Varadero Cuban Restaurant

Que Bola Asere? This place is auethentic as they come. I learned the cooks are from Havana. The ropa vieja to me is the best in Las Vegas. There cuban sandwiches would be the best in Las Vegas if they didnt add mayo. The croquetas and maduros are very good. The prices are very reasonable and they have pretty good café.
I would of given this place a 5 but the mayo in a cuban sandwich is a SIN.
QUE ESTAS HACIENDO? COME!!!

I made a stop there last night. I wasn’t really expecting much. The place is not really near any traffic. I’ve been craving Cuban food for a while now, but since my first and last awful experience at Florida Café last year maybe it was time to try something new. The place looks very mysterious from the outside since the windows are covered in graphic art; but when I walked in, you could sense the mom and pop atmosphere.
I started with the queso soup, which turned out to be just ok. For my meal I opt for the oxtail stew. I’ve had oxtail plenty of times, but when my platter came out… I got flanked with flavor. The meat was so tender the bone kept falling off. The rice was surrounded by fried sweet plantains that left me no room for dessert.
I left happy, but will return hungry.

I went here a few weeks ago and have been meaning to write this review for awhile. When we went it was a Saturday afternoon, the place had more people than expected considering the location for a restaurant in that strip mall is horrible. I was excited as I had read about this place in the newspaper. Unfortunately I was rather disappointed.
They only had one server/​drink maker/​busser working the front of the house. I appreciate she was busy but this was poor planning on the part of the manager as we were neglected. They took forever to take our drink and food order. Then she requested that if we need a refill we place our drink cups on the corner of the table so she can see that we needed refills, okay I get that, never had to do that before but I acknowledge at least she was trying.
However, I ordered the Cuban panini and it was dry — very very dry. Nothing really memorable. My panini came with plaintain chips which were not that good, they were supposed to come Whit a sauce, that the waitress forgot and I had to ask for. when she brought it, it just tasted like canola oil. I also tried half of the Ropa Vieja, flavor was good but really salty. Anyhow, just disappointed I was really looking forward to a quality Cuban restaurant. I am glad we tried it for lunch and didn’t spend even more money to try dinner at this place and be disappointed.

Simply stated, the food here was absolutely delicious! The food is very savory and the staff is incredibly pleasant. It was a pleasure to dine here and I look forward to future visits!

Great food !

I couldn’t eat another $ 5 footlong from subway for lunch… I live way out in the northwest and it is somewhat food diversity challenged. I remembered seeing a cuban joint on rainbow so I thought I would go over there for lunch.
I went in and it was done very nicely with out trying too hard. I looked at the menu and it seemed authentic and the prices seemed very reasonable. They have quite a few menu options too — so if you are in the mood for a sandwich or a whole fried snapper you are good to go.
I wantd a quick lunch — so of course I order the Cuban in sandwich. It was only $ 6.50 and it was a big sandwich — I like a good value. The sandwich was very tasty — I likes the bread. It also came with freshly cooked plantain chips — refreshing alternative to fries!!!
If your bumpin’ around the northwest check this place out…

This place was a welcome addition to NW Vegas! before this place opened i had to drive all the way down to Rincon Criollo. there are very few Cuban restaurant in Vegas but it’s awesome we have at least 2 good ones. The restaurant is clean, the staff are friendly & the food delicious. The location could be better but worth looking for.

Seeing that I can only recall having Cuban food once before this, I guess I really don’t have much expertise in this area. However, I was blown away yesterday when my mom, brother & I shared a variety of tastes here. We all shared an appetizer, one of their lunch specials and the Midnight sandwich. Which was definitely more than enough food! You most certaintly get your moneys worth!
While the multiple layers of the sandwich are like a party in your mouth, the slow roasted, tender sliced pork with onions was a tounge-​gasim for sure! I can’t wait to go back and get this meat all packaged up in the Cuban sandwich form. The appetizer was delicious too, I just can’t remember it’s name, but it was a shrimp and crab filled fried green plantain. While the crunchy plantain may have been a bit too crunchy for my taste, the filling was so scrumptious that I had no problem finishing that last little piece that no one else wanted to claim, lol. All the sides were pretty tasty too!
We also lucked out that my brothers friend’s joined us a little late, because we all got a taste, of perhaps the most amazing fried chicken ever! The breading was light and crispy, and the chicken was oh so tender. Then the cherry on top, he ordered a piece of the Tres Leche cake for everyone to share and one to go. Upon arrival, he decided that one was simply not going to enough to share and ended up eating his to go piece right then. Even though I had originally said no dessert, I once again had no issue with scraping up that last little morsel of this light and lucious cake. I also decided a coffee sounded like the perfect compliment, and the lovely waitress recommended the Cuban espresso. At first I hesitated, but of course, it was simply amazing, the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Being that I grew up in Panama I welcome any place that serves hispanic food. I have been to a couple places like the Cuba café and Florida café which are ok, was hoping this would knock those places out of the water based on the reviews.
Started off with the tostones cups with ropa vieja. Good, but not as phenomenal as I had my hopes on.
I ordered the Veradera special seafood paella. Worst mistake ever!!! Should have stuck to my gut and gotten a sandwich, or something else. But I LOVE seafood and I enjoy paella very much. Well, for a $ 20 dish the majority of the seafood was EXTREMELY tough. Had to spit out majority. Mostly the calamari and octopus. Fresh seafood should never be like that. It had 2 shrimp, one scallop that was good and 2 very slimy imitation crab pieces. Oh, and a sad skimpy crab claw that had no meat in it. Was so disappointed.
I also asked that I have tostones instead of sweet plantains as a side. They charged extra and the were not thin and a little crispy like they are suppose to be. Quite thick and soft.
My boyfriend had the oxtail and said it was really nothing special. A lot of bones and not much meat.
I wish I could bring myself to give this place another chance but I don’t think I’ll be able to.

