Cafeteria Yesenia

Best Cuban food place on the south side. Never disappoints me!

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Yesenia Cafeteria, a Latin restaurant located in Chicago. From the moment I walked in, I was struck by the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant. The decor was colorful and vibrant, with Latin-inspired artwork adorning the walls and a lively energy in the air. But the real star of the show at Yesenia Cafeteria was the food. I started off with one of their breakfast sandwiches, which was absolutely delicious. The combination of flavors and textures was perfect, and the sandwich was served on a fresh and flavorful roll. The coffee was also excellent - smooth and rich, with just the right amount of kick. In addition to the breakfast sandwiches, I also tried a few of their other dishes and was equally impressed. The portions were generous and the flavors were bold and authentic. I particularly enjoyed the empanadas, which were packed with a flavorful filling and served with a side of tangy salsa. Overall, I had a fantastic experience at Yesenia Cafeteria. The food was top-notch, the service was friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere was lively and welcoming. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for delicious Latin cuisine in a casual and welcoming setting. Do yourself a favor and try their food, the people are super friendly

Don’t know if it was bcuz I came in while the owner and a staff member were having their lunch or because they were about to close (next hr.) etc. I definitely didn't feel welcomed. No one didn't get up nor said hello, until I spoke. Made a trip only to try the Cafe con leche, which was a bit too milky. Sandwich Cubano was tender and seasoned good, but unevenly made & needed more ham. Would've came back to try their ice cream 🍦 if the service had been better.

It was my first time trying it out and it was really satisfying. Definitely coming back! There was a lot of things on the menu that called my attention and wanna try!

We need more places like this in the area. More than just Cuban dishes here. Friend got the Jibarito and I got the Tripleta. I'll go back and try the Ropa Vieja. Prices are good. Food quality is good. Hours are weird.

The service was awesome, and everyone was super nice. Food came out quickly and was absolutely delicious. Will be back if I'm in the area.

I ate here yesterday for the first time, and the food is delicious! The place was clean and the environment was nice and quiet! Also, the workers were very friendly!

Absolutely delicious. Everything we ordered was delicious. Great customer service, great place!

This is a good go to every once in a while. The sandwiches are huge especially if you order the double. Example: media noche doble and Cubano doble. I've tried the croquets and other appetizers. The salsa verde is different but not bad at all. Not a big fan of their jibaritos. Service is friendly. Small dining room so therefore the server is attentive.

Don't know if it was bcuz I came in while the owner and a staff member were having their lunch or because they were about to close (next hr.) etc. I definitely didn't feel welcomed. No one didn't get up nor said hello, until I spoke. Made a trip only to try the Cafe con leche, which was a bit too milky. Sandwich Cubano was tender and seasoned good, but unevenly made & needed more ham. Would've came back to try their ice cream if the service had been better.

Really good Cuban Sandwich. They use (Mexican) Carnitas instead of the traditional Pork Shoulder that gives it a unique, distinctive--but good--flavor. Highly Recommended.

Excellent Cuban place. Very nice staff and great family business. Food is authentic. Would certainly come back

Food is phenomenal, I try out different things each time. I love the beef, and shredded beef empanadas. Try out the breaded chicken sandwich, and the rice! The service is quick, everyone inside the business is moving. The inside of the restaurant is like an old school ambiance, it has a huge window in front that lets in tons of light so you can enjoy the morning with coffee and sick food. You won't feel nasty after eating either trust me it's worth it. Shoutout back of the yards, wish I had a pic but I'm going to go pick up some food soon so

I was looking for some quick food in BotY and stumbled upon this place. Great food, great selection, great service. Definitely want to come back. I tried a platillo and the portion was huge! Also tried the ham fritters and the empanadas, also excellent.

One of my favorite spots to come to great service great food fair prices no complaints this is my go to spot

Found this place by mistake and it turned out to be anything but that. The steak sandwich was amazing and the coffee was something I could drink all day. The server had to be a part of the family who owned the place. He was the only one there but managed to take care of everyone and even cook.

