Cafe Cuba & Cakes

CUBA 🇨🇺

📍 12215 S. Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, South Bay

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (20 February 2026) is available as part of the Free Friday Favorites section of our Substack page. Check that out here:
https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/cafe-cuba-and-cakes-los-angeles

Whether it has been vandalized or oxidized, the signage on fast-paced Hawthorne Blvd. is almost impossible to read, allowing this long-running Hawthorne favorite to hide in plain sight. You probably would not get a whiff of the glorious breads being made in the back while at full speed down the boulevard either unfortunately. It takes a friend's suggestion to find your way here, and one look at the families and groups that you will see eating together is proof of that.

If you take your meal at one of the well-spaced tables inside, you will see people walking out with multiple bags of 40 cent bolillos, Cuba's staple bread loaf, and if you peek into the back kitchen you will see rolling bakery carts with many trays of breads and sweets. If you do not make your own cubanos at home, make sure to save some space for dessert or just come for coffee and a pastry since it is obvious the bakery is doing so well.

This is also all the more reason to order one of their many sandwiches, of which they have all the favorite Cuban options like pan con bistec, milanesa, lechon and of course the cubano itself. If you prefer the medianoche ($11.95, above), the same sandwich ingredients as a cubano but on a sweet egg-y soft bread, you will be impressed by the one here. This is pressed in the toaster just like the others, creating a crispy top and making sure the insides are nice and close.

What makes this one of the best Cuban sandwiches in town is the perfect ratio of ingredients and pickly-ness. If someone compares this to a ham and cheese sandwich, they deserve a slap in the face. Despite having both of those items, the keys to a delicious cubano or medianoche are the juicy pernil, which is excellent here, and a layer of crisp pickles.

Moving on from the bread and bakery related dishes, having full meals here is rewarding simply because they make a very delicious sofrito. More than a spice or a sauce, sofrito is the foundation of a Cuban home kitchen and is an assortment of always aromatic ingredients and spices that are sauteed together with cooking oils to use as a base. Many of the platos here (served with rice and beans, plantains, and bread) have meats served with sofrito, so whether you are in the mood for oxtails, pork, beef or chicken, plan to enjoy every bite.

While you are likely to find ropa vieja at any restaurant calling itself Cuban, the beef pot roast of this island nation called boliche ($18.95, above) is much more rare because it requires a very talented chef. Thick slices of eye round look dry and tough at first glance but are perfectly tender and juicy. Some slices are stuffed with olives and chorizo in the center like you often see with this dish, but the good cuts of beef and wonderful sofrito would be enough to satisfy on their own.

All the platos have a choice between white rice and black beans and moro, as well as tostones or maduros, so get two options to have all four of these things simultaneously. There is no weak link. You also get a half piece of toasted bolillo with these as well, especially useful to make sure no drop of sofrito goes wasted on the bottom of a plate.

The costillas de puerco ($16.95, above) are just as satisfying as the boliche, big pork ribs also living in the sofrito. These are again cooked by someone who knows very well what they are doing and have the comforting taste of many decades of experience somehow. Every bite of these and the pork-y black beans that are a must order are a full taste of Cuba.

Hopefully you have room for one of their delicious pastelitos before you leave, but even if you have stuffed yourself silly take some home for later or tomorrow morning with your coffee. The pastelito de guayaba y queso ($1.35, above) has the perfect ratios of guava paste (which you can also buy a block of!) and cheese. The flaky bread around it all is made with skill as expected.

Cubans and Cuban cuisine lovers in Hawthorne are very lucky to have a place like this nearby, but honestly it is also worth driving to from wherever you live if the cravings creep up. From coffee and a bolillo in the morning to a large round of platos fuertos at lunch and dinner to the end of the night with that medianoche, this restaurant is doing everything right.

