I ordered takeout online. I got the oxtail; it was succulent and juicy. I got plantains (nice and…read moresweet!) and greens. The plate worked so well with the rice and beans. I also got the jerk chicken. I wasn't a fan of the spices (too spicy) and the chicken was dry. I wish the chicken was on the bone. Lastly, I tried the beef patty. The crust could have been flakier but the beef was well-spiced and worked with the spicy but fruity hot sauce. Jamaican/Carribbean food is very hard to come by in CA, so I would certainly do another takeout for this special food.

Excellent Food I loved it…read more I will be back and order extra food to go I told all my friends and family

What a hidden treasure You really walk into another place…read moreThrough the tunnel you are transported to Havana Furnished with a variety of furniture just fits Homey and fresh. Relaxed The staff are warm and welcoming. Gladly explaining the menu and make suggestions. The ingredients are fresh and a delicious blend of flavors You can taste the layers Lovely mid of savory and sweet all together without the spice Items are beautifully plated and presented

The staff were very friendly, and the outside seating was nice. But unfortunately, the food was…read morevery disappointing. Everything seemed either under-seasoned or over-seasoned. We ordered the mariscos fritos, ropa vieja, and filet mignon steak. The mariscos fritos only came with about 5-6 small seafood pieces, and for the price, I think they should include more seafood instead of mostly vegetables. The ropa vieja was extremely salty, while the filet mignon strangely had almost no seasoning at all. Even the corn on the cob on the side had no flavor. We came here to celebrate my daughter's birthday, so it was especially disappointing. Sadly, I don't think we'll be coming back.

Meal prep for the week : curry chicken to go…read more Wow first time here and this is a culinary experienceeeee! Love the flavors Sorrel drink fireeeee Curry chicken fiireeee Roti fiireeee 10/10 coming back

I am so sad to be leaving this review. I ordered via DoorDash and it was 8-8:30pm so the business…read moremay have possibly been closing down. I provide that information because sadly, the food tasted as if I was served the portions of chicken curry, cabbage, and mixed vegetables that had been sitting in the pots all day or had been reheated from previous days. This truly hurt my hurt as it has been a long time coming for a Caribbean restaurant to arrive in Long Beach. The chicken curry lacked balanced flavor due to it sitting and seemed to have more and more curry added and no other spices to play on the notes from the chicken. So it was just an overcooked, concentrated, high sodium, scotch bonnet(ed), abused curry with meat that was struggling to maintain its right to be chicken but the flavors of chicken had been executed. Second, spoiled cabbage anyone? I knew it as soon as I opened it. It smelled of cabbage that had been forced to over stay its welcome and by the portion size, I was to see the extra servings of it as an award but it just turned into a punishment. I truly believe, or at least want to, believe this was an off day and whoever permitted the "last of.." to be served was just off their game and will read this review and never make these mistakes again. I believe in you and am definitely willing to give this restaurant another try in the future. For now I need to take some time and recover. But please, I rooting for you, believe in you, and know that your love for the food and culture will step back up to the high quality standards it created!

WOW. I don't think I ever would've tried this place if it…read morewasn't for the SGV Passport! Our deal was Buy 1 or 2 Jamaican style meat patty, get 1 or 2 free! And I had to ask "What is a Jamaican Style Meat Patty"? and they told me it's like an empanada! But WOAH. It's much bigger than any empanada I've ever seen! The staff was super nice on the phone to me when they explained what it was and that we were able to turn the meat patty into a vegetarian friendly version - nice! They also had a vegetarian one! So we grabbed 2 and got 2 free then decided to also order their vegetarian curry because we thought the meat patties wouldn't be enough. But omg. It was more than enough! The meat patties were huge and thick! And so so so FLAVORFUL! When you come to their shop inside the food hall the shop looks unassuming, it's cluttered and doesn't really give me the excitement of wanting to order here but wow wow wow. Once we ate it we were like "we shouldn't have judged!" Once we dived into the curry we were just waaaay to full but the vegetarian curry was so good. Not as flavorful as the meat patty (should've had the curry first so our tastebuds wern't overwhelmed!" but still tasty nonetheless! It had so much chickpeas and the rice was pretty good! I think we're going to have to come back and try it again when we're in the area!