I love this place very friendly and the food has always been good and I'm a fan of Cuban coffee well worth the trip I make from Rosemont To the south side

La comida está muy deliciosa! empanadas de ropa vieja con la salsa verde! También la gente que trabaja allí son muy amables!

Kind staff and wonderful food. I've been coming here ever since I was around 5 years old and nothing has changed. Wonderful service as always . Highly recommended to eat here and to bring your family here!

I had the lechon plate and it was pretty good. I wish it were more mosit but for the price can't complain. Itgood cuban food without the expensive Northside prices.

I really liked the place in the people who run it. I had the best cortadito I think I have ever had. It was delicious. I had arroz con gandules that was fantastic. I ordered a Cuban sandwich, which is was the only downfall. I expected to be a true Cuban sandwich but the guy at the counter told me they use mayonnaise instead of mustard cuz most people prefer the the Mayo. So a true Cuban sandwich is ham, swiss cheese pickles and yellow mustard with roast pork which is actually the key ingredient. The roast pork is marinated first in bitter or sour Orange with other herbs and it's called Mojo. Without the Mojo you don't have a Cuban. The roast pork that use I believe might just be regular Mexican carnitas which is what it tasted like. So would have been 5 stars but I thought the Cuban kind of lacked the taste of a Cuban. I would still recommend checking them out but I would probably try the empanadas or ham and cheese sandwich.

Found this location tucked away on Yelp when I was looking to find croquettes on the Southside of Chicago. The food is amazing, the service is great and this has become a staple out south

This place is so awesome. I'm rarely in the neighborhood, but what a treat. Super friendly employees and you know it's good when it's packed mid day on a Tuesday. The food itself was simply awesome. I had the steak sandwich, which melted in my mouth and was bursting with flavor. The price was great and there were so many other items I wanted to try. Go here!

Surprised by the food because of the neighborhood! It was fast and although I ordered carry out, the service was great. The señora that gave me my order was very lovely. I will be ordering again!

Steak Sandwich? FIRE. I definitely categorized this restaurant as a hole in the wall. A restaurant you would drive by and not even notice it. I'm so glad that we noticed it! (yelped it lol) Parking: limited free street parking Upon arrival, the restaurant was pretty empty. We self sat and was then greeted with menus. The service was good, but the food was even better. The food: we ordered a side of arroz con gandules, a Cuban, and a double steak with cheese sandwich. I've never had a Cuban before this, so I can't differentiate this specific one from another place, but it was a good sandwich. The star of the show was definitely the steak sandwich. The flavor was amazing and the bread was toasted to perfection. What made everything even better than it already was? THE SAUCE. Not sure exactly what it was, but if I had to guess - avocado and salsa verde, something like that. It was perfect and had the right amount of spice level to it. It paired so well with both sandwiches. For the price, these sandwiches were a steal! We came back a few days later with some friends and they liked it as well. Then the week after, we came back again. This is definitely my new go-to spot for a steak sandwich. AH-MAZ-ING. (So sad I didn't save my pictures via snap )

Cafeteria Yesenia totally caught me off guard. I'm new to the neighborhood and am sampling as many area restaurants as I can. When I pulled up, I thought it was going to be a small, cramped storefront based on the exterior- au contraire! Passing through double doors, the place then opens up into a funky, hip spot replete with vaulted ceilings and even an upstairs. The service is prompt and friendly, but the food has kept me coming back. I've sampled several sandwiches and contend the steak is the best. The Cuban is excellent too, but I think it could use more pickles (my only knock on the place). Also, the fries are outstanding - generous portion too. Empenadas are first rate. Prices are super reasonable. Check it out!

Not bad. I've been here a couple of times now, because I work across the street. The prices are alright, probs about $10 for a sandwich and can of soda. The sandwiches are pretty good, but I probably wouldn't write home about them. Last I went, I ordered a Cubano, but it had maybe two circular slices of pickle, which was disappointing, and pretty much no mustard. Other than that, they have great cafe con leche, $2 or less depending on size.

