La Isla Restaurant - Uptown
After nearly 20 years of local cult status and high critical acclaim at a tiny location in downtown Hoboken, La Isla has expanded into a brand new 100 seat space near the city’s uptown waterfront at the Maxwell Project.
With acclaimed Chef Owner Omar Giner at the helm in a state-of-the-art facility, the new restaurant aims to capture the character and charm of the original with the same sense of authenticity and high value in a setting that would be at home in South Beach.
The new restaurant also features a full bar with over fifty wines by the glass, a large selection of fine rums, original tropical drinks and a dynamic offering of craft beers and spirits.
Come and experience the warm heart of the Cuban people, the fast beat of our music and the surprising character of our cuisine!
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Pollo Asado
roasted half chicken
2 reviews
Omar's Stuffed French Toast
egg bread filled with strawberry / guava cream cheese, dipped in cinnamon batter and coated with corn flakes and almonds
3 reviews
French Fries
1 reviews
Overall disappointed across the board. Service was weird and it’s a total rip off. Way too overpriced for what you get. I wasn’t even really impressed by the food. La Isla is way too over hyped. They had a list of 12 beers on the menu but only two available. Portions are tiny, fine but the food didn’t blow me out of the water. Will definitely not return again. Only good part was my pineapple habanero mojo to.
Fantastic service, lovely food and an excellent ambience. Would highly recommend.
A Special Celebration to be remembered. They provide the table that was requested, not waiting period, great service and the food delicious , small portions tough. New safety protocols were observed. Definitely will visit again.
We went for the Valentine's Day prix fixe. The food was great, and so was the service.
The service was fantastic, prompt, lovable waiters and busboy crew was so good. I accidentally spilled a drink, and it was cleaned up and replaced so quick.
The food had a decent taste, but my specific requests weren’t met. Very limited fixed menu for v-day. I would go back to try during regular hours.
The service was great. The setting was very calm and contained. Staff was all friendly
Valentine’s Day brunch
This is a longstanding local favorite of ours however this recent visit was a bit disappointing. Our drinks were terrible and needed to be corrected by the server sweetening them as they were very bitter. Our server was not wearing his mask properly and the manager kept taking off his mask buff to speak to patrons. This was alarming and upsetting to see.
The food was very good as it typically is and the value was on par. Just very frustrating to see staff not following CDC regulations.
Great ambience, food and service. Enjoyed a glass of red wine. Unfortunately the mojito cocktail tasted more like a margarita.
Great food and great atmosphere. Brunch pricing also one of the best in the area.
The owner sat us and was extremely nice. The food was tasteful and delicious and very inexpensive for the area. We will definitely be back.
This was our first time at the uptown location and really liked it. The food was excellent and the staff very helpful and friendly. Cant wait to go back again!
Great food, amazing drinks, and excellent service!
The food was the best overall and service was outstanding. Definitely will come back again
Great food, amazing vibes and a great location. Went there for brunch. 2 drinks, 2 entrees and a side was less than $50. Right near the water and they give you a $5 parking voucher. Couldn’t recommend enough.
It was a great experience. I came for my birthday and the team was very attentive and allowed my party to sit together. Really good food and very fun atmosphere
Excellent lunch-El Cubano is delish!!!
Great customer service
Excellent as always! Service and food! Well spaced out.
This was my first time attending this restaurant and I was very impressed with the service and food. Took my sister here to celebrate her birthday and we had a great time. I highly recommend this place.
I wanted to take my daughter and her friends out to dinner to celebrate her 22nd birthday. She wanted Latin cuisine. My go to place in my area is Son of Cubano but they didn’t have any reservations available for a party of 4 at 7:00pm that Friday night so I decided to try La Isla Restaurant in Hoboken. We were not disappointed. Good food, drinks, service & ambience.
Food was delicious!..service was great...perfect spot for brunch will def be trying it out for dinner. And not expensive at all.
