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Ceniza Cuban Restaurant (Ooltewah, TN)

October 12, 2016

Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com

Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN, opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Caribbean and Southern fusion food and cocktails.
Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com
I’ve been wanting to try Ceniza Cuban restaurant (or Ceniza Caribbean & Southern Fusion) for quite some time. They opened in late spring serving Cuban and Southern fusion food, but we waited a while to try it out to give them time to work out the kinks that a new restaurant inevitably goes through. It was kind of a tough wait because I love Cuban food and obviously I love Southern food. I held out, though. I heard a lot of mixed reviews about the service and the quality of the food, so I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when we headed out.

We decided to hit up Ceniza Cuban restaurant late on a Saturday afternoon, around 4:00 p.m. We weren’t really sure where to go in; there is no signage over the entry door, which is on the back side of the building. There are two sets of double doors and on one door of the first set it says “Use other door”. That means use the other door in that pair. It will take you in to the hostess stand. The other set of double doors will lead you to the stairs that go up to their cigar lounge. At any rate, there were not a lot of people there when we arrived, so we were seated immediately. We chose to sit on the patio, but as we walked through the dining room I took note of the bright, beachy colors of the dining area and the bar.

Our server, Christina, checked in with us quickly and brought us water while we looked over the drink menu. Philip decided on a Chattanooga Brewing Company Chestnut Street Brown Ale ($6/pint), which he says is one of the best brown ales he’s ever had. I decided to have a Cuba Libre 1900s ($8): rum, Angostura bitters, Mexican Coke, and lime. I love rum and Coke, and the bitters and lime definitely finished it off perfectly. I loved the pottery cup that it was served in! We contemplated getting some tostones (fried plantains) nachos ($12) or black bean hummus ($7) but ultimately decided against it.
Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com
The menu is divided into small plates, salads, cigar box sandwiches, entrees, sides, and desserts. I didn’t have to think too hard about my order because I knew that I wanted to try their version of the Elena Ruz sandwich so that I could compare it to the one that I had at Embargo 62 and the one that I make myself. The Elena Ruz is grouped under “cigar box sandwiches”, which are literally served in a paper-lined cigar box. Served pressed on a semi-sweet roll with roasted thick-sliced turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jam, the Elena Ruz is sweet and savory all at one. This one was just a little bit crunchy and was not messy as one might expect a sandwich with that much going on. The ingredients were well balanced and there was a good flavor to the turkey (I can have a problem with the flavor of poultry that has been cooked ahead of time). The sandwich itself was $8, which did not include a side. I added plantain chips (mariquitas) for an additional $2. It always bothers me when sandwiches do not come with a side; I would prefer that the price be $10 than to see $8 on a menu then have to pay an additional $2 for a side. Maybe that’s weird, but it’s one of my hang-ups. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed both the sandwich and the thinly sliced, slightly salty plantain chips.
Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com
Philip decided to order the CFC (Ceniza fried chicken) and Mac ($13). The chicken was a large, thinly pounded chicken breast coated in a regular better coating then dipped in coconut and fried until crispy. It was seasoned well and cooked just right – done through but not dry at all. The macaroni and cheese was creamy and cheese (of course) had little bits of roasted red pepper in it, giving it a bit of a pimento cheese flavor. It was also served with the vegetable of the day, which in that day was zucchini and  yellow squash.
Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com
Despite some of the negatives that I had heard and read about Ceniza Cuban restaurant, we enjoyed our experience. The atmosphere was very nice and Christina was friendly and helpful. Our food was tasty and the prices were comparable to similar restaurants (our pre-tip total was about $37 for a beer, a cocktail, a sandwich, a side, and an entree). We will definitely return to Ceniza Cuban restaurant to try some of their other Cuban and Southern fare.

If you like Cuban and Southern food, you should definitely check out Ceniza Cuban restaurant and let me know what you think!

Ceniza Caribbean & Southern Fusion is located at 9454 Bradmore Lane, Ooltewah, TN 37363. They are open Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can call them at 423-760-4198. To learn more, check out Ceniza’s website. You can also find Ceniza Cuban restaurant on Facebook and follow @ceniza_lounge on Instagram  and on Twitter.
Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN (near Chattanooga), opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Cuban food and cocktails. | Restaurant Review from Chattavore.com
Ceniza Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Filed Under: By Location, By Type, Harrison/Ooltewah, Restaurants, South of the Border (Mexican, South American, etc.) Tagged With: Cuban restaurants, Ooltewah restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 2 Comments

Embargo 62 Cuban Restaurant

September 21, 2015

Embargo 62 is a delicious new Cuban restaurant in #Chattanooga! | chattavore.com

Embargo 62 is a Cuban restaurant on Cherokee Boulevard, near Chattanooga’s North Shore. They serve tasty food and great drinks in a casual “Cuban-style” atmosphere.