pretty yummy but very spicy!…read more The oxtail is very tender and the chicken is good too. Rice is very fluffy and not dry. To be honest, it's too spicy for me. Workers here are very friendly. Food takes about 15 minutes to come out. Ambiance is very casual

HOW THEY FIX MISTAKES AND MADE THINGS RIGHT…read more I eat here from time to time and the food is excellent as well as the customer service which is second to none. I ordered the garlic chicken to go. However, when I got to work I realized they accidently have me two boxes of rice and and beans. I gave them a call, told them about it, and it was no big deal. I totally understand the lunch rush and all the boxes look the same. We're all human. This isn't the zombie apocalypse. I'll survive . That being said it was it was really how well they handled the situation. I returned there after work and we had a good laugh about it. Not only did they gave me the full correct order but also realized I like that lemony flavor of Cuba, but they also have a me a really nice dinner to go for me evening. And yes the lemony pork was absolutely delicious. There was no hesitation, no dispute, just all smiles acne appreciation from both of us. So to sum it up it really wasn't the mistake. It was HOW THEY MAKE YOU FEEL and how they take care of you as a customer. a now loyal custom for years to come.

Bella Cuba is a casual sit down restaurant located amongst other eateries in the center at the…read morecorner of Bristol and Sunflower. You'll find a Ross, World Market, Hobby Lobby nearby. I have not visited this center all that often. I never really noticed this Cuban restaurant before. Fortunately, my co-worker requested to go to a Cuban restaurant for her birthday lunch. It's a medium size restaurant with plenty of tables. There's outdated hodgepodge decor, but that's not a big deal. The portions here are great for the lunch specials. Our meals started off with buttery slices of baked garlic toast. Lunch also included a bowl of black beans in a flavorful broth and huge portion of white rice. Plantains also come with our lunch entree. I was debating between the classic shredded beef or classic pork. Since I've had shredded beef at another Cuban restaurant years ago, I opted for the pork. This dish also came with a lot of onions and I didn't care for these since I was going to be in the office the rest of the day. It would be nice to be able to substitute with a small side salad instead. Note, your protein selection is the most important choice for your overall experience at Bella Cuba. I tasted my coworkers, shredded beef and I enjoyed that bite more than my own dish, the pork. I enjoyed the tender pork in the beginning, but after a few bites, the sourness or acidity of the seasoning was overwhelming. That wasn't for me. I wish I would've chosen the shredded beef or possibly another protein. I think I would've been better off choosing the quarter chicken or even the calamari steak. I will return with my family for other entrees next time!

Was at the Terra Vista farmers market and decided to get some food before I left. I was not…read moredisappointed! The first time I went I tried the Jamaican beef patties, the oxtail empanada and the chicken empanadas with both their ranch and their hot sauce. The staff was very friendly and I love that this is a woman owned business. The oxtail empanada is to DIE for. The chicken one has a curry like flavor and was also delicious. The beef patty was unlike anything I've had before. The texture of the filling caught me by surprise because it's softer than I expected but once I figured that out I really liked it. Both the hot sauce and the ranch are also delicious, but if you like heat I would definitely recommend the hot sauce the most. In fact I liked this place so much that I went back the next week to get more and at that point also tried the beef empanada. Beef was also delicious! Altogether my favorite was the oxtail hands down, then the Jamaican patty, then chicken, the regular beef. You won't be disappointed with any! I also found that they reheat really well in the air fryer. I microwaved them out of the fridge for about 30 seconds to a minute, just until they were slightly warm to the touch. And then put them in the air fryer at about 350 flipping once for around 6-8 minutes. Amazing!

We discovered this gem at the Terra Vista farmers market this weekend and wow. Just wow. The food…read morehere is fire! We noticed there was a huge line for The Smoking Kettle, but it was worth the wait. We ordered the chicken empanadas and oxtail empanadas and could not get over the flavor! Both were delicious, but the chicken was outstanding. They were also freshly fried, the outer part of the empanadas were super crispy. 10/10, will definitely drop by again!

our server Marcos was absolutely incredible. He helped us understand the menu as first timers, and…read morehe gave us the best recommendations. We will definitely be back and will be definitely requesting Marcos as our server time and time again. his energy and vibes are amazing and honestly just let him order for you because he knows what's up!!!