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Mambo's Cafe

CUBA 🇨🇺

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (18 October 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/mambos-cafe-cuban-glendale-los-angeles

Always fascinated by odd geographies, it does not quite seem fair that a location west of the 5 should not be included in the Valley. But this small part of massive Glendale pokes out towards Burbank and gobbles up a few blocks in that area on the other side of the interstate. While Burbank could use some delicious food to call its own, unfortunately this section of Victory Blvd. and Mambo's cannot quite be claimed.

It does seem that a lot of Burbank workers make their way here for lunch though, as the parking lot and patio fill up for quick meals. The owner knows a lot of the customers by name and greetings for locals are in abundance. But walking in for the first time is also like walking into a friend's home, each customer is treated like a long-time regular.

Many foods from around the world have yet to reach mass-market appeal for lunches with a group of diverse colleagues, but Cuban food has a certain accessibility that offers something for anyone. A decent array of fried goodies, beef and potatoes, delicious sandwiches, and rice and beans.

In fact the appetizer list is so full of fried goodies that an order of the Mambo combo platter ($18.95, above) makes a great beginning. This plate is loaded by ground beef-stuffed empanadillas, ham pate croquetas, very potato-forward papas rellenas, tostones with mojo, and Spanish chorizo.

As for the sandwiches, the media noche ($10.95, above) is often the most satisfying of options. Made with the same ingredients as the cubano (roast pork, ham, pickles, mustard), the thing that sets this sandwich apart is the sweet egg bread that is toasted nicely.

As with the roast pork ($13.95, below) entree, that particular meat was dry in both dishes on this visit, but very tasty. Play with the mojo and salsa that they give you and all is well. Next time dishes like ropa vieja and camarones al ajillo will get a look. Although not what Cuban food is famous for (at least in the US), vegetarians will be impressed by the section of the menu focusing on plant-based options.

📍 1701 Victory Blvd., Glendale, Verdugos

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE, Cash App $JaredCohee, or click here to send PayPal donation, where no account is necessary. Thank you!

Gigi's Café Cubano

🇨🇺 CUBA

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (07 December 2023) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/gigis-cafe-cubano

 

Gigi's is the type of place that you could accidentally end up eating all three meals of the day in one sitting. You might step in for a delicious café con leche and a pastry and before you know it, conversations with others have been going on for hours and despite having finished of a cubano in this time you are already starting to feel hungry again thanks to the plates of the other customers that keep coming and going.

This bustling little modern café has been around since 1968 but updated over the years. When the sun is shining on this side of Temple Street in the morning, there may be no better spot in town than those few tables in front. Otherwise order at the counter and take any available seat, they will call your name when the order is ready. It is a great spot to join everyone, make friends, and feel like you are somewhere in Miami's Little Havana.

If you have ever made a trip to the real Havana, you will have became addicted to the jam-like guava puree that seemed to be sold in every market. It has been hard to resist a pastelito de guayaba y queso ($0.99 each, above) in any Cuban bakery every since, and the ones here at Gigi's are superb.

They also cater to the neighborhood very well and bake a range of tasty Mexican and Salvadoran pan dulce. You could spend quite a few weeks trying each of their popular selections, and by the looks of the tables, many people are doing just that.

A Cuban bakery in Los Angeles would be nothing without a fresh papa rellena ($1.25 each, above) on offer, and Gigi's does not let you down in this regard either. This "stuffed potato" is full of spices and ground beef, the mash is thick enough to stand up to the fryer and deliver both a soft interior and crispy exterior.

UPDATE 25 APR 2021: On a recent morning, still unable to sit back down at Gigi's because of pandemic precautions, a decent takeout haul (below) was procured to eat at home. The pan con bistec ($9.95, left) and media noche ($8.95, top right), both come with crisp plantain chips and really hit the spot. Of course more pastelitos and papas rellenas were ordered for good measure.

📍 2200 W. Temple Street, Historic Filipinotown, Central Los Angeles

🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE, Cash App $JaredCohee, or click here to send PayPal donation, where no account is necessary. Thank you!