Cafe Habana, Ann Arbor
Skip it!
Eat-In
211 E Washington St
Ann Arbor MI 48104
(734) 332-6046
http://cafehabanas.com
ANN ARBOR, MI — A very popular local “Latin inspired” restaurant that truly disappoints. Cafe Habana serves “Cuban and Latin inspired food and drinks” at three Michigan locations; Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, and Traverse City. Although very, very busy throughout the night, Cafe Habana’s Ann Arbor location provided Fat Freddy sub-par drinks and uninspired dishes.
Let’s put it this way… I’m 36 years old. I’ve had drinks all over this great country and have been even lucky enough to order a few things offshore. I’ve had drinks that I loved and have had drinks I didn’t like. Normally, if I order something I don’t like, I muster through it, finish the drink, and order something else.
Recently, I ventured into Cafe Habana’s Ann Arbor location, sitting down for some food and drinks with several new friends. When the waitress asked me for my drink order, I did what I normally do on a first visit — I asked her “what’s good?” After telling me the Mojito’s were “awesome,” I quickly smiled and ordered one. You see friends, Fat Freddy cannot resist a cannoli… but he also really enjoys a good Mojito. When the drink arrived, I initially became impressed with the use of sugar cane as a stirrer / garnish. “Nice touch,” I thought to myself — and then I had a sip.
I sipped from the top of the drink and surely did a double take. The beverage tasted simply of cheap rum and seltzer. I paused, and drank another sip from the little red straw and this time tasted only mint and sugar. I had to have had the worst mixed drink in the history of served Mojito’s. Let’s digress… My cousin’s boyfriend and I made horrible Mojitos last Thanksgiving. We were pretty tipsy, didn’t have a good mixing utensil, didn’t measure ingredients, and didn’t care. The Cafe Habana Mojito was worse.
For the first time in 36 years, Fat Freddy actually returned a drink. Yes friends, it was a sad day in Ann Arbor.
Although the restaurant’s received several awards, I can describe the entire menu in one word: uninspiring. That being said, the restaurant maintained an amazing crowd and was packed from 10pm until closing. Although Fat Freddy will not be eating or drinking here again, clearly they have hit a chord with some in the community.
Other than Mexican, Ann Arbor does not seem to have many Latin restaurants (and yes friends, Latin and Mexican are two different types of food — think Thai vs. Chinese). When you’re the “only game in town” and have a packed house, it’s quite unlikely you’re going to listen to any criticism from Fat Freddy. That being said, Cafe Habana scores a big “No.” Hopefully, some competition will roll into town and set the bar higher.
2 boilers
Cafe Habana
Eat-In
211 E Washington St
Ann Arbor MI 48104
(734) 332-6046
FF, that is so hilarious. I had an identical experience at Cafe Habana. It is unbelievable how great places fall to the wayside and mediocre places thrive sometimes. It seems to me they just nailed location and theme with timing that could not have been better. A great business model I guess. It proves that sometimes you can get away with not focusing on food, service, and ambiance….I WILL say the place has decent ambiance though, especially the basement bar scene. Too bad the bartender ignored me and couldn’t get the national Cuban drink right.
I lived in Ann Arbor for years in the 90s and spent a lot of time complaining about the lack of any solid Mexican or Latin joints. I was there when Sabor Latino on Main opened and they used to do a Caribe night (maybe they still do) which was a welcomed evolution…the owner was actually Puertorriqueno I believe so the Arroz, tostones, and Alcapurrias were solid. Plus they let us bring in Coronas from the Heidelberg. Ah the memories. This was in the back of my mind when I entered Cafe Habana on a recent visit. I should have went to Sabor.
Needless to say, when I heard of Cafe Habana I was very eager to try. The food I had was very forgettable, but that is not why I write. It was the Mojito. Oh me, oh my. I am not tough to please… I virtually never send anything back because I don’t like to be rude. I could not finish the mojito. I think they may have tried to add some bitters or something. Look, there are all kinds of recipes out there that attempt to improve on this drink. The way I see it, it is its simplicity that makes it so special. Five ingredients: Rum, sugar, lime, mint, sparkle. That’s it. Sure, upgrade the rum (keep it silver), use cane juice or make a simple syrup, get the best lime and bruised mint in the world, master your muddling technique, go out of your way to get a true Mojito spoon (a flat spoon basically designed to keep the vegetation at the bottom), and garnish like there is no tomorrow; but please, don’t try to improve it, just try to master it. The best mojito I ever had was made on a cart in a plaza in Old Havana by an ancient man who would sooner cut off a finger than experiment with the recipe or serve a bad drink.
I don’t recall the price but let’s say it is fair to state it was not happy hour. Holy smokes, you are invoking the capitol city of Cuba in the name of your restaurant. Can you please make a satisfactory Mojito? It is a relatively simple little highball. This is a pet peeve of mine. If you are a brewery, focus on your beer. If you are a pizzeria, focus on your pizza. If you are Cuban inspired, by all means throw a Floridita (Hemingway special) and a burrito on your menu to appeal to the masses but do polish up your Mojitos or your credibility is shot.
AC
May 25, 2009 at 12:30 pm
AC,
This was one of the best comments I have ever gotten.
-Fat Freddy
Fat Freddy
May 25, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Sweet. I relished the opportunity. It was a bit of a rant but I have been carrying that around with me for too long. LOL. It felt great to vent. Too much time on my hands this morning obviously. I have had better experiences at the Royal Oak one to be fair.
I actually was looking for reviews for G D when I stumbled on your site. I was gonna take the wife by train to A2 for our anniversary which is something I did back in the Muer era in the early 90s (admittedly before I knew the difference between salt and pepper). I was back there more recently but thought maybe the badness was a fluke. Anyways, not gonna waste my time. Too many Detroit area foodie spots I have not checked out yet.
BTW, I enjoy your critiques. They seem spot on to me. Keep up the good work!
AC
May 25, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I didn’t really tell the full story. I just talked to my lovely wife who reminded me about some of the details to our CH experience. Mind you, this was quite a few months ago and challenged my outer synapses. Fortunately it did not escape the detail oriented memory of JC’s brain.
We actually never ate our meal. We ordered a ceviche to start (and we are no strangers to this dish) and had to send it back. It was not “cooked”. “Isn’t ceviche raw?”, one might ask. Well it WAS in this case but it is actually not supposed to be. It is meant to be slowly “cooked” by an acid bath of citrus. Any server would be stuck if a customer wanted to complain that their ceviche was “raw”. But it was…the chunks of fish still had that opalescent appearance. Now don’t get me wrong, I love sashimi, but I ordered ceviche. We had a standoff and decided we better not pursue the rest of the meal. We didn’t order and instead proceeded to the basement for some drinks….you may have read above how that went. I left out the fact that the “thin-skinned” (easily offended that is) bartender said we could leave if we didn’t like his Mojito and not to bother ordering another drink. Nuff said.
AC
May 25, 2009 at 3:23 pm