Mojito Cafe

The cover was $ 10 bucks for guys, but free for ladies. Wow thanks, and aren’t men supposed to be buying these bitches their drinks too?
After that, the place was almost empty, and it was a Friday night. That’s pathetic.
And the drinks were REALLY overpriced, and WEAK! I paid $ 10 for this Shit!
and the music was the final nail in the coffin: Mo money, Mo Problems. You seriously think that’s still a cool song?
So glad you’re closed Mojito. Get your trashy ass back to Lake city where it belongs.

I had the worst dining experience here, and I’ll be sure to never go back again.
One of my friends was in town, so we all decided to try the Mojito Café. A friend of mine orders sandwiches there for lunch, but none of us had been there for dinner. Six of us showed up and saw that there was only one waitress on staff for the restaurant (it’s not a big place, but still), and she was the most confused, inept waitress I’ve ever seen.
She took all of our drink orders and messed up my friend’s vodka soda by bringing him a vodka water. She refilled my other friend’s iced tea with just water, and when a third friend ordered a Corona and lime she brought the lime but never the Corona.
Four of us ordered the «signature dish» on the menu (I think it’s called the carne mojito or something like that), We were told ten minutes after we placed our orders that they only had two signature dishes left, so two of us ordered shredded pork instead.
Tons of time went by and we were wondering where our food was. She never refilled our drinks or asked us if we wanted other drinks. She brought our appetizers, but they were all messed up. She dropped off a ceviche we never ordered and then argued with us when we said it wasn’t ours. She also dropped off three shrimp appetizers when we ordered one, one order of empanadas when we ordered two, and no order of calamari when we ordered one.
Finally our food showed up, and she brought one of our friend cicharron, which he didn’t order. They told us to keep the plate and they eventually brought us the stuff we wanted. By then we were all so pissed off that we just wanted to eat and leave as quickly as possible. (The signature dish, by the way, was overcooked, so the beef was as tough as leather.)
The REAL kicker was that when we got the bill, we saw that she had charged us for the two extra signature dishes they were out of PLUS the two shredded pork dishes and the Corona and calamari she never brought, meaning she overcharged us by at least $ 35. I couldn’t believe her ineptitude.
The only positive part of the restaurant were the mojitos (which were good but a little sweet, but they’re only $ 8-​$ 8.50) and the live music (which was entertaining but too loud). I’m never going back here again. It was a huge waste of money and time for food that was okay but certainly not worth the miserable experience.

I don’t mean this in a weird way… but I LOVE MEAT! YAY MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! YAY-​YUM MEAT!
I completely respect vegetarians but actually understand in my heart of hearts that they are making an ethically correct decision that my powerful cravings will never allow me to share. For this, and all of the cows, pigs, bunnies, frogs, chickens, pigeons, deer, elk, fish, buffalo, ostriches, pheasants, snails, and probably kangaroo’s I’ve eaten… I am positive that I am going to hell.
It’s just so damn worth it! What can I say, sometimes there is a hole in me that only meat can fill! (You have a dirty mind).
Mojito’s meats are succulent and wonderfully presented in a cozy comfortable atmosphere that completely forgets to remind me that I’m sitting in Seattle a couple blocks away from a Utilikilt factory!
Instead, whenever I eat here, I have the faint feeling in the back of my mind that I could walk outside into a crystal azure ocean, and have the warm wind blow through my hair before I swiftly rode my dolphin off into the sunset.
That’s how good this place is.

This is first and foremost a drinking/​partying establishment; food seems like an afterthought. Don’t expect anything different.
My bf and I mistakenly dropped in on a Mon night for dinner. It still smelled like a nightclub… the way clubs smell at 2:30am after it finally clears out. There was one server working both the bar and dining area. When she finally came to take our order (after ~20 mins), she had to go back and forth into the kitchen like 4 times to figure what was out and unavailable. It was practically half the menu. In the end, the ceviche and stewed beef we ordered tasted like ass. The dessert (caramel flan) was decent, but my stomach felt funny afterwards.

I happened to wander in here one night after work about a year ago and it seemed like a pretty cool place at first, but soon after walking to the back and seeing the gogo dancers… I decided that perhaps I’d come back another time.

This place really let me down. It looked so damn neat, and the menu looked so enticing. But, as other people have noted, they were out of several items, making both my first and second choice unavailable. I finally settled on a salad, which arrived without the peanuts promised in the menu description.
Service was slow and poor, the food was sub-​par and bland at best, and, we weren’t impressed with our mojitos. Yikes. That’s got to be embarasing for them. And here I was hoping this might turn into another lovely lunch option for me here in LQA. Nope. I’m not convinced a second trip would make me feel any better about the place.