After my disappointment following the closing of my favorite little taqueria, Taquria Los Parados, I’ve been on an even bigger mission to find the great mom and pop restaurants in Las Vegas. I recently found a great Cuban one in the Northwest called Varadero that needs our support as the strip mall it’s in isn’t what you’d call bustling.
It’s hard to find good Cuban food in Vegas, and sadly we’ve lost a few of the better Cuban restaurants to the recession. I generally go to Havana Café on Eastern, but as much as I enjoy it I can’t really say it’s frugal. Varadero is frugal, however, and the food is just as good, if not better.
I’m itching to try more on the menu because both times I’ve gone everything has been just delicious. The traditional black bean soup is well done ($ 2.25), but a more interesting soup is the Crema Aurora, a cream based tomato and cheese concoction ($ 2.95). The heavy «soup» is actually more reminiscent of a dip, which paired wonderfully with the complimentary toasted Cuban garlic bread.
The Ropa Vieja ($ 10.75), meaning «torn clothes,» was better than any I can remember having had. The rich, tomato based broth was reduced to perfect gravy consistency, and the shredded beef was tender without being mushy. Another highlight was the Arroz con Pollo ($ 10.95). It consisted of a juicy roasted half chicken hidden under a bed of creamy, saffron colored Cuban risotto. Both entrees came with maduros, or sweet fried plantains, and moros y cristianos, black beans and white rice cooked together. The latter wasn’t done as well as at Havana Café but the maduros were as good as you can get.
For the prices and food quality you can’t beat Varadero for Cuban food. It’s one of the few good non-​chains in the Northwest. Great service and friendly staff, too.

Great place for Cuban food. It’s a little, ahem, north for Southern Vegas peeps but definitely worth checking out. Like many other great restaurants in Vegas, the place is tucked inside a weird strip mall. But don’t let that deter you.
It’s on the smaller side and casual. I had the ropa vieja (shredded beef) sandwich, which was really, really, REALLY good. I love ropa vieja but it was particularly tasty here; not too salty and very tender. My husband had the pork sandwich but kept trying to eat off my plate. (That’s how good the ropa vieja was.) I didn’t taste the beans (not a fan of black beans), but hubby said they were also good.
We also had maduros, which were equally tasty and Materva, Cuban soda that has a citrus-​y flavor. By the time we were done, we were too stuffed to get dessert.
Note, this food is good but if you’re looking for healthy or cholesterol free… uh, this may not be the place for you. But you’ll definitely be missing out!

This seems to be the only Cuban restaurant west of the strip, making it the most convenient one to me, although it is still a little out of my way being so far north.
It’s worth the trip though. I ordered the ropa vieja with black beans and rice, and enjoyed it immensely. All the flavors are amazing. I also got some fresh-​squeezed mango juice, which was like manna from heaven.
For dessert, I got a slice of tres leches to go, and ate it later in my apartment with some coffee. Sweet and decadent.
Anytime I’m near that area, I’ll make a point of stopping at Veradero.

Cuban food is my favorite food and the best I’ve ever had is El Siboney’s in Key West. Varadero comes awfully close and is by far the best Cuban I’ve had in Las Vegas. Great ambience, cool music, healthy portions and our waitress Consuela was an absolute gem. We’ve gone three times in the last two weeks. Need I say more…

Moved to vegas from florida 8 years ago and have missed the food ever since. Sandwiches were exactly what I had been missing (cuban and media noches), black bean soup was perfect, mango juice was fresh squeezed. It’s a little out of the way for me, but I seriously can’t wait to go back.