Tony was our server and he was spectacular! The food was amazing! 10/10 would recommend!read more

Vaca is a Spanish tapas style restaurant with great meat and cocktails…read more Some of my meal highlights was the bikini sandwich and the night's special, which was a perfectly cut piece of steak. I was disappointed in the patatas bravas, however, which I felt lacked much flavor. The cocktails were exceptional. I enjoyed a classic dirty martini, their specialty vaca tonic (A+ cocktail), and had their non-alcoholic drink called Starry Night (very delicious, but not worth $16). The setting is quite breath-taking, with the restaurant decorated with elaborate cuts of meat and wine bottles. The lighting is very warm-toned and elegant. Overall, we had a delicious meal and cocktails before heading to the Segerstrom (just a quick walk away). The service was excellent and the meal great, but I think the whole experience was heavily overpriced for what you get.

Had a friend in town so we decided to check out Vaca. I had heard great things so really wanted to…read morelove this place, but it was a bit short of my expectations given the prices. First off, my friends had sat at the bar for a good 20 min before the bartender finally acknowledged them and took our drink order. Even then she was not very nice and totally made other patrons orders who had sat down after us before even trying to deliver our drinks to us. Once the drinks were delivered, they were pretty much slammed onto the bar counter rather than being delivered with care. Yikes. I had asked for a bar napkin because the rim was sticky and she completely ignored me. So rude. Our reservation on a Friday night with a show happening at Segerstrom was at 7:45pm which means the show crowd should have already left by this point. We easily didn't get seated until 8:15-8:20pm for a 7:45pm reservation because our table was lingering. Seems like poor table management on the restaurant's part to be that far behind schedule. Once we sat down, we did our best to order right away as we were starving and was pretty sure it would take awhile for the food to come out. Our server greeted us within a few min of sitting down and since we were ready to order by the time she showed up, we ordered everything from appetizers to full meal. Started with the croquetas and gambas. Both were good but honestly I've had better. The sauce for the gambas felt like the ratio of the sherry was a bit much and not enough spice. Ended up with the Paella Valenciana which was okay, but the flavors felt kind of bland and the scallops and shrimp inside seemed like they could have been cooked more thoroughly. I believe we got the 12oz New York Steak to share, and it felt the meat itself was super tender but lacked a bit of flavor for my liking. We wanted the broccolini but they ran out so ended up with the Brussel sprouts instead which were very good. Overall the ambiance inside the restaurant is a bit tight and chaotic for my liking. I definitely like the bar area better than the tables which were very close together, so may have to try dining at the bar next time.

If you are looking for authentic flavor that hits the spot, Hilltop Jamaican is a must-visit. I…read morestopped in recently and was blown away by the quality of the food and the overall experience. The jerk chicken was absolutely amazing--perfectly seasoned with that signature smoky kick and tender enough to fall right off the bone. It's clear they take the time to do things the right way here. Beyond the food, the service was superb. The staff was incredibly welcoming and attentive, making the whole meal even better. Between the generous portions, the spot-on spice levels, and the great hospitality, this is easily some of the best Caribbean food in the Pomona area. I'll definitely be back!

Yesterday I wanted food with island flavor so I came to hill top. The establishment was clean and…read morethe customer service was decent. They do have outside seating and play really good music. I ordered the jerk chicken bowl with a side of baked Mac & cheese for a drink I order a breeze. The jerk bowl was a 10/10 and they give you a lot of sauce. The Mac I give 7/10.

Phenomenal food and ambiance. I ordered the jerk salmon, rice and cabbage with a side of festival…read morebread and plantain. This will do until you manifest your trip to the islands. :) XO CHEROKEE THE CHIEF

Amazing and BETTER than last time…read more Late night on a Friday night for our anniversary we came back to one of our favorite places for great food and good vibes & met Chef as well. It was a bit busier than last time but the service was still friendly and food, fresh!! We got the salmon salad , lobster Mac & jerk salmon plate. And YUM! It was better than I remembered! Glad to have found this place and can't wait to go back, again!!