Mi Apa Latin Cafe Review

Great Chicken soup. Thick chunky and full of fresh cut chicken. Great flavor. The beef pressed cornmeal sandwich with black beans, onions , tomato and avocado was on the bland side. I kept adding salt to try to bring out more flavor. They could have added cilantro lime or other spice. My gosh, this is supposed to be Cuban! Where is the flavor?

Very good food . Excellent serving size . Excellent customer service . Will be back again soon

My husband surprised me by stopping here on the way down to see the in laws. We weren't too hungry but can't pass up Cuban food. We split the ropa vieja with rice and plantains. It was some of the best we've had. We left with a Cafe con leche, yummy. It was packed at lunch on Friday which is a good sign. Prices are wonderful and there's weekday specials.

Food is good, coffee is not as consistent as the Alachua location.

WOW !! Mi Apa makes an awesome Miami sandwich, and their Cuban is great as well. Don't forget to try a guava pastry. Worth the visit. They are LOVE on a plate.

Delicious food and great service! Couldn't ask for more.

I don't like to complain about places, but I got really upset with some aspects of this place. They served a wrong dish, and we didn't pay attention and started to eat. Then, we told them that was wrong, and they wanted to put that one in the trash and bring the right one. I'm against waste and I told the girl to just bring the different meat we asked, and she said she needed to put in the trash that food to bring other and change. I believe humans make mistakes, this is fine, the problem here is the way they choose to fix, she could let us with that plate already started and just bring the meat that was wrong but she preferred to not change if we stayed with the plate. Another aspect is the high use of Styrofoam, not environmentally friendly.

Absolutely delicious! My favorite dish is Ropa Vieja! Yes, translates from Spanish as "old clothes". Don't let the name deceive you. It's so yummy and flavorful!

Everything about this place is great! From the service to the delish coffee and pastries to the Cuban sandwich and more! Always a pleasure to come in or go through the drive thru. Thanks so much for all you do!

Great Cuban food, roast pork, black beans and yellow rice every time for me. Oh and maybe a cuban coffee to go!

Almost always good and very authentic! Favorite place in Gainesville

Sometime they pick up people's order with delay while they are able to do it quickly, but in general they are very good.

Always, always delicious (what tastes like) homemade food. Delicious espresso beverages. Personally, I love their Ropa Vieja and a large, lightly sweetened Cortadito - YUM. Note, if you decide to not order ahead, it's peak time, and you go to the drive thru you may very well be waiting awhile. You're getting (mostly) fresh, made to order, cooked food. Be kind and patient. All of the workers have a pleasing attitude, are knowledgeable about the menu and will, in general, help you any way they can.

EXCELLENT PLACE TO ATE. GABY'S SERVICE WAS KIND, FRIENDLY AND EXCELLENT. WE'LL COME AGAIN! THANKS
FOR YOUR DELICIOUS MENU.
ANA A. MIRANDA

Always fast, friendly, and fairly priced. The food is good, though I agree with another reviewer who found the food too salty.

The food was okay but nothing like the Cuban food I was raised with in the Florida keys.

After moving away from Gainesville for a few years, I kept dreaming about coming back to my favorite Latin Cafe, Mi Apa. A reunion brought us back to Gainesville and Mi Apa was #1 on our restaurants to visit. Embers is our favorite place for fine dining in Gainesville, but Mi Apa is the place for true comfort food. On this last trip we literally ate there EVERY day. It s that good. And then we got food to take with us back to Atlanta. It sounds a little crazy, but this place is a true hidden treasure in Gainesville. Sweet dreams until we return...

Very pleasant every time we go here. Doesn't matter how busy they get!

Excellent latin food like you can eat an a good miami restaurant also the service is like home

Best coffee around.
Once there try any pastry trust me.
For an entree U can't go wrong with ropavieja, any rice and sweet plantain... Hmmmhhhmm!!!!!

