, too. I ordered the Thursday picadillo beef special, subbed tostones and ordered a fountain drink. It was a whopping $17. I definitely did not feel I received anywhere near that value. Now that I'm writing the review, I looked up a photo of the menu board another Yelper posted and can see the special should have been $8.95 + $1.00 for the tostones swap-out. Unless my Diet Coke was another $7.00, I was most definitely overcharged. The woman taking my order struggled with the register and finally had someone else come in from the kitchen to help her. I was obviously not paying attention, and I'm kicking myself now for purchasing such an expensive meal and throwing most of it away. read more

I had been wanting to eat here since it opened but never got around to it. Part of the problem was I just couldn't find it. Finally located it, so I brought they whole family down to experience it with me. The service was nice. They were out of the desert I wanted, so the lady offered to put more in the oven if I was willing to wait. I was, so she did. The prices were ok. The coffee was a little spendy but the sandwiches weren't too bad especially seeing how much meat came on them. That was the problem though, there was too much meat. Why is this a problem? Well, for one, it just becomes tiresome after a few bites. Sandwich ingredients need to be balanced. Second, I do a fair bit of grocery shopping. I know how much ingredients cost. I know how much meat costs. Even when allowing for the wholesale, bigger volume discount, I still feel like for what I'm paying, I should be getting less meat. The fact that I am getting so much means either that they are giving it away and will not be able to sustain their business model, which I don't think is the case here because they've been open a couple years now and have added locations),so the other option is that they are buying cheap meat. Like gross cheap meat. Like corn fed poorly treated factory farm raised sub par meat. That's not anything that I want to support and it's not something that I want to eat. So after getting about halfway through our sandwiches and mulling over those thoughts, we start to lose our appetites. Also, too much cheese. Whenever I get too much cheese on what should be an authentic-ish ethnic dish, I feel like it's been Americanized. In short, I would really give this place 2.5 stars, maybe even 2. I inflated my rating a little because of the service. I will not return. It just was not worth the anticipation and I've had better Cuban food (not in Roch, obs). read more

Pretty good Cuban food. Got the daily special pork chunks, came with maduros, beans, rice. Ordered a side of tostones, jamon croqueta, and tasty materva drink. Got two orders and it was under $25. Good serving size for the price. Its not a full restaurant, rather a spot at the galleria cafeteria. Finished the meal with a tiny tiny tiny cafe con leche (why was it in a thimble cup? Probably won't order that next time) and tostada (not enough butter!) All in all, I'm gonna have to come back on steak day! read more

See all

This is a hidden gem in Rochester!!!!! What a great bite I had the brown stew chicken vegetables and plantains SO SO SO YUMMY!!!! I have been to the islands and know authentic Caribbean food and this is it!!!! I went on Friday and had the shrimp tacos, they were ok but not great. I highly recommend trying the Caribbean food!!! The Staff is super sweet as well.. read more

Oooh what a gem of a place. The curry chicken was to die for as was the entire experience. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars was because they were out of a lot of things and it was confusing to find. A definite must for Caribbean food aficionados. Great staff. Best cortadito outside of Florida. read more

This is so hard to find. Tucked away in a food court. I had the walking directions but they didn't work. I tried 2 times to get there, but I found them closed... read more

Francisco's Restaurant - Francisco's is closed - Caribbean Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Really great fish dishes, some of the best food I've had in Rochester. Their saffron rice and fried plantains are amazing. I gave it four stars instead of five because multiple cooks weren't wearing masks while preparing the food. read more

SO GOOD! My husband was at St. Mary's for a week and I must have eaten here at least 3 times! The only reason it wasn't more is because I found out about it a few days too late. Very close to St. Mary's, delicious Cuban food, and very reasonably priced! We will miss this place once we go home. Side note: the address on Yelp is not where it's located. It's on the same street as Canadian honker, just a few stores down. read more

I found this place on Yelp and am glad that I did. I ordered the po boy for lunch and enjoyed it very much. The bread was fresh and crispy and the contents plentiful. The lady asked me if I wanted a bit of spice, to which I eagerly said yes. The sauce was the finishing touch to a great sandwich. The fries were crispy and tasty also. If you are a spice fanatic like I am, this is a good choice for lunch. The food court has many other opportunities for those in a group for which Cuban food doesn't appeal. read more

I was very excited to try this and this is honestly my first yelp review and negative on top of that as I don't believe in negative energy out there. I do want to give a tip to help others as I tried to order through DoorDash (how lazy am I, right). It took over a half hour to confirm (I didn't have the option to cancel), and I placed the order well before their 3:30pm cut off. I tried to call a few times to confirm as I was really hungry after a long day (again, I feel horrible complaining) and they did not answer 6 calls in a row. It got to the point that the driver got there and they were closed until Monday with 0 apologies or any resolution, leaving both myself and the driver in confusion. Door Dash customer service didn't care much but I just don't want anyone out there to depend on this (again, I realize the REAL problems out there and that this is not significant to the world lol). Disappointed as the menu looked so tasty. read more

I wanted Oxtail stew, and this was one of the places in town offering it. Got the meal takeout, and it was delicious! Falling off the bones. The sides were tasty. My wife was very pleased with her meal, too. We'll be back. I stayed in the car and noticed two small outside tables by the street. read more

Ordered the pan con lechon and tres leches to go. The pan con lechon was disappointing with barely any meat or onions. I was hopeful I'd have better luck with the tres leche but that too was disappointing. How can they have dried tres leches? Only the bottom of the tres leches was moist, the rest too dry to eat. I'll probably give it a second chance and try some of their Jamaican dishes read more

AMAZING!!! I love Cisco's! amazing service and even better food! Never had Cuban food before and the woman helping me take my order helped me find something to my (very picky) liking, and I fell in love! I go there just about everytime I'm downtown read more

Amazing. Authentic Cuban food. Friendly people. Cuban coffee, Cuban sandwiches, I'm from Miami.. I'm in heaven. read more

Francisco's Restaurant - Beans and rice with tostonas mixed in. Plus Cuban coffee on the side. - Caribbean Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Got the Jamaican jerk chicken take out, some of the best chicken I've had in Rochester, definitely recommend!