This was my first time trying Cuban food and I walked away wondering why I hadn't tried Cuban food sooner. I came in here on a Sunday afternoon with my friend and we split a jibarito and Cuban sandwich. The portions are huge!! I was nervous about the plantains because I wasn't sure id like them but they ended up being quite a good complement to the meat and veggies that were in the sandwich. They're so generous with their meat serving and the pork in my jibarito wasn't dry at all. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and the sauce wasn't overly potent! Half of a jibarito left me feeling very full so I had that for lunch and saved half of my Cuban sandwich for dinner. The bread on the Cuban sandwich was just great, crispy and delicious. I can definitely see myself coming back and high recommendations for authentic and affordable Cuban food!

Great food, great service... CAFETERIA YESENIA is one of the simple pleasures of life.

I've been meaning to try out Cafe Yesenia and ordered takeout for lunch. I was pleasantly surprised by the clean, festive decor once I entered Cafe Yesenia. It seemed to be family owned. A lot of the menu is in spanish but with english subtitles. I took a shot in the dark and ordered beef with onions, aka bistec encebollado. It came with really good yellow rice and fried plantains. The start of the dish was this super yummy creamy green mild sauce that I poured over everything. The onions were good too, and the portions were decent. However, I didn't think the beef was very good-- it was gamey and kind of tough. The lunch ran me $12, and I don't think I would get the beef again. Definitely open to trying more on the menu.

super cheap, friendly and tasty food! Here's the rundown: Cafe con leche: LOVE LOVE LOVE (I asked for less sugar) Tostones (fried plantains with garlic): very good. 6 large fried pieces that were crispy outside and chewy soft inside. Eat with the mango sauce! Cuban sandwich: okay. I like the bread and how they press it so it's crispy, but the meat inside was a bit dry. Chicken empanada: not good, very dry shredded chicken, no sauce. Veggie/Cheese empanada: good! creamy gooey cheesy with green veggies. Steak/Egg sandwich: okay. meat was kind of off. Will be back! :)

Friggin AWESOME. The food and service were top notch. Great people, great Cuban food and a super cute place!! We live far north but were at US Cellular for a race. If you are in the area, it's a great little place -just a few miles from the stadium!!

I was checking my yelp reviews and came across this little place. I was on the southside so I thought I'd check it out. Glad I did his french fries are to die for excellent The best I've ever had. Everything else I had was great but I cannot stop thinking about those fries the best I've ever had.

If you're looking for Cuban food this is the perfect place! They're Cuban sandwiches are so delicious and don't even get me started in the green salsa they grabe. My boyfriend and I always order extra sauce on the side, it's just that good! I love getting the steak jibaritos there and fries. My mouth is watering as we speak!

My coworkers and I were in the mood for some good Caribbean cuisine, but didn't want to travel to far to get it haha. I had been here before, and I wasn't too impressed with the food, but I figured I would give it a try. So I gather all of the orders and head on over to pick up the food. I arrive at the restaurant let them know I'm there for pick-up, and everything was ready! Paying for the food was super easy and painless, so I grabbed the food and was on my way. So I get back to work and am eager to try the food again. The first time I had ordered, I tried the lechon jibarito and was pretty underwhelmed. The meat lacked flavor and was a little dry, and the plantains were burned. This time I ordered the chicken breast and it looked much better! The order also came with Yica Frita and arroz con gandules. So as I begin eating, I sample everything, and it was definitely better than the jibarito I had tried before. The vegetables on top of the chicken had great flavor and definitely added to the experience. The yuca was fried nicely, but had some hard chunks(super strange, but I think they were the veins of the yuca), the arroz con gandules was also mushy which gives me the idea that they either stirred the rice too much or added to much water. The flavor of the rice was decent, but nothing amazing. My coworkers let me try some of their empanadas and they were really good! I also convinced another coworker to let me try the lechon, and it was just how I remembered...dry and lacking flavor. My dish was good, but I wouldn't say it was anything that I would hurry back to order again. The empanadas were definitely my favorite part of the meal, and I would recommend them! Otherwise I say take a taste and give it your own opinion!