We took the bate on the buzz of Mojito Café. This place was a real disappointment. It feels like it is a dance club first and a restaurant second. The food was an afterthought. Maybe the DJ was cooking.
The drinks were skimpy, the service was polite but clueless and slower than can be bared. One friend’s food was microwave leftovers from the night before with hot and cold pockets in his pork. My halibut was a bit soil-​like and the «fresh fruit» tasted canned.
We had to order the Mojito considering the title of the place, but for $ 8 I do not expect a small plastic cup filled to the top with crushed ice and a large lime wedge and large mint leaf jammed at the bottom. I have never been to Cuba but I always thought Mojitos had muddled mint leaves.
So save your self the trouble, skip dinner and just show up for the music. If you want Caribbean food go to La Isla in Ballard.

Sansa-​sansa. This place used to be a lil hole in the wall and on salsa nights it is impossible to lead any sort of turns. =) But now… the little place’s all grown up! My friends and I come down here for salsa once in a while and it’s always fun. Drinks are stiff… the way I like them.

My wife took me and the kids here for my birthday and we had a fun time…
Overall, it is a pretty neat place. The food is good, the décor is tropical, drinks are refreshing and the service is friendly.
We went Sunday (during the Stooper Bowl) for lunch. They have weird hour (they don’t open until 2pm), but when you add the fact that they are a nightclub too, it starts to make sense. There is some weird Seattle phenomenon where the clubs serve double duty as restaurants (even breakfast spots) during the daylight hours.
We were the first patrons in the restaurant, which was a little weird, but we got our pick of tables! We ordered small plate for the kid, but unfortunately they were out of empanadas that day, for which the server was very apologetic (a mentioned in other reviews). She did, however, make great drink recommendations for the kids.
We started with ceviche and I totally recommend this place on the ceviche alone! They have several different types and the traditional was excellent. Our mouths had a pleasant tingle after eating it; the spice was just right.
I ordered the vaca frita, medium rare as I like all my steaks. It is a ¼″ thin steak, very nicely marinated. It was delivered well done, but in retrospect, I think that was the way it wa meant to be served. It wasn’t too dry and because of the marinade, very flavorful.
The Mojito Café has a robust tropical drink menu and like it is named serves mojitos. Although I have some friends who say the drink is passé, they were still quite good.
I bet it would be cool to go here at night when it is a club, too.

One recent Saturday night, i left a show at NECTAR early (the frat boys were congregating and the first band was done playing) and walked to my truck, my final destination– MOJITO’S. I spoke to some folks on the sidewalk as i walked. When i told them where i was headed they said: «Lame.» I tried to figure out why they didn’t like Mojito’s but got no real answer. I walked with the trio until they slowed down as we approached BRAUER’S. They were going to drink beer there. «LAME» I said.
OK sorry that was the preamble. Mojito’s is in a seemingly triangle-​shaped (or at least trapezoidal) space with a bar and a big dance room. It was pretty packed and tough to get a drink at the tropical beach cabana themed bar, so when a security guy advised me that there was a second bar in the ball room, I braved my way through the well-​dressed salsa crowd, across the dance floor, to the back bar.
Now here is an authentic Cubano experience. literally a hole cut in the wall, the «bar» was poorly stocked, completely bare of any bar accouterments (decoration, garnishes like lime, cash register, refrigeration, tonic water, cranberry juice, etc. etc. etc.). Pretty funny experience.
While loud salsa and Latin jazz entertained dancers in the ball room, a loud acoustic samba band pulsed away in the bar. It was fun to dance and watch people here.
Parking isn’t easy around here.

When we first moved to Seattle, everyone and their brother pointed us in the direction of the Mojito Café, claiming it be an authentic Cuban-​style restaurant, complete with ambiance, salsa dancing, and of course, mojitos.
Somewhat rhythmically challenged, the two of us are, we decided to try the Mojito Café more for the food the first time ’round. Maybe try the dancing another night? Or maybe after a few mojitos, who knew?
Upon entering the neon-​lit café, we were greeted with blaring fast-​paced Latin music. After walking down a long corridor, we discovered a seat-​yourself-​situation with no desirable tables in sight. The only available tables were right next to the kitchen with a view into the dingy dish station. Roth rolled his eyes at my outward distaste in the seating arrangement, but agreed to move to another table, also next to the kitchen, sans the dirty dish view.
After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally greeted by the waitress who took our drink order. I opted for the mojito — when in Rome, er, Cuba, eh? One would expect that a restaurant named after the mojito drink would serve a kick-​ass mojito. And to be fair, at the time, I’d only had one other mojito in my life with which to compare. However, their version seemed watered down, bland, lifeless. The mint was bruised and wilted, and it kept sneaking up through my straw, which was annoying, getting a mouthful of bitter mint with each sip. Roth played it safe with a Corona.
For dinner, I ordered their «top seller signature item» — Parrilla Mojito, or juicy citrus marinated tri tip steak with white rice, black beans, fried yucca, tostones (crispy fried green plantains) and guasacaca (sort of like avocado chutney). Roth went with, surprise, yet another of their signature items — Pollo a la Parrilla, or a juicy half chicken served with the exact same accouterment as my steak dish.
After a rather plain iceberg lettuce salad, we sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. All the while, anxiously tapping our toes and fingers to the loud music and watching the three young waitresses manically flit about the small dining room. It was a Saturday night, and while the restaurant seemed full, it was hardly overflowing. Why was our food, and signature items at that, taking so dang long, we wondered.
And then the manager came over. This can’t be good. Apparently, the kitchen had run out of half chickens, and would it be OK if they prepared the same entre with a boneless chicken breast, would we like some appetizers or more drinks, your waitress was scared to tell you, the chicken dinner will be on the house — all of this was relayed in one long sentence by the nervous manager, who if he only knew that we were reviewing his place, he’d probably comp the entire meal. But more drink? Sure, Roth’ll have another Corona! Free appetizer? Sure, bring on the tostones!
Finally, our entrees arrived. The tri tip steak was truly juicy and succulent while the guasacaca served as a refreshing dipping sauce. I properly mixed the black beans and white rice together. And surprisingly I enjoyed the starchy sweetness of the fried yucca as well. Roth, who was looking forward to a half chicken because he claims I never let him eat meat with bones which is so not true, still managed to enjoy the boneless version of the dish with all of the appropriate accompaniments.
When all was said and done, Roth’s entrée, second beer and the tostone appetizer were left off of the bill. The manager apologized profusely for the wait several times, as if somehow he knew that we were taking the entire experience at his restaurant into account. We left the place feeling fairly satisfied with our meals and only slightly disappointed in the service and wait time. All in all, the Mojito Café meant well, but fell just a little short.

