Victor's Cafe

We went for a birthday dinner and they forgot to come and sing Happy Birthday, disappointed in service for drinks so refills were not great. Appetizers delcious but... I expected a little more than fried plantains, yuca, 2 shrimp and 2 croquettes for a $24 sampler and it was only enough for 2. Paella had a lobster claw again 2 shrimps, some chicken, no scallops, no onions, no pork and pretty messy to eat since you had to open the claws yourself, hard when its drained in the juicy rice, it had some shells in the rice and that turned me off a little when I bit into it. Dessert was good churros a little hard but still good, coming from Miami I've had better Cuban.

Go for the lunch special, very reasonable, and plenty of good cuban dishes for you. Ate here twice, I work in midtown, so check this place out, it's been in business for 30 or 40 years for a reason, Excellent.

Victor's Cafe is a great choice for Restaurant Week. A friend and I went for dinner on Friday night and were treated with the utmost professional and attentive service. I've been wanting to try this place for a while because their menu is so extensive and sounds delicious. The restaurant week menu offers 4 or 5 choices for each course and each item is well-prepared and tasty. We both had the chorizo as an appetizer, which was beautifully served in a banana leaf and accompanied by plaintain chips. We were both given generous portions for our entree, my friend had the pork and I had the chicken with watercress, avocado and tomato. The dessert was a choice of their signature rice pudding (scrumptious, made with rose water), chocolate sorbet (which was heavenly, coudn't believe it was sorbet) and flan. We ordered a pitcher of refreshing white sangria and yummy coffees at the end as well. It was a very enjoyable Restaurant Week experience. While it's $35 per person for dinner, it's worth it to splurge on their renown drinks as well!

Coming from a Cuban family, I know what good Cuban food is supposed to taste like. At Victor's I found food almost as good as my grandmother's home cooking. Of course, nothing can beat a home-cooked meal, especially from a Cuban grandmother. But Victor's is the next best thing. It's just like being at a house for dinner in Old Havana. Simply the best around!

I am amazed that after 40 years Victor's Cafe remains the Cuban restaurant par excellence in NYC. It's elegant yet casual bistro atmosphere takes you to a Havana that no longer exists. While my wife had the traditional Cuban daiquiri I preferred a Mojito, as theirs has no match. What a delight to enjoy a succulent "Ropa Vieja", second to none and so artistically presented. My wife had "Camarones enchilados" as main entree. Super! Indeed we could have ordered more food but the large portions would not allow us much room left. But we had to have their quintessential black beans, Victor's seal. And we could not get up without a Flan for dessert, either classical, guava or coconut. Kudos!

My sisters were in town visiting me and while they were at the airport they met a nice lady that was an NYC local and she told them about Victor's! I was skeptical because I know how restaurants in the Time Square area can be, but it was great! I would go back. Get the Steak and Onions!

I ate here 9 months ago and was very pleased. Last night was a as good. We had a 6 pm reservation for 6 people, prior to going to the theater. We arrived promptly at 6 and were told it would be a few more minutes. Approximately every 5 minutes we checked back in and were alternately told, either it would be about 5 minutes more or the table's almost ready. At 6:30 they finally admitted that the people sitting at our table had been there since 4 pm and had paid their bill quite some time ago. There was no sign of them leaving. The woman who said she was the manager said we still had plenty of time, not to worry, and that this problem wasn't her fault! At 6:40, as we put our coats on to leave and find another restaurant, the people at "our" table finally left. The wait staff told us we still had plenty of time and then proceeded to practically throw our food at us. The food was not very good, including the desserts. This is definitely off my list!