I consider this more of a 3.5 star restaurant, but gave it 4 stars due to good value and a strong effort to provide quality food and service.
Came here on a Saturday evening as I heard they had very good food. Had the avocado salad as a starter (excellent, simple and fresh with great pickled onions and simple oil and vinegar dressing). Also had the mashed potato balls stuffed with ground beef — nothing special as the texture was uninteresting and the flavor was mild and underseasoned.
Cuban sandwich was excellent and ropa viejo was very good, with good beans and rice. Chorizo sandwich and Boliche looked interesting, may try on a future visit.
Finished the meal with the tres leches cake, a little different than the standard spongy cake soaked in sweet milk (more like a layer cake here with tres leches pudding) but very good.
Service was friendly and efficient, and décor was ok, nicer than one would expect from the outside, in a very unremarkable strip mall.
Overall very good, a bit out of the way, but worth the trip for something good and interesting.

I don’t think I am really qualified to review Cuban food but I will give it a go.
Cute décor and fun music are in abundance here. It is a pretty small place tucked into a dying strip mall. When we arrived it was empty (7pm on a Friday) but that did no deter us. The waitress said their juices are good so we tried the mango and mamay. Bleh, I didn’t like it but my 2 year old did and drank it all. It was too thick and sweet for my taste. For food we got the red bean soup, avocado salad, chicken fricasse and chicken with yellow rice and veggies. The avo salad was my favorite cuz I love avocados. The beans and rice reminded me of New Orleans red beans and rice, not bad. The other dishes were ok. I thought the fricasse was better. I liked the flavor and the potatoes. The chicken and yellow rice had a mushy texture that really turned me off. It came with some delicious fried plantains. Mmmmm. I felt that I was in rice overload and my husband said
it made him feel «puffy». My husband liked it more than I did so we might give it another go so we can try the sandwiches.

Of the 3 Cuban restaurants I’ve been to recently (Varadero, Cuba Café, Havana Grill), this one gets my top rating. The place looks and feels like «Cuban food for the working class», but it beats the other places hands down! For one, all of the dishes we had (including our kids) were extremely hearty, rich, and flavorful. None of this «health-​conscious», lightened down for today’s slim American type food here.
Even the black beans were thick and pasty (but smooth). The Papas Rellenas appetizer filled up my 9 year old happily, though we also ordered her a full platter as well. We also got a rich, full-​bodied chicken soup, a little like the tortilla soups you sometimes find at Mexican restaurants, but definitely unique in flavor. My 6-​year old decided to help me finish it before I had a choice. Ropa Vieja and the Masas de Puerco were fabulous and filling, with the meats perfectly marinated and tender.
For me, the only disappointment was the Tres Leches cake we had for dessert. They don’t make it onsite, and it had a little too ‘mainstream’ texture — a bit too blantantly moist, a bit too much icing, and not enough of that hidden ‘cream’ that surprises you with the real deal. It just wasn’t right (go to the Cuba Café for the perfect Tres Leches!).
But…other than the cake… this is my favorite of the 3 Cuban restaurants in town that I’ve tried. If you want beautifully presented Cuban food, go to the Havana Grill. If you want a quaint, but up-​to-​date chic atmosphere (and the best Tres leches cake), go to the Cuba Café. But for the best overall Cuban home cooking, Varadero is the place… and make sure you come hungry and be careful NOT to over-​order (not that leftovers won’t taste great the next day!).

This was the second Cuban restaurant I’ve tried in town, after Rincon Criollo. My friend and I decided on the fried mashed potato with ground beef filling to start. The hard outer shell on the potatoes was great. My friend said that they «found a way to make chicken-​fried mashed potatoes.» We each decided to order a different sandwich and split them. I got the Cuban sandwich and he ordered the chorizo sandwich. The chorizo was good, with slices of fried chorizo and grilled onions, but the Cuban sandwich was the highlight. With much more meat than at Rincon and a mustard that added just the right amount of spice, I wanted to steal back the half that I gave my friend. We finished things out with the Tres Leches cake, which was as delightful as advertised. This was quite honestly one of the tastiest cakes I have ever tried.
The service was good and our waitress was concerned with making sure we were having a good first experience. The décor was also impressive. All in all, one of the better meals I’ve had in a while, and I will definitely be coming back often.
One more thing: try the Iron Beer soda. It’s reminiscent of Dr. Pepper with a slightly fruitier profile and a more pronounced vanilla flavor.
Varadero has my highest recommendation.