Best Cuban food North of Miami, order something you don't recognize and you will still probably like it

All the food very bad taste and presentation, the only good flan and drinks

Great food authentic great service although there is a line they keep everyone satisfied even if they have to move tables together to fit

Good food, great staff, awesome Cuban espresso and prices
This food was pretty good, and I wished that I d not been passing through so I could have sampled more of the menu. Our entire table of 4 sampled across the menu. Espresso was immediately addictive and we ordered 12 for our group. Black beans may have needed some seasoning, and all around, the restaurant should not be afraid to add flavor. But this was good food for a great price.

A quick stop on my way down to Florida. Friendly staff and great comfort food.

Very affordable fast delicious cuban food! I've been coming here for 7 years and have never had one bad thing. They have a great staff that's very accommodating and friendly.

Very good food in gainsville, excellent service and atmosphere to share with family THANK YOU PAOLA RIZO FOR THE ATTENTION

The biggest draw back to this place is the service. The food is fine. The servers constantly forget on multiple occasions to bring things like we requested. Takes an average of 15 minutes before someone knows we've sat down. How many more times do I have to come here and get bad service? I'm not going to contact wecare@miapalatincafe.com because nothing seems to get fixed. I recommend the owner or manager come in if they are not recognized and experience this service.

However the manager on 35th is mean to non Cubans. I could have hit 1 star and ruin your life, but learn to amarilli MI mama and next time I will be satisfied. I was so hurt I left my ice coffee. You owe me. Big time.

Great pastries and coffee, will definately be back to taste the food!

06/29/19 - came back to try the food and must say very good, prices good as well. Palomilla could be more tender, but all in all great place and good food. Definitely be back!

Cozy place, attentive and respectful staff. Delicious food at a good price. They recommended the place to us, it was worth going from Tampa, Fl.

Excellent service!! Very clean! Cheerful! Tasty and flavorful food! I ate the Mami Sandwich "mmm", delicious!! And the cortadito coffee, super flavorful, just what I needed!! Totally recommend this place.

My wife really enjoys his place. I went in there and had a Cuban and I must say it wasn't good at all. It was completely cold.

I love the ham croquettes. Whenever I come to Florida I stop by and get two dozen.

I had been eating here frequently since they first opened and used to love it but the last 3 times I went the food was cold, the waiter forgot half the stuff I ordered and there seems to be 2-3 waiters that do a good job while everyone else just sits there and chats to each other. The service got so bad that I have decided to stop going altogether. I can get cold food from the supermarket faster.

I loved the breakfast on this place, I was coming from Chicago to visit Tampa and had to stop to try it again.

As a Miami native and Tampa resident, I know Cuban food. And this stuff is both authentic and delicious.

I'm giving 3/5 simply due to the waitstaff indifferent attitude at least half of the time I've been. Food is often good, pastries are delicious, and the coladas great.

Lunch is good, breakfast menu needs additional options as its minimal at best.

Fast, fresh and friendly. Although 2nd time I ordered an Arepa sandwich and the bottom got soggy and fell apart. Other than that food is always great!

Definitely one of my favorite restaurants. I usually get Ropa Veja with white rice and black beans. Sometime just the Ropa Veja.

A Gainesville staple... We got 3 meals, 4 desserts, and 3 coffees for 40 bucks... Best meals for the best deals.

The the food here, the empanadas and coffee are the best. The only reason why i give 4 stars is because they literally ALWAYS leave something out when I make an order. So I have to sit in the car and check one by one that my order is accurate!

First class service, very fast and efficient. Very good food, well prepared, portions for a person who eats little ... but acceptable ... it is in a category between fast food and restaurant ... since the food is already prepared ... but very fresh and respected the characteristics of a typical Cuban dish. I really hope they don't lose that quality!

Pleasantly surprised! Best Cuban sandwich ever! Beats Versailles, la Carreta, Sergio's in Miami.

Great place to go for a quick Cuban bite, tasty and clean, but don't expect any atmosphere; pretty much zero in that department.

Wonderful meal and great service.Johani was amazing:)

Good Cuban food sides and pastries. Unbeatable price and speed.

Really authentic , well seasoned and properly accompanied with correct sides . Portions are big !!!

I had an excellent service yesterday for lunch at the Alachua location so I decided to come back again today, and the new manager was incredible, nice and polite, took the time to greet and have small conversations with each table. The food is always great there, but this is the kind of service I enjoy the most. I will be eating there more often.