Never have I ever eaten a Cuban sandwich!!! Not to mention empenadas and papa relleno are all homemade...at least they taste like it. food: chicken empenada 3, beef empenada 5, spinach 4, Cuban 5, steak 4, papa relleno 3, plantains 5 service: 5 ambience: 3 cleanliness: 3

I ordered the double steak sandwich and café con leche. We also shared an order of Yesenia Fries. The food is delicious!!!!

An oasis Last Sunday morning was driving through this hood and wanted to have some breakfast. And even tough this is a cool hood, the more options the better. I had heard about this place that had recently open and decided to check it out. We park in front and from the outside the building looks normal, but once inside it is a pretty cool place, simple but very well decorated. Few tables and even some small lounging chairs and coffee table. We proceed to the counter and check out the menu. I tasted the Cuban, media noche and ham-egg-cheese sandwiches. All of them were good and the bread was perfectly toasted with good fillings inside. Not a huge coffee drinker here but my friends is and I had a couple of sips from his coffee and it was freshly ground and super flavorful. I had a hot cocoa and it was perfect. They have other drinks and sandwiches that I am looking forward to try next time I come here. The service was great, literally. Owners came by a couple of times to check on us and make sure everything was perfect and even went out of their way to provide my table with hot peppers, yes hot peppers there is no complete meal without hot peppers LOL. Cafeteria Yesenia, oasis in the middle of a desert of options

When I am in the area and I have the craving for a sandwich this is becoming a place for me to stop by. It's am unassuming place, but the sandwiches I tried are good. What about if you stop by and make your own judgment? I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Every sandwich I've had has been delicious! I've had the cuban, jibarito, and 2 or 3 others. Never disappoints.

Awesome sandwiches, friendly staff and they are around the corner from my job. I will definitely be back. Reasonably priced.

I've tried a couple different dishes and they never disappoint! The servings are filling if you like to eat and if you get full easy you'll always have some to enjoy later. The taste of a home cooked meal and prices low enough to make you tip big.

Hole in the wall that has the best cuban sandwiches!! They are so delicious and the prices are affordable. I recommend the media noche sandwich and a cafe con leche. This place is worth trying out if you haven't already.

I've been coming to this hidden gem for several months and their papas yesenia and jibarito special are to die for! Must try!

I liked it here. A great place to just sit and relax for a while. Cafe Con Leche - I don't usually drink hot coffees, but it was good. Cuban Sandwich - My guy got this and we both weren't a big fan of it. Steak Sandwich - I thought the seasoning on this was great, but wished the bread wasn't as hard. I'm not familiar with Cuban food, but would definitely come back to try the empanadas and jibaritos.

I had been wanting to try this place for a while. I had the double Cubano and Yesenia fries. The sandwich was like 6dollars . Well worth it. The fries where 3 but were loaded. The young lady even gave me a large sample or arroz con gandules. Very nice employees. It took a little long but they were busy.

You're gonna get a huge bang for your buck here my friends, the place is not very nice but the food makes up for it and it's a BYOB, cash only...

I must say this place is darn good! I've been meaning to check this place out but since they close kind of early (5pm) wasn't able to. Finally made my way today and it was worth the wait!! I had the steak sandwich and was pretty meaty and good in size for the price. Yum!!! The cafe con leche was awesome, just the way I like it. I will be back to try the rest of their menu. Woohoo

I honestly can't get enough of those "Yesenia" fries with mayo and ketchup and crumbled cheese on top. The sandwiches are cool too but the fries accompany the sandwiches perfectly. Service is a little slow when they're busy. They have a private lot for parking. Coffee was average.

