Havana Mania

Not sure why it's taken me so long to write a review for Havana Mania.  This is one of the best Cuban restaurants in SoCal and I've been here many times.  It's the perfect place to stop when you are picking someone up from LAX, only a few exits down on the 405.  The only reason why I don't give it a 5th star is because I don't really like their Lechon Asado.  I'm very picky about my Cuban roast pork though.  I find theirs to lack flavor, which is surprising since everything else here I've had is excellent.

My favorite is the Pollo Cubano.  It's a half roasted chicken with so much garlic & mojo flavor that it's just wonderful.  It's always tender and moist.  So often all the flavor on a roast chicken is just the skin, but here you can taste the garlic in each bite.  It's served with grilled onions that have the same flavor profile as the chicken.  Also comes with the traditional black beans and rice and fried plantains.  I love the plantains here.  They are perfectly sweet, but not overly so.  The texture is always spot on and aren't too ripe where they are all mush.  The outside is sticky but gets a little crunchy in spots as well.  The black beans are also very good, although one of the smallest portions I've seen at a cuban restaurant.  Not enough to cover the rice, but I never leave here hungry.  <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/havana-mania-redondo-beach?select=N5MK1LmCwPi6P-AeVnkeeA#DBv-aOpgnc3__B0ZhvlS7A">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>

My wife's favorite dish is the Filete de Pollo con Hongos.  This is a pounded flat chicken breast sautéed with mushrooms and onions.  The sauce is interesting.  I believe it's their usual mojo and garlic sauce but with a little soy sauce mixed in to give it a bolder taste.  The chicken breast is sautéed in this sauce and really picks up the flavor nicely.  Again served with black beans, rice, and plantains.

I rarely come here without getting the Mariquitas.  These are as good as I've had anywhere.  The plantains are huge and sliced lengthwise, fried up to a crispy chip, but they aren't cut so thin where you can't taste some of the actual plantain.  Rather than covered in garlic, they are served with an amazing dipping sauce.  I'm not sure what the sauce is.  It's very garlicky, with mojo flavor, but creamy like a salad dressing.  Originally, they used to give you two different sides of dipping sauce.  I think they have combined the two to make one awesome sauce!!! <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/havana-mania-redondo-beach?select=N5MK1LmCwPi6P-AeVnkeeA#BKHVQ-D-SA_qqhsyDEdKLA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>

Tuesday nights they do a whole pig roast.  Although I've never been on Tuesday, you have to respect any place that will do that.  They have 19 different mojitos, adding all kinds of mixers to the classic fresh mint mojito.  $5 mojitos for happy hour (4 to 7) is a good thing!

Great food and beautiful live music! Ropa Vieja and Ox Tail have not disappointed the handful of times we have been there.
The service is friendly and the hostess makes me feel like family.
I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars becauss of atmosphere. I feel like the tables are packed like sardines and it's hard to move around. I wish they had more space and they are trying to make the most of what they have.
We would chose this place over Versailles.

Great food! Great service! and they even have live music and dancing! What can be more fun than a restaurant with live entertainment! There are many tasty Cuban dishes to chose from like the Chicharon chicken and the fried Chilindron de cordero! Oh and did I forget to mention  they have to die for mojitos, a huge list of tropical mojito flavors like the Mango mojito!