Steak was excellent.
Will come back for sure.
Took my boyfriend there for his 42 birthday! It was a really romantic place and the food was awesome. The Cuban sandwich was great! The steak was greats. A nice quiet place for a date night and away from the Hoboken crowds.
The food was great, the service was so nice. What a great spot!
Great place all around from the food to the service. Facility was spotless as well too
Everything was absolutely amazing. As we walked in we were greeted by a friendly gentleman who walked us to our table, which was in such a great spot and great ambience in the whole restaurant. Service was amazing and friendly, they really welcomed us. The food was delicious and because of the overall experience we will definitely be coming back, like all the time! 5 stars in our book.
Came here with a party of 5, honestly felt like they profiled me
and my friends. We waited for 20 mins for a table when it wasn’t busy. Sat down, got water and no one took our orders. 30 more minutes passes, everyone around us got served. We politely asked for the waiter a few times and were brushed off. After the last time they just all stared at us and passed by. I’ve never done this before but we all got up and left. Shame- I had high hopes, I love Cuban food. We were also STARVING and ready to order everything off the menu. We went to city bistro, had a bomb brunch, great service. Spent $120 a head (we literally ordered everything). I live a block away, any great place would get repeat business.
What a great neighborhood find! Food and drinks were great, service was friendly, and the restaurant is conducive to quiet conversation. Can't wait to go back!
Great food, great atmosphere
Food was good service was great. The snapper and steak were excellent. The paella was soupy and unexpected. Otherwise overall was good.
Service could be better.
Valentine’s Day
As my wife has been there before her experience was great but I wouldn’t recommend this in a Valentine’s or big holidays . They were extremely busy the waiter ( Carlos ) completely forgot our main course and took and hour for it to arrive ,his service was horrible .As the managers were giving us different excuses why they forgot yet they couldn’t give us an accurate answer. Overall it can be great just not on special days .
Went for Valentine’s Day. Booked with opentable app. The restaurant accidentally cancelled my reservation the night before. Then called me to tell me they made a mistake and told me i had to give my credit card over the phone to hold the reservation. Didn’t get my usual opentable dining points because the restaurant had technically cancelled it in the system and then reissued it on the restaurant side.
Waited for close to 30min past our reservation time to be seated. The pre fixe menu was our only option and at $65, extremely overpriced for a 3 course. The restaurant ran out of the desert. And because of Valentine’s Day extra tables were added so we packed in like sardines and held to time limit for dining. Food was fine, nothing special.
Food was good, but it was a tasting menu for Valentine’s Day and when it came to dessert they were out of two of the three options. Very crowded restaurant, tables were on top of each other. Service was good and food was good.
Fun time with drinks and amazing food. My wife and I come here at least twice a month for the fun Cuban food. Never disappoints.
The food was good, the service was not. We met family for brunch and the food was good, not incredible, but solid. We were just kind of amazed at how long we wandered around the restaurant looking for a hostess or someone who could seat us, since all 7 staff members who saw us on the floor and behind the bar just ignored us.
Some of the new menu items are a great enhancement to an already great selection of authentic Cuban American cuisine.
Great place! I love the local N.J. beers on tap. Carlos at the bar knows them all and is very helpful in choosing one. I also think they have a great wine selection and the prices on both wine and food are fair. The food is great and authentic. My only complaint and it’s more of a suggestion, is regarding the garlic chicken in a cream sauce. I used to get this all the time - it was so good I couldn’t order anything else. Then they changed the recipe and I don’t like it anymore. Please bring back the old recipe. Otherwise it’s hard to get anything less than above average here.
FAQs
You can order delivery directly from La Isla Restaurant - Uptown using the Order Online button. La Isla Restaurant - Uptown also offers delivery in partnership with Uber Eats. La Isla Restaurant - Uptown also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (201) 659-6090.
La Isla Restaurant - Uptown is rated 4.8 stars by 401 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.