I am from out of town working just a few blocks from this place. I would've never known that this place existed if it wasn't for a couple guys on the crew that I am working with mentioned it to me one day. Now I go here for lunch almost daily. I always get the steak sandwich because its delicious, and have recently discovered their amazing french fries - so, so good. They give you a ton, too. Not sure what the sauce is that they give you with the sandwiches, but I would love to have some of it in my own fridge. It's unappealing from the outside and the "parking lot" is rough, but don't let it fool you. The cook is very nice and always has a smile on his face, as does the waitress. I wish they'd serve the food on a plate instead of a basket because the sandwiches take up the whole thing and don't leave any space for sauce / ketchup until you finish half of your sandwich.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! My boyfriend and I had a steak jibarito and a steak, egg, and cheese sandwich. Both were amazing! The jibarito is as legitimate as it gets. The plantains are seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of garlic, not greasy at all. They did not skimp out on the steak, egg, and cheese sandwich either. It was a very hearty size. Great cafe con leche and homemade salsa too. The staff was lovely and attentive. Free wifi. Lots of ppl coming in to pick up their carry out orders. We're making it our spot!

This is a great Cuban place. The service is good. Prices are reasonable. I would definitely eat here again. They take cash & credit. Very little English was used by the staff, during my visit. The menu is in Spanish & English. I had a double Cuban, rice & plantains with garlic.

Love this place, the cafe con leche is so good and all the sandwiches are delicious. It's a nice place to come and have your coffee and sandwich and chill.They have free wi-fi just ask for the password...

Looking at the other reviews here I was quite pissed that someone else got to congratulate the place for its great pricing and quite scrumptious food options. So, great reviews are totally fitting for this place where lunch can run you 12 m'f'n bucks. Where the hell can you get non highly processed home made coffee, sandwiches, and desserts that don't cost your left gonad? And on the South Side? Hmmm.... no brainer: this place. Being a native of the South Side I have resented the Yelp-er and usual transplant belief that anything of cultural value and good taste resides on the North Side. This place is an oasis amongst fast food joints (i.e. DD and MCD's are a block away) on the fringe of the old stockyard industrial sector where the local lardery emits some quite nasty fumes on hot summer days (yeah, that sucks, Back of the Yards). Parking is available on the side of the building on a gravel lot -- probably waiting for some other development to swipe it. There's also Ashland, but that is limited. Place is family run. The service is quite friendly and helpful. The coffee is great. Espresso and cafe con leche for under $2? Hook me up please. I got wired and jittery on just little cup of the former. Great taste, bitter and strong. The only thing is that speed is an issue. If you're in an absolute rush it might help to call in a larger order. Drinks come fast, but the sandwiches take a few minutes. So, is that really a deal breaker? Hardly. The sandwiches are quite well seasoned and fresh. The steak is marinated and well cooked. It could be trimmed of the little globules of fat for those who have a hard time dealing with that kind of thing, but frankly if you're expecting health food you can order the veggie empanada which is pretty damn good. If you feel like you need to sneak in some Irish Creme, don't you can just bring your own bottle of anything -- It's BYOB. Enjoyed studying (they have WIFI) and sitting around this place with its great seating, not the biggest place, but it definitely deserves a shot if you're in the area and want to avoid fried crap and the high fructose corn syrup diet that is the bane of much of the South Side. Come here and give it your business so I have a good place to study and munch of goodies, dammit!

I LOVE this place, wish they were open later! The iced coffee is the bomb and the tripleta sandwich is full of meat, it's hard to eat it in one sitting. The bread is toasted and the ham and pork are tasty Lastly. you have to try the fries. Crispy fries with sour cream and a mild hot sauce, yummy!

Discovered this place through Yelp and its definitly a hidden gem in New City. Great service, AMAZING cafe con leche, I gained about 5lbs on my first visit but it was well worth it!

Found this place driving on Ashland going home from work and was surprise how good the food is here. Most Cuban or Puerto Rican restaurant are located up on the north side of Chicago the south side is usually flooded with Mexican restaurants. The steak sandwich are so yummy also the owners who own the business are very friendly and nice.

Empanadas were on point. Sandwich a little dry. Price was right. Would return for a quick lunch.