La Cabana Restaurant Reviews

La Cabaña Latin American restaurant in the north Greenlake neighborhood in Seattle is a great little place! Top notch Honduran, Salvadoran, and Latin American food! I started coming here for the pupusas (which are heavenly), and eventually got around to trying a lot more. Their tamales are out of this world - the masa is so moist that it’s almost creamy! My new fave dish is one of their combo platters, has a pupusa, a tamale, three pastelitos (small meat empanada-like things), fried plantain, fried yucca, chicharrones (fried pork rind that melts in your mouth)... it’s a smorgasbord of goodness! Also phenomenal breakfasts! And great chips and house-made guacamole. And horchata. And margaritas. I wish this place was in my neighborhood, but as it is - it’s SO worth the drive. Highly, highly recommended! Just last night my nine-year old was working on his second pupusa after finishing his first off with a tamale and chips & guac. He said he didn’t think he could finish. I told him he could stop if he was full, and he said, “but it’s SO GOOD!”

I had lunch today with a friend who grew up in Honduras and allowed him to order from really varied menu. The menu offers a number of selections from the different countries of Central America as indicated on the menu by an imprint of the national flag of each particular selection. The food was delicious, quickly served and the service was outstanding. The dining area is not particularly large but it was full the majority of the time we were there. Located on a busy street, there is parking just to the east of the restaurant. If I lived in this area, I would eat here frequently. Don't miss it!

Not only is the staff here genuinely friendly and welcoming, but the food is incredible! I'd definitely recommend the Central American breakfast!

My wife and I went to La Cabana shortly after it opened and found everything to be excellent. Went there again just yesterday to see if standards had been maintained. They had. All of the usual appetizers, plus carne asada typical plate, were well prepared. Service, as before, was very friendly. It's now a standard go-to place for us for Central American food

This was our first time at La Cabana, and it won't be our last. We were there on a chilly evening and were seated at a table right in front of the door. Needless to say, it was a bit chilly there. We had to keep our coats on to keep from freezing every time the door opened. The place is pretty small, and they've packed in as much seating as possible so it is noisy. In spite of this, it was very enjoyable. The food was wonderful. We all had different dishes; everyone was quite satisfied. The sangria was very good. Our server was very nice, but all our meals did not come out at the same time. (And the later ones took quite a bit longer!)

We came across this restaurant by accident while leaving another restaurant that was closed for the day. At first when I saw the name I thought oh just another Mexican Restaurant, that is until I saw the flags of El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Honduras in the windows. There is absolutely nothing fancy about this this place, it is small and somewhat crowded. We were greeted and seated as soon as we walked in the door. The wait staff who also seem to be the cooks too speak English and Spanish. For drinks I had the tamarind juice and it was great! My wife (a Panamanian) had the Nance Juice that was also very good. My wife ordered two chicken tamales and I order one pork. These are not Mexican tamales and I find them much better. They are wrapped in banana leaves and prepared fresh while you wait. I had and please forgive me for not remembering the name a meal of Pork Chops that came with these great pickled onions. The meal was great! For desert we had some flan. There flan is great it is smooth like it is supposed to be, if you eat there don’t miss the flan. If you have not had food from Central America you should really try it. It is not Mexican but much better!

There has been a lot of buzz in the neighborhood about the authentic entrees served up by the owner/operator, so we dropped in to give it a try. The dining area faces on to the main street which is busy and offers no view. The décor is simple and bright, with a very casual vibe and international soccer games on mid-size screens. The tables are moveable and can accommodate larger groups. The menu offers a wide variety of dishes from most central American countries. We started with a couple of cocktails (Mojito & Margarita)that were large but a little weak. We had the Hilachas De Carne, Plantano en Miel and traditional Carne Asada. Each dish came with generous sides of whole beans and rice. The seasoning of each was distinct and savory. It was fun to try all the different options, kudo's to the chef for the skills to craft all these options! My son topped it all off with a homemade flan that was yummy. Three people, two drinks, entrees and one dessert came to $94 with tip, so not in the 'cheap eats' category. We will be back to try some of the other entreees.

This was a great night out and we really enjoyed ourselves here with a tasty meal and a warm and inviting atmosphere. As you walk in the bright orangey, red, and yellow walls greet you with their vivid bright hues as well as the waitress with a large beaming smile and the genuinely caring owner who visited our table to make sure everything was great with our meal and we were being taken care of. The menu is full of Central American specialties and favorites along with both sodas and alcoholic drinks available,I chose a cool and refreshing horchata. I tried the pollo a la parilla which was super tasty and prepared very well, the chicken was perfectly cooked and side dishes on the platter were expertly and seamlessly prepared alongside it.Colorful, aromatic, fresh, plentiful portions. The camarones rancheros were excellent also in their delicious accompanying homemade sauce and it wasn't even finished it was so big a platter of deliciousness and it was very filling. The refills of water came quickly and the service and conversation by the manager and staff as great. Restrooms clean.Televisions on the walls showed sporting events. I would come back here again.

