Bongos Cuban Cafe

Alex was very friendly and attentive. He helped me with suggestions and takes pride in his great bloody marys. Really appreciate the hospitality and friendly conversation, especially being in from another town when usually customer service isn’t taken as seriously, no worries like that here! Thanks again Alex

I have to say i was quite impressed!!!
I had a ton of time to kill and was looking forward to getting some cuban food at La Carreta or Versailles, but come to find out, i was held up in Terminal H, not in D where the other restaurants are located. Even with all the time i had, TSA wouldn’t let me into terminal D without a boarding pass for a flight out of there, so i was pretty bummed, but decided to give Bongo’s a shot, and this sure turned my day around.
From the outside, i just passed this place over a couple of times, as you see no real kitchen and was expecting some old pre-​made sandwich, reheated and passed off as a cuban sandwich, but oh was i wrong. This cuban sandwich came out piping hot, with melty cheese oozing out, on super soft cuban bread, pressed to perfection with an awesome crunch/​crust on the exterior. WOW, i wasn’t expecting this at all, and this hit it out of the ballpark. Subbed a side of black beans for the plantain chips which was perfect. The bartender/​server was very friendly and accommodating. This was just a great experience over all! Maybe i just got lucky compared to some of the other reviews? but it’s worth a shot, i’d eat here again!

They put an automatic and obligatory tip on food even when it’s to go. It’s very pushy and obnoxious and frankly, un-​American

1. Any place that auto-​adds a gratuity is automatically a 1 star for being a classless act.
2. A Cuban, in Miami, with NO mustard OR pickles!!! That’s not a Cuban…

Wanted some warm food before boarding my flight home and thought this would be a good choice. Had their pork shoulder (pernil) with black beans and rice. It was mediocre but I’m at the airport – what more can I expect. I’m not a fan of the crunchy rice found at the bottom of the pot and that appears to have been my serving. I shouldve ate at Puerto Sagua before going to the airport.

For airport food, I would even go four stars. But overall, this is a solid three-​star stop. Best food in MIA, I think.
If you’re in a hurry, sit at the bar. Great and quick service.

Stopped here while we waited for our flight. For airport food I was really impressed iwth their Cuban and Beef Sandwiches. The server/​bartender was very friendly and attentive.

This place was a HUGE disappointment. On my way home from Peru, I had to get some food before boarding a second plane. I had planned on getting Carreta’s, but my flight was out of terminal J, which apparently is not connected to the rest of the airport (or if it is, I couldn’t figure it out). Anyway, I went to Bongo’s in hopes that I could get some good Cuban food. This food was not even good for airport food. It was just bad. I got the pan con bistec. It was worse than a sandwich from a school cafeteria. The steak was tough and had no flavor, it was supposed to have grilled onions, but it had raw. The whole sandwich had no flavor and was overtaken by bread. I asked if they had any hot sauce hoping for aji or something and was handed tobasco *hand on head*. The girl who worked there was very nice, but for 13 $ I was upset at the (poor) quality of this food.

In two separate occasions I have had the chance to sit and wait for my flight at Bongo’s in MIA. The two times have been pretty much the same. Shame on me for falling in the trap twice.
The Same waiter has taken my order on both occasions and this guy is super nice and very attentive. He sure works hard for his tip.
The first time in, I had a few beers and ordered a chicken sandwich with everything. It took nearly enough time for me to take down 2 more beers before my food arrived. It was huge but once I flip the top layer of Cuban bread, there wasn’t much chicken but onions and other senseless condiment. The sandwich was just dry.
The second time around I had a few beers and ordered a Cuban sandwich and what do you know? It was lacking the main ingredient ham and pork. It was bone dry and the bread stale enough it could of bounced back is dropped on the ground.
I didn’t care about complaining because it’s on the company card but I sure won’t be coming back.

No unsweetened iced tea; only Coca-​Cola brand soft drinks here. The Cuban sandwich was alright, but didn’t pack much flavor and took about half an hour to arrive from some unseen kitchen in the bowels of the building. I was wondering if my order had been forgotten since the place was not busy and the bartender/​server was the only visible employee and HE certainly wasn’t making it.
The bill for a sandwich and a Coke was $ 15.22 including tax and a pre-​added 18% gratuity. Overall this wasn’t a terrible experience for an airport café, but if you don’t have much time before your flight or don’t want to pay a pre-​defined ‘gratuity’ charge regardless of service received I’d try elsewhere.

Giselle made us fantastic mojitos. The food didn’t have a ton of flavor but when we added some mojo sauce, it took the pulled pork to a new level!

I REALLY wanted to eat here. I wanted a Cuban sandwich as my last meal on my way out of Miami after a long weekend of sun, palm trees, South Beach and friends. I walked up to the bar around 11:30, and it wasn’t open despite the airport website’s listed hours of 10am. Thankfully, the bartender was nice enough to make me a drink, and whe I realized the kitchen wasn’t open, she was nice enough to let me go next door to La Pausa to get food that never came, but that’s another review… and come back to pay her when she opened at noon.
Really great help at Bongo’s, but the website and the establishment need to be on the same page.

As good as airport food gets. We were desperately looking for a last-​minute cuban sandwich since we didn’t get a chance to eat one during our time in Miami. A few bartenders suggested this place so we went to try it out. The cuban sandwich was nicely toasted, it was about $ 8. We also got the «spicy» pan seared scallops, which were not spicy at all — $ 10. Their mojito was pretty good too, very refreshing.
Overall, it was really good food for an airport food court. The «café» is located in the middle of the food court, with bar seats in a circle around the bar. The food comes out from the kitchen which is in another room behind the food court, separated from the café. I would highly recommend anyone waiting for their next flight at Miami Airport to try this place out. One thing to note though, the food does take about 10 minutes to come out so plan accordingly.
Also, big ups to the bartender. There was ONE bartender to tend to about 20 different guests. He did a decent job and didn’t lose his cool.