Cuban Pete's, Montclair

What do you get when an Italian goes from Mexican to Cuban? Cuban Pete's, that's what! Dominick, who used to own Mexicali Rose, and whose mamma owns Leone's right around the corner, has tried a new venture with Cuban Pete's. I remember Dominick from when I used to live in downtown Montclair. He was nothing more than a chauvinist jerk who acted cordial to his guests, but treated everyone else like garbage. Luckily, I didn't have to see his mug the night I visited the restaurant. I was actually skeptical to go because of the memories I had of the food and his personality from the Mexicali Rose days, however, my friends wanted to go, and that's where we went.

I have to give kudos to Dominick (or whoever he hired to decorate) for the overall atmosphere and styling of the entire restaurant. It has a lot more room than you think when first approaching. Heavy wooden tables and plants seem to be everywhere. Overall it's a very inviting interior and feels like everyone's having a good time. Even the servers look like they're on siesta! And apparently some act like it with some of the reviews I've read about the service on other websites. But for us, tonight the service was just fine.

The menu seems to offer more Spanish inspired food than Cuban, although there were a couple of Cuban specialties on the menu. We ordered the Asia de Cuba punch, which was very lackluster and fell flat. I had only a couple of sips before deciding that it wasn't for me. I'm not sure about the punch idea...maybe if they were tasty and a little more original...and fresh...I might be more interested. For an appetizer, we ordered tostones, again lackluster. Just when I thought this might be a bust, our dinner came. I had the Carlito's Way Chicken...a grilled half chicken (a very very small chicken), with a white sauce on top, coconut rice, and a mango coconut yam on the side. The chicken was perfectly crispy...a little overcooked on one side which led to very dry meat, but overall a hit. The rice had great coconut flavor...I just wanted to keep eating it! It was sweet but not too sweet, and played well with the chicken and the yam. I didn't really taste any mango in the yam, and the coconut shreds on top of the yam didn't really do anything for me, but I do love yams so I can't complain. Yam yam yam.

Our friends seemed to enjoy their dishes. I tried the pork dish, which seemed a bit dry and tasted a little too much of lime. The plantains were out of this world though! There are three parts of the menu...each comes with different sides. This made it a bit difficult to order because I wanted one entree from one part of the menu with the sides from the other parts! There are also plenty of tapas to choose from, so if you're unsure or you want to try different sides, consider ordering them a la carte. The price isn't overwhelming and you can then have the best of both worlds.

Dessert was equally satisfying. We had the flan and tres leches cake. The flan was divine, and since this was my first time eating tres leches cake, I was pleased at what I got.

The only major drawback is when someone is celebrating their birthday. They bring out a bongo drum and cowbell and start singing something which I couldn't understand. It was overwhelmingly loud, so much so that you had to literally shout at your waiter to order. At first it completely startled me, then it just got annoying. It can't hurt to tone that down a little, can it?

I think you'll enjoy the atmosphere and food at Cuban Pete's...I might find myself dancing my way back there soon. And NOT on my birthday.

Ambiance: **** (would've been 5 if it hadn't been for the loud birthday bongo!)
Food: ****
Service: ****
Overall: ****