We went on Cinco de Mayo to an off the normal Mexican track. La Cabaña was perfect in every way. We went early (4 PM) because we were afraid there might be a crowd later. It was busy with just 4 tables taken. We had an unusual group of 5, which they handled quickly by moving a table and a chair. There was a group of regulars at the bar eating, drinking and speaking Spanish. A few other tables were taken by youngish (in their 30's) and they were having fun including a new baby that sensed the fun atmosphere. There were two orders of Molcajete (Specialty of the House) $20.99. That is what I will order on my next visit when I am really hungry. Only one could finish it and the other took home his portion for another meal, but it will not be so dramatically served. The sizzling hot molcajete stone kept its heat for almost an hour. I had, as did another, El Casado (Costa Rica) $15.99 with chicken. It also generated some leftover take home containers. My wife had the Bistec Encebollado (Nicaragua) $16.50, which she also loved and had a meal’s worth of leftovers. Three orders of flan (one was coconut, which was a wow) and two plain delicious flans. One order of Empanadas de Leche $5.99 finished the meal and a unique experience on an early Saturday, Cinco de Mayo, dinner. We left at 5:30 and the place was almost completely full.

I love Central American food, and La Cabaña did not disappoint. I especially appreciated that the origin of the dishes was noted on the menu. There were three of us, so we each ordered a pupusa, chorizo and spinach. We got a plate of plantains with beans and crema, which were delicious. We also ordered the chicharron and fried yucca plate. The yucca was yummy, as was the chicharron, except they weren't what we were used to. It was large chunks of fatty pork, and while the flavor was good, we weren't a fan of the thick layers of soft fat in between the meat. In fact, we are accustomed to the deep fried, crispy chicharron, so we probably wouldn't order this again. I'd love to see nacatamales and vigorón (Nicaraguan) added to the menu.

Never having had Central American food before, we were a bit wary about this place. Not any more! Huge variety of food, obviously created with a loving hand. Family owned, the people are very friendly and helpful. We picked a bunch of appetizers, worked well. Get rid of any fear of new foods, everything was really great. Very reasonable prices. This will be our go-to place for lunch in Seattle.

When we were visiting family in Seattle, we wanted a place where we could comfortably meet and chat awhile. This restaurant was perfect for this. I love the location in a quiet neighborhood where the traffic is not chaotic. The food is very unique and tasty. I had no idea what to order, as I am not familiar with South American dishes. I went with the Pan Relleno for $7.99. It's a marinated chicken sub. I enjoyed it very much. Most entrees were much higher in price though. Most dishes range from $14-$20, which I think is a bit high. There were eight of us and everyone liked their food. This being said the menu needs much better descriptions of the dishes. None of us had any idea what we were ordering, as we are not familiar with this type of food. We all took a wild guess when we ordered. Moreover, this restaurant does not offer a kids menu. Customer service was my greatest problem with this restaurant. I am a good tipper, but I reserve good tips for good service. I did not appreciate being forced to pay a 20% tip to a bad waitress. The menu states that a 20% gratuity will calculated for parties greater than 5. I don't agree with this policy. Restaurants should pay their employees, rather than forcing their customers to do it. Besides, we had several separate tickets, since we met for dinner. Our waitress barely spoke English. We ordered all waters and two child's root beers. We ended up getting one adult sized root beer. My husband tried to explain that we only got one root beer, but we wanted two for very young children. She came back with two child sized root beers, but still charged us for the original large root beer. We could not make her understand. My water was empty through most of my meal. In the end, we ended up paying a 20% tip when we would not have left a tip at all and we had to pay $2.50 for a drink that we did not order. Plus, the food was on the pricey side.

I didn't really know what to expect coming here. My sister just moved into the neighborhood and had been here lots - loved it. I didn't know what the difference would be between Central American and Mexican food. Well, it's the difference between French & Italian! Both are great, but spicing, ingredients and so much else is different and unique. Small restaurant atmosphere. Great service. And delicious, can't wait to come back again, food.

I hope this place never dies. It is the best food you will ever taste. My boyfriend and I come here often and there is nothing like it that I have found. I crave it all the time and would probably eat here if it was my last meal on earth. The staff is friendly and there is not a single bit of room for improvement. EAT HERE. You will not be disappointed.

