Havana Central Times Square

Food was excellent and service was superb. Ellie was our server and she was above excellent!

Our garlic chicken took way too long and arrived cold and way overcooked. Two out of three of us sent it back. The garlic shrimp was delicious but we were rushed and our night was pretty ruined by the time it was all straightened out.

5 stars ⭐️ I have already recommended to friends and family. Service from entrance to leaving was so friendly , comfy, fun! Loved our balcony view seating , and live music enjoyment. Dance if you want to , people do. Wonderful place for a birthday 🎁 dinner , they sing joyfully while placing a cute hat on your head to keep! Our teen loved it. So pretty a, fun , delicious , warm in the middle of winter cold , books table for a beautifully warm ambiance. Will be back ASAP. 💕✨🎉

I went there thinking I was going to have mofongo and the waitress told me they don’t man it on the weekends .. My mouth was watering for it , but I had to instead order something else . I ordered salmon with yuca and it was disappointing to see how little they give you of yuca , smh . I didn’t see it at first and it a a tiny portion under the salmon , wtf !! Any way the waitress Zena was very pleasant and professional. I will visit again and hopefully there will be more yuca

We chose Havana Central for its convenience to show we were seeing on same block. Show was at 7:30 and we had a reservation for 6 pm. We arrived at 5:45 but were told they couldn't take us early. They ended up not seating us until 6:10 and we were concerned about timing. Our waitress Zena was wonderful and very efficient. She saw that our appetizers were brought right away. We had no trouble finishing dinner (appetizers, main courses, dessert) in plenty of time to make the show without feeling rushed.
We all had empanadas (3 beef, 1 chicken). They were good but not exceptional. We had a variety of main courses (2 seafood dishes and 2 beef dishes). Once again, all were good but not exceptional. We shared the dessert platter - 3 very good desserts.
While meal wasn't outstanding, it was perfectly good for a quick pre-theater dinner. We'd recommend it on that basis.

The check-in staff are overwhelmed, they could use better training, at the very least, they could smile.
The waiter, Carlos, was great! Very pleasant, tried to anticipate our needs, did not make us feel rushed. Overall a great dinner.

Lively venue. Great service. Very busy on Fridays and Weekends. Live music on Fridays. If you are seated on 1st floor near the door it can be very loud.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Always great here! We’ve been coming here for years. The margaritas and mojitos are awesome. It is a little tight for space but it’s a fun atmosphere!

Went to Havana Central fo Thanksgiving. We had reservations but waited about 20 minutes for our table. Once seated we were greeted and placed our drink and dinner orders. We didn't see our waiter again for 40 minutes after that initial encounter. When he came back to our table he gave us the dessert menus and asked us if we would like dessert. I told him we hadn't received our dinner yet and that we wanted to order more drinks. He just walked away and did not ask us what we wanted for drinks. I called a manager over and explained what was happening and he said that he would get our drinks and that they would be on the house. Finally our meal came about an hour into sitting there. When we got the bill the drinks that we were told would be free were on the bill.

The staff were welcoming and pleasant and the venue itself had a fun energy. The live music is a great touch. Overall a very nice experience. Paella Valencia was awesome for a Thanksgiving dinner

We went for thanksgiving and it was amazing! I have been to Havana central before and they never disappoint. Great drinks, great food and amazing service!!! Love this place!!!

Good food, good alcoholic drinks, excellent service.

Great restaurant but very noisy. Recommend before after theater

The food was AMAZING and we got free bday flan which was awesome. We adored the atmosphere and the decor. However, we felt a bit neglected by our waitress. It took a long time to get water and for her to finally check on our table. A little bit disappointing.

Excellent Cuban typical food choices that may be complemented with a Cuban drink. Service is great, live music is contagious. Appetizers choices are the best.

I’ve left a bunch of reviews before and they’ve all been super positive. Only concern this time around was that all of the hosts at the front seemed a bit... miserable? Totally understand that at peak hours for dinner it can get hectic and stressful, but it was a strange first impression coming in. Servers though were awesome as always!

Always on point, food and service

We have been here several times before the theatre and it is always delicious and service is great! Nice ambiance too.

Multiple visits. Convenient central mid-town location. Solid Cuban fare. Good service. Will keep returning.

Great vegan quinoa bowl! Service was timely and food arrived at right temperature. Nice place for pre show dinner.

Everything was excellent, including the drinks. Pretty loud with the live music, but it all contributed to the ambiance.

Great meal and vibe! Would come back next time in the city!!

Tired, oily food served in a beat up, dirty restaurant. My guests said it was the worst meal they had ever had in NYC. Everyone felt vaguely ill afterwards.

Our food was, simply put, not very good. And arrived cold. We have eaten at Havana Central in Roosevelt Mall — and that was good! So we expected a decent meal. This, instead, was the worst pernil I’ve ever had.

Great atmosphere and amazing food!
Would defo recommend

Good food and decent service, but chaotic and loud. The W 38th location is more intimate and charming.

Good food, good service, definitely shall return.

The food wins! Good service and quality. Busy place, a bit noisy but very worthwhile because the food was fantastic.

I've been here many times over the years, the food is good, not great. Depending on what you order, I got the mango glazed salmon and was happy with it. My niece got the shredded beef dish and couldn't eat it - it was so dry and chewy. She felt bad to send it back and kept asking for different sauces to try to make it edible, but nothing helped. The mojitos were delish and the service was on point, our waiter was great. The atmosphere is loud and busy.

A visit to NYC for the day

Spectacular food and amazing cranberry sangria! Most importantly, my cuban boyfriend has finally found authentic tres leches in NYC!

Great food

We've been to this restaurant many times after going to the theater and have always had a great time -- it may be too "touristy" for some people, but we're pretty down-to-earth and don't really enjoy so-called "sophisticated" venues. The restaurant staff are all genuinely nice, friendly people that seem to want everyone to have a good time, and we do. Every time. The food is great and the pitchers of sangria are always a highlight. I could have stood to walk all the way home to Battery Park City on Sunday night after overeating (again) but oh, was it worth it. I haven't made it to Cuba itself yet, but I feel like I'm there -- just a little bit -- every time I come to Havana Central. Thank you to everyone for making every dinner there special!

Always enjoy the liveliness of this restaurant and good food.

Havana Central is a wonderful restaurant for a nice meal for two or a special occasion for a group. The food is delicious and full of the authentic flavors of Cuba. The staff are outstanding in every way: friendly, efficient and caring. The ambiance is great. I love looking at all the magazine covers from 1929 Cuba which adorn the walls. And don’t forget the music - whether recorded or live, it creates the proper mood to accompany your dining experience.

I love this place! The staff is so nice and friendly.
The food is delicious and the mojitos are awesome!

The waiter Carlos was very excellent with his service. Person with great sense of humor. On the order hand, the food wasn’t good enough. My family and I ordered what was suppose to be great food. but instead gave us food with 30 scoops of salt in each individual plate.

Great night with my son celebrating his 21st. Carlos our server was first class. He made a real fuss of my son amd enaured a memorable evening of good food, wine and song. Lively, lovely and made great memories. What more could you ask for? Thank you to Carlos , the team at Havana and of course the chef!

You better make sure you and your party are on time because it was CROWDED! They were nice to give the 15 min grace period and the waitress was great and told us what was a quick dish so we could make the theatre. Food was surprisingly DELICIOUS with great authentic hot sauce. I thought the food would be watered down tourist food....NOT! Great food and AWESOME mojitos! I would recommend. But get there early for pre-theatre..