Guayaba Latin Grill

01/05/12

Terrible service! Small portions and pricey!

by pollyUK at Citysearch

We were trying out a Groupon, thankfully, otherwise this would have been a really expensive and terrible experience!

Food portions are fairly small, and rather pricey.

Service was the worst thing. Initially we were told that they don't service diet coke, or any other diet drink! WTH? No diet coke??? Then they said they did and my husband got it, but he said it did not taste like diet (very bad, I'm a diabetic and this could have been disastorous if I'd risked it).

They had no apple juice for the kids either! Or even oj as a substitute.

Waiter took forever to bring our food, but once we got it, it was very taste if rather small portions.

We then ordered a dessert to go as our kids were getting grumpy, and it took 20 mins to arrive - SERIOUSLY - 20 mins to cook a sweet empanada and put it in a take out box. And they no plastic spoons (it comes with ice cream) so gave us a fork!! I LOL as it was soooooooo bad!

Will not be returning.

05/02/11

Very fun experience!

by Chellee at Citysearch

My sisters and I took our mother here for her birthday last Saturday and it was our first time trying it. I was not expecting much from here because it always seems empty despite it being here for years. My sister had heard that they have a live band on saturdays that plays salsa so we were all in to try it.

The menu has a variety of dishes from different latin american countries. I ordered the Pollo Guayaba and two empanadas (one of chicken and the other beef) for $1.95. Before they brought our meals out they served plantain chips with a sweet sauce and another sauce was like oil and cilantro, very delicious! The empanadas were served with some kind of ranch sauce and they were freshly made and delicious as well. My pollo guayaba was unlike anything I had ever tasted. It had very creative flavors, it is stuffed with shrimp and cheese and then they top it off with their guayaba sauce. I finished the whole thing, which is something I rarely do, and I still got to try some of what my family got. After that we took to the floor starting with free salsa lessons from professionals Raye Avery and Irene Griffin. The live band played salsa, merengue, and bachata and they sounded great! We practically danced the whole night, very fun :).

The only negative about the night might have to be the slow waitress. She did not check up on us as often as we would have liked which is aggravating when you are ready to order, but she was still friendly and she did not make a mistake in our order. Overall I am just very happy to have found a live band/dancing spot close to home. The food is absolutely delicious and I hope the word gets out more about this place.

01/29/11

TERRIBLE EVERYTHING

by Derelict at Citysearch

TERRIBLE service and the food has been increasingly smaller in portions and their sauces are watered down. Go in on a Tuesday, you'll be the only one's there. I give this place another three months before they close the doors. 0 STARS

01/17/11

Great Food, Great Music and Dancing!

by Fajardo at Citysearch

The decor is very nice, as soon as you walk in you notice how upscale the place looks. The tables look very clean and the bar very well organized. The staff are friendly, and generally responsive.

The food tastes great! The empanadas are especially good! I have also tried the arroz con mariscos, which is excellent, and the ropa vieja, which is a cuban beef dish that is also quite tasty.

At night on Thursday's they convert part of the dining room into a dance floor, and a live band sets up to play authentic tropical music (salsa, bachata, merengue, cumba). There is a free dance lesson from 7-8pm before the band starts. Then the social dancing begins, and the fun continues until midnight or later!

For an all-around good time and good food, there are very few places like it anywhere else on the north side. Definitely worth checking out!

01/15/11

Bad management, happy hr specials on website are inaccurat

by Estavida at Citysearch

Pros: Seated quickly, staff was friendly, salsa lessons happening on the

dance floor were entertaining

Cons: No one came to our table for 20 minutes after we were seated. We had to call the hostess over to make sure our table was even assigned to anyone. We went for $2 margarita night and were then told that the $2 margarita special (which is still, even today, advertised in BIG RED LETTERS on their website) was no longer in effect. We were told the owner had not updated the website in over a month, but the website indicates that is has been updated in 2011 so it must have been updated within the past 2 weeks. When we asked to speak with a manager, the hostess told us that she was the manager but could not give us the special.

We left and went to Los Cucos, across the highway, and had excellent service and a great time (plus GREAT margaritas for only $5! Much bigger than Guyaba's)

I would recommend Americas, Las Adas or Havana over Guyaba for Latin food. Guyaba is SO poorly managed it's just irritating to go there even though the food is good. Every time I go they are out of something that they shouldn't be out of (chips, orange juice, etc...)