Great food. Ropa Vieja is tender and moist. Tostanos are fresh and correctly salted. Guava pastry is a mild sweet. Good prices. The steak sandwich was a bit stringy, but otherwise loved the food. read more

If you like Cuban food, this is the real deal. A Cuban family owns and operates this restaurant. The Cubano sandwich is authentic and sabroso. If you can get there on Tuesday, the ropa Vieja is full of flavors and cooked just right; make sure to order some extra sweet plantains. read more

Finally found this place. I couldn't decide on what to get and the lady named possibilities. She finally got to "steak and grilled onions" and it got my attention. It was so yummeee! Large thin cut steak with everything - salad, saffron rice and black beans, grilled peppers, and plantains. All for $8.99. I'm so full. It was the best deal EVER! I'll be back to try the jerk chicken next time. read more

Francisco's Restaurant - So much delicious food! Steak and grilled onions over saffron rice and beans with plantains and salad. $8.99. - Caribbean Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

See all

My husband I just moved to the Rochester area, we haven't closed on our house yet, we went to Thursday on 1st, we met Francisco and tasted his Jerk chicken, it was amazing. Their service and staff was very welcoming. Today I went to their Cafe and had some Curry Goat, once again I was blown away, the food was great and made me feel like home. I am from the Caribbean, and having a place like this is great and make the move a little easier. Thank you so much, Anne and Archie read more

Almost reminds me of Miami. It's that good! Just try it. It's good and you'll be full and will go back again.

Visiting from Chicago and originally from Miami, so decided to stop in for some long overdue Cuban Food. Ordered the Cuban coffee and Cuban sandwich with plantain chips-amazing! Not overloaded with meet and the bread was nice and soft. Will definitely eat here again before I leave. read more

Brown stew chicken, brown stew fish, coconut rice, beef patties, ropa veija - ALL HITS! Cannot wait for my next trip to Rochester!

Lunch stop at the food court. Cheap Cuban sandwich, could easily share between two people. A little hard to find being the first time I've been here. read more

A new, hidden gem in the subway. Had a wonderful experience at Francisco's- authentic and affordable Cuban food! Loved the Cuban breakfast and highly recommend it. I look forward to returning and trying their entree and lunch options! read more

Francisco's Restaurant - Caribbean Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

Really GREAT food and service. A bit hard to find, but worth the effort! I'm going back tomorrow...

Actual authentic Cuban food! I can't wait to have my daily expresso fix and empanadas. I was so excited to finally get a taste of home, and it's only going to get better especially once all my favorite batidos come in!! :) read more

Francisco's Restaurant - Cuban croquettas! - Caribbean Near Me - Rochester, Minnesota

They always run out of some of the things by 12:30, but the grilled chicken is the most amazing chicken I've had in Rochester.

Nothing amazing but decent fare. Enjoyed the jerk chicken but the sides (rice/beans/sauteed vegetables) were just okay.

I was actually very excited to try this place because of all the positive reviews and for the fact that it's generally hard to find Cuban food. I was very disappointed with the food. The jerk chicken was good, but a tiny amount of chicken, most of which was bone. The salad they served was insulting--the worst quality iceberg lettuce mix. The rice and beans were the best part but how hard is that to ruin? It wasn't terrible food by any means, but it's safe to say I won't be going back. read more

We are from Florida, so we know Cuban food. Francicos does a solid job of bringing to the south to the north. It has a broad and extensive menu with traditional cuisine. It gets four out of five starts because the meals tend to be a bit greasy and the cuban bread is just not the same recipe as you usually find in south Florida. Still, it is the only Cuban place in town and it is nice to have a taste of home. I suggest the plantains and cuban sandwich! read more

I love Cuban food and it's so hard to find in this area. Would definitely go back here again and again. Tried the Cuban sandwich and Picadillo special today--both were excellent. Cuban coffee was incredible as well! I just wish they had a free-standing store, rather than in the food court. read more

Do not miss the cafe con leche if you are a latte fan - thick, strong, & delicious. I would go every day for one of those if I lived here! Chicken enchilada special and jerk chicken were amazing. Ropa vieja (shredded beef) was good, very large portion. I don't typically like plantains, but their fried plantain slices were worth the extra cost. read more

A little hard to find, but well worth the hunt. The food court atomsphere is nice when grabbing a quick bit to eat when in town. Local workers from downtown seems to flock to this spot. Clean kitchen prep space and helpful staff make for a unique lunch stop. read more

I went once when they first opened in the skyway food court. My sandwich was mainly all bread with hardly any meat, waste of money.

Good lunch spot in the skyway. I probably stop here once a month and I'm always happy with the food. Usually I get a cuban or po'boy sandwich and it's always good. read more