I have to disagree… as i really like this restaurant especially for lunch as their lunch specials are quite reasonable. I really like their parrilla mojito — their specialty dish and their cuban sandwiches. The service — i will admit isn’t the best if they get busy as they are a bit understaffed.
The mojito’s are quite good and two of my best friends from LA always make it a point to stop in for one… well who i am i kidding. its more like 4 everytime they swing up this way.

Mojitos is yet another fabulous restaurant tucked away in an unassuming corner of North Seattle. The staff is friendly, the mojitos are tasty, and their grilled chicken (and we’re talking an entire half of a chicken) is definitely worth the trip. It’s a small, cozy little space with bright décor and lots of «graffiti» left by former patrons. Overall, if you’re bored with the usual and want something new, Mojitos is a great place to go.

Larger, noisier, and more pleasing to the eye, I prefer the Mojito Café on Western Ave. to the original restaurant located in Lake City. It’s spacious enough to accomodate salsa dancing on certain nights and musical guests in the bar section.
This colorful restaurant offers tantalizing dishes from Cuba, Venezuela and Peru. Most of the dishes come with rice mixed with vegetables, fried plantains, and yucca.
On my last visit, I tried a yam-​encrusted halibut, with mango topping. Delicious! Less impressive were the the accompanying rice with mixed vegetables (bland) and the heavily soaked-​in-​oil fried plantains. On other occasions I have sampled the chicken dishes and been satisfied, though not blown away. The drinks in the themselves are another reason to visit Mojito Café. The mojito is killer, and the Tamborachu-​something or other (pardon, the Mojito Café website is under construction so I can’t verify the spelling of the drink!) rocks! Rum, coconut liquer, pineapple, and something else comprise this yummy concoction.
Overall, I recommend the Mojito Café for satisfying meals, delicious drinks, and a fun atmosphere.

What can I say –the bomb! Sexy staff too. Cute little space, great music and atmosphere. Makes ya feel like you popped down to Puerto Rico for dinner or somethin’. Just go there.
P. S. They are NOT closed! They are open on the ave, and have AMAZING live music, still the best food in town, and still hot servers that straight take care of ya. Puh — «Closed»! Why I oughtta!!!

Mojito Café is a Cuban restaraunt tucked away next to the Roosevelt, Interstate 5 and Lake City junction in the north part of the University District. It could easily be overlooked, which is unfortunate.
Mojitos offers a small menu of Cuban and South American dishes, mostly containing steak or shredded beef with beans and rice. They also have two vegetarian dishes that are really quite delicious.
While the food is exceptional (and very «authentic» — whatever that means) and the environment is charming (a small rectangular building; only a few seats) what I always remember about Mojitos is the service. The waitstaff are incredibly friendly and genuinely make an effort to get to know their customers. It’s not uncommon to see them greet past customers with a hug or a handshake.
I recently went back for my fourth time; it took that many visits before I felt comfortable writing a review. The reason being that each occassion was completely different. The first time I went there was a South American news crew present and while it took an hour to get our food we didn’t notice because we were busy dancing and singing with the other guests. The next two times were equally unexpected (but fun). Finally, I was able to eat there on what appeared to be a «normal» night — by which I mean a bit more laid back, although hardly less personable.
My only complaint about Mojitos is that it can be a bit chilly in there. Nothing a few mojitos won’t fix (yes, they serve mojitos; yes, they’re good; no, they aren’t on the menu). Also, due to the size it can be a bit loud on a crowded night. That’s just something to be aware of going in.
Highly recommended. Especially if you like food from Cuba and Venezuela.