It seems like there are lots of new restaurants cropping up in Chattanooga lately! This week I all of a sudden got an urge to check out Embargo 62, the new Cuban restaurant on Cherokee Boulevard. My urge was solidified after I checked out their menu online.

When we got there at around 1, it was open seating (unsure of whether seating is open all the time) and there were quite a few tables open. We decided to sit on the covered patio. It’s a kind of beachy atmosphere, with glass light fixtures and bright furniture and lots of wood.

Our server, Lucy, quickly brought us our menus and waters, told us what beers were available, and recommended that we order the mojito gold. Philip decided to order a North Coast Brewing Puck saison and I stuck with the mojito criollo, with white rum, fresh lime juice, fresh mint, sugar, and club soda (I didn’t want to pay extra ?? to get an extra shot of rum). Our drinks came out quickly; my mojito was refreshing and light. You can check out Philip’s review of Puck here.
Embargo 62 is a delicious new Cuban restaurant in #Chattanooga! | chattavore.com
We decided against ordering an appetizer, but the appetizer menu consisted of ceviche, empanadas, mussels, and fried plantains with truffle oil. I had a difficult time deciding whether to order a sandwich (the Elena Ruz, with roast turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jam on a semi sweet bun sounded very tempting) or a Completa, or complete meal. Ultimately, I decided on a completa and set to making a decision between the lechon, slow roasted mojo marinated pork, served with Congri (black bean and rice blend) and sweet plantains, and the palomilla, marinated top sirloin served with black beans over white rice with sweet plantains. I finally settled on the palomino, which turned out to be a huge piece of top sirloin that was surprisingly tender considering how thin it was. The rice was cooked well and seasoned perfectly, and the black beans were delicious, with lots of herby seasoning. The plantains were also great, lightly fried, no seasoning.
Embargo 62 is a delicious new Cuban restaurant in #Chattanooga! | chattavore.com
Philip thought the El Barrigon (burger) sounded pretty tempting. Their burger was a half pound blend of ground sirloin and pork belly (which was what sold him on the burger) with melted Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. The pork belly adds a pretty substantial amount of fat to the burger, which = flavor & tenderness. The burger was well-seasoned, well-cooked, and very tasty. The sandwiches are served with plantain chips, which are ??delicious??; Philip also decided to order a side (which was a pretty substantial basket) of their hand-cut fries for $3.00 and wow. They were fantastic: light, crunchy, perfectly golden, and perfectly salted. We had to move the basket out of the way so we’d stop eating them!
Embargo 62 is a delicious new Cuban restaurant in #Chattanooga! | chattavore.com
Embargo 62 is a delicious new Cuban restaurant in #Chattanooga! | chattavore.com
Our server, Lucy, was friendly and attentive. The atmosphere at Embargo 62 was really cool and the menu limited (which, if you read my blog very often you know I think is a good thing because they can focus on making the few items on the menu great) and authentic. The prices were reasonable (that is, competitive with similar restaurants); our pre-tip total including a beer, a cocktail, a burger, fries, and an entree was about $37. If you like Cuban food (or just want to find out if you like Cuban food) you should definitely check out Embargo 62! By the way, we parked in the pay lot near Whole Foods and walked down, but Embargo 62 offers complementary valet parking.

Embargo 62 is located at 301 Cherokee Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at (423) 551-4786. They are open Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-12 a.m. and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-1:30 a.m. You can read more about them on their website, www.embargo62bar.com, like Embargo 62 on Facebook, and follow @embargo62 on Twitter.

Embargo 62 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Filed Under: By Location, By Type, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants, South of the Border (Mexican, South American, etc.) Tagged With: Cuban restaurants, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore Leave a Comment

About Chattavore

Hi, I'm Mary! Welcome to Chattavore, a destination for people who want to feed themselves and their families well every day! Life can be crazy, which means that getting dinner on the table can be a challenge (more often than not!) and my mission is to take all your favorite recipes and figure out how to serve them on a Tuesday.

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