Meals are a bit pricey but you get quality home cooked food. Carne Assada is great. The “bendeja” combo is my favorite. It is a diner atmosphere with strong food smells which will stick with your clothes but the food is wonderful as is the staff. This is a top pick for us.

We came here earlier in the year when visiting family in Seattle and were impressed back then. This time, we tried the zucchini and the chicharon pupusas with plantains and the molcajete. While everything was super good, the molcajete was overpriced at $26.99 for the quantity of food. We order molcajete at other places for less money and have enough food that we take half home. This one had a few slices of beef (guessing flank steak), nopales, jalapeno, green onion, avocado and queso. It was yummy, but the meat was scarce. The pupusas were outstanding.

I had driven past this new restaurant several times, finally looked it up on the web, and after seeing the great reviews decided to visit tonight with a friend. We were not disappointed. The place is somewhat small, but it was mostly filled by the time we left. Most of the eaters were speaking Spanish. We each had a pupusa (from El Salvador). I had one stuffed with spinach and cheese and my friend had one stuffed with chicken. It wasn't listed on the menu but she cannot each much dairy so requested one without dairy or pork as neither of us eat pork.. A pupusa is a savory corn masa stuffed with a filling. Both were delicious. They were not heavy in cheese and somewhat delicate. Both arrived hot and were delicious. The came with two bottles of sauce, one was spicy and the other not spicy--in fact it was very mild and perfect for us. The pupusa came with a tiny cabbage salad which was spicy, too much so for us, but we both do not deal with spicy well. We were going to order a pupusa and one tamale but the waitress told us that there probably was some pork oil in the tamale, so we thanked her and got 2 pupusas. The pupusas were $2.50 each. We shared Salpicon from Honduras as our main dish, which cost $13.50. It was minced beef blended with diced onions, cilantro and lime juice and was delicious. It came with rice and a salad with a light dressing. The rice had a few vegetables in it and was nicely seasoned. I was delighted at how light the meat was as I rarely eat beef. We mixed the rice and meat together and really enjoyed the meal. We both splurged on a specialty house drink for $2.50 each and one free refill. I got Maracuya (passion fruit) and my friend got Tamarindo--a refreshing sweet/tart tamarind fruit drink. It actually was less sweet than the passion fruit drink. We finished our meal by sharing a fried plantain with panela and cinnamon topping with a bit of sweetened condensed milk but not overly sweet. Our total bill came to $30. The owner and waitress were delightful and spoke English very well. I also spoke to them in Spanish and said that I was going to Guatemala soon and they wanted to know where. I definitely look forward to going back.

I've driven past this place several times and always say to myself that I need to this place, and I finally did. You really don't notice this restaurant until you are right next to it...facing the restaurant there is a parking lot to right. Once inside it reminded me of the times I've been in different Central American countries, and have spent the day wandering around a town and stumbled upon a restaurant to have lunch, I was warmly greeted as if I were family or an old friend. It took me several minutes to decide on what I wanted to have for lunch, not because the menu is page after page, it was because of the description of each item was mouth watering. I settled on El Casado (Costa Rica) with pork, I was not disappointed. I knew my meal was one that I would enjoy as it was not immediately served to me, I knew the chef wanted perfection for his guest. The pork was still on the bone, and that made me feel even more that I was having an authentic Central American meal, the only thing left on my plate was the bone...the person that served commented on how clean my plate was.

This is a find in North Seattle, their menu covers food from Central America, including: El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatamala & Costa Rica. Pefectly prepared, fulfilling meals for reasonable prices. They are busy with regular customers. We shared the platter with an assortment from their menu, everything was great, especially the tamale and papusa. The soups at the next table smelled delicious and the people eating them gave us a thumbs up when we asked, they said they come here once a week. We were too full for dessert, but will go back for the Empanadas De Leche, which sounds devine. I had the hot chocolate with Mexican chocolate and real milk, it was like from childhood with the skin forming on the top, it's been a long time since I've had that in a restaurant. La Cabana will definitely be a regular for us.

You know its authentic if my picky Salvadoran mother in law wants to go for dinner. She would almost rather grab some papusas from La Cabana than make them herself. Same goes for my wife. Pros: tasty food, decent prices, and the amazingly spicy hot orange sauce for the fried yucca Cons: crowded inside which really is just another indication that they are doing something right. Keep it up!

We ordered carryout for a party of six-- the food was very fresh, well seasoned and delicious. Our visitors from South America particularly enjoyed the meal.