La Bella Havana

My girl took me here for my birthday last week--Thursday night with reservations at 8:30. we arrived a little early and the place was packed.  The few outdoor tables had patrons and there were no seats inside available.  At this point I could only hope that the owner would indeed be able to get us a table since we called ahead of time--she  greeted us at the door and knew our name from the reservation.  So we went to the bar to get a drink and that took 5 minutes to even get the bartenders attention.  There were shot girls that evening passing around small cups of aged rum and mojitos they were promoting and that was cool.  

After about 10-15 mins we finally did get a table and thank god it was against the wall.  To try to accomodate even more customers than the place can truly service, there are now an extra row of two top tables right next to the bar which makes for less floor space than before in this already small establishment.  No matter what I did or where I walked, my ass felt like it was constantly in someones face or by their table--no bueno.

Anyway gettin to the food which was the only saving grace of being here-- chicken empanadas for the app which were muchoooo dry and could have used more sauce on the side for us to dip into. Still edible and still decent overall.  For dinner we ordered the pernil and paella.  HOLY CRAP. The paella must be bordering 5 pounds of food.  Not only did we both eat a good helping [so full to the point i thought i would have to force myself to puke] but we also took home two completely FULL takeout containers of it. For 25$ that was an amazing dish for the price and flavor. I would come back for that and suck up the wait and kinda lame service.

It seems like this place is popular with the locals and the ethnic crowds so I don't know why the owners dont try to move or buy the space next door and expand.  Better service and quicker ticket times could greatly benefit the atmosphere here and make it more pleasant.

I was underwhelmed.  We were really looking forward to trying it, and the decor was promising.  Mid afternoon late lunch, service was very slow and uninspired, and I found the food serviceable but certainly not memorable.  Not enough to warrant a return trip for me.

Food not so good, service sucks, gay chariot loving Mexicans that don't know wtf they're doing are your waiters!!