LINK: www.tripadvisor.com

REVIEW: Last Sunday (2/8/09) my partner and I were looking for a place to have a late lunch in Key West. All of the places we wanted to eat were closed for lunch. The manager of one restaurant (that was closed for lunch) recommended El Siboney. The only reason I agreed to go there was because I was famished and needed to eat. I am Cuban and so the last place I wanted to eat on vacation was at a Cuban restaurant. However, I am so glad we went!

My partner and I had the mahi special for lunch and it was AMAZING! I also ordered a side of tostones and I can't remember the last time I had tostones that good. Also, the mojito sauce it comes with is totally amazing. The combination was out of this world.

We were also SO HAPPY to find that they served REAL Cuban bread at the start of the meal. Wow. I was so impressed.

Even the café cubano at the very end was done to perfection

My partner and I both ate VERY VERY well, and yet the price tag was *VERY* reasonable. It was, by far, the best meal value of our Key West trip.

The restaurant is out of the way, which made me very, very, very happy. As much as I love the Duval Street scene, I really needed a break from that craziness. El Siboney was the perfect solution.

Also, our service was wonderful. It was certainly service with a smile. I also noticed that (on the day we went) everyone who was working there pitched in to help the guests. When I asked for olive oil, the lady who I asked did not go fetch our server. She just got it and brought it to me. It was certainly a team effort that day and I appreciated it.

My unexpected trip to El Siboney really made this Cuban proud!

LINK: www.urbanspoon.com

REVIEW: Wow! El Siboney is not just in Key West anymore! Cuban food at its best. Plentiful portions, great flavors, and a varied menu. And if the kids aren't as adventurous, don't worry! There is a menu for them too. For an appetizer, I strongly recommend the Mariquitas con Mojo. Sort of a Cuban version of "chips and salsa," it is refreshing and light! I took our waiter's suggestion for dinner and had the Roast Pork. I could not have been more pleased. It was tender, juicy, and I felt transported to Cuba with every bite. There is so much variety in the menu though! You can get a half roast chicken, or seafood, or Cuban roast beef. Save room for the Tresleches dessert. Yum.

LINK: www.tripadvisor.com

REVIEW: The doorman at our hotel recommended we try El Siboney, and we were so glad we did. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but don't let that fool you. The place was packed, but we only ended up waiting for about 10 minutes for a table for 2.

I had the roast pork and my boyfriend had the fried pork. They were both delicious. The rice and beans were great, as were the tostones we ordered. The tostones were the best we'd ever had, and so was the sauce they came with. We also had a pitcher of their homemade sangria. It was also probably the best deal we had while in KW.

All in all, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it!

LINK: www.yelp.com

REVIEW: Put me into happy coma. Roast pork, plantains, tostones, sangria, flan...at some point I had to stop, but that doesn't mean I wanted to.

LINK: www.tripadvisor.com

REVIEW: El Siboney is a small neighborhood restaurant - off the beaten path of other restaurants. The food is wonderful and there is so much of it, you could share with another person. I could have eaten there every night! If you visit Key West, you must go to this place - it is fantastic!

LINK: www.tripadvisor.com

REVIEW: I have been to Key West many times...and this restaurant has got to be one of my favorites...its a few blocks from Duval...in a more residential area....you really need a bike or scooter...or even a car to get here...but its worth it....the food here is just the best...very big portions...and the price is amazing....this place is where all the locals go....If this place was located on Duval...the prices would probably be 3x what they are....If you want to get a taste of some Real Key West food...and not at tourist prices....you have got to check out El Siboney

LINK: www.fodors.com

REVIEW: This 3 room home turned restaurant is one of the greatest ethnic food experiences you will find. While definitely a favorite of the locals they are very tourist friendly and treat you as such. The bread is great as is the shredded beef, cuban beef, and a dish of pork chunks (better than it sounds really). Try it seriously, and as a college student it's very easy on the wallet.

LINK: www.chefmoz.org

REVIEW: El Siboney was recommended to me by a friend before I went to the Keys for a weekend. When my girlfriend and I went there, it was absolutely delicious. The menu is simple, and the food is authentic Cuban cuisine. The onions served over the pork seemed to melt in my mouth....and I thought I didn't like onions, ha ha.

The ambiance wasn't the most attractive (kind of stark and cramped with the way the walls were placed), but the service was really good and very friendly. A real family-owned and operated experience.

This place is casual, not the formal dining affair for you formies out there. And they do serve a mean Iced-Tea....sweet, cold, and delicious on those hot Key days.

It's off the beaten path of the tourists, but you can still walk there with a map and a good set of legs (we walked there after seeing the Lighthouse and the "Southernmost Point"...about seven to ten blocks from there going away from Duvall).

And the best part: this is probably the best deal on food you'll get in Key West. When two people can stuff themselves with delicious food for about $20, that's what I call a deal.

I don't only highly recommend this place, my girlfriend and I shall be eating there whenever we go to Key West.

LINK: www.roadfood.com

REVIEW: El Siboney is a cool, clean and pleasant eatery that serves Cuban lunch and early dinner, mostly to locals. The primary language spoken here is Spanish (but English is understood), and the house emblem, a feather-bonneted guy named El Siboney, was a Cuban Indian. The walls are covered with pictures and plaques of Latino Native Americans.

This is the best place we know on Key West to taste grilled garlic chicken, a half-bird with a crisp skin and meat so tender that it slides off the bone when you try to cut it. Plantains on the side are slightly crusty and caramelized around their edges. And yuca, a side dish served with roast pork, beans, and rice, is a revelation not quite like any other vegetable. Soft and glistening white hunks, reminiscent of a well-baked potato, but more luscious and substantial, are served in a bath of heavily garlicked oil and garlanded with onion slices.

We had a picture-pretty Cuban sandwich during our last visit. Made on a length of fragile-texture toasted bread that is cut in half at a rakish angle, this classic Cuban contained ham, roast pork, salami and cheese with pickles, lettuce and tomato. The Cuban is just one of many fine hero-style sandwiches on El Siboney's menu; other choices include steak, burgers, pork, and fish.

The conch chowder is hale and hearty, loaded with conch and a great opportunity for dunking shreds of the buttered Cuban bread that comes with every meal. The grandest dish in the house is paella Valenciana for two (call ahead; it takes an hour to prepare), a vast fisherman's stew served with rice, black beans, and plenty of Cuban bread for mopping juices. For dessert, you can have Key lime pie, flan, or rice pudding, accompanied by café con leche.