Not a local, but was there in February. The restaurant has a very nice atmosphere. I ordered the special for that day/week, I believe it was the steak. I didn't like it at all the other members in our party all said they enjoyed their meals. They did not order the special. Our bill for 5 people came to $449.

Hope this helps a little

The decor is beautiful and the food, while being a bit overpriced, is pretty good.

The restaurant is way too loud for my liking.....much like one of the clubs in South Beach.. The night we were there it was impossible to hold a conversation at our table. We also found the service to be shaky.......we are used to island time and have no problem with that. The staff at Havana Blue were more arrogant than anything....refusing to accomodate those in our party who wanted to make minor changes to their dinners.

It's a nice place to try. I don't think we will return when we are back on island next week. There are too many other nice places to eat at on STT.

Schultz

I have been there just once. One of the owners was a lawyer, quit that biz to run the restaurant. The setting is pretty.

We had a very good romantic dinner there back in April. When I made reservations I asked for a table along the outside rail. We could feel the breeze of the ocean and hear the sound of the waves from our table. The room had a blue hue and was very contemporary. The water wall by the entrance was unique and I did like the mirror that made you look skinny on the way to the bathroom. The bar area is much more lively and louder than where we were seated for dinner.
A very friendly bartender with a warm smile named Keith recommended the best caesar salad I have ever had. It was served with spicy scallops. I had the duck done medium rare and my husband had a pork meal. We both enjoyed our dinners but my husband teased that it was "fancy food".
The server assigned to our table originally, never showed up. Another server noticed we had not been taken care of and took us on as an extra table. The manager came by to apologize later on. We were enjoying the drinks that Keith made us so it did not bother us but I'm sure others would expect better service for the price you are paying.
I would highly recommend Havana Blue for a couple but it is not a place I would spend my money and take my young children to.

bridetobe,

If you've searched for old posts on this place, you've probably run across my review from this past February's visit.

To restate in brief: I found the attitudes of the people working there to be "cold", but the food was wonderful! If you can overlook the cool 'tudes of the staff and just enjoy the food (and don't mind spending a fortune), you'll love it.

As Schultz has pointed out, the restaurant is a little more noisy that most because of the music - kind of like a trendy, cuban, chic, urban trance thing - but it isn't loud - it's just there. I think I may have tuned it out. Others may not be able to.

I don't know how good the view was because they sat us in the rear at the worst table in the place - punishment for being late for our reservation, I guess - (I was on time - early even, but my friend was not - island time, ya know - lol).

I had been seriously thinking of taking my crew there later this month. We have a couple of special occasions to celebrate (and Meson Amalia will be closed at that time, but that was my first choice! 🙁 ).....but now I feel my stress level starting rise when I think about how we were treated at Havana Blue and I think we'll not return.

There are so many other places where you are made to feel welcomed, not a bother to the staff.

I can still recall walking over to the host podium with a smile and in a very pleasant mood from the 2 mojitos I had just had at the bar while waiting for my host, and I said "Hi, we're late, but he'll be here in 10 minutes" - and he looked at me and said "yes, you ARE late!" as though I was late for school or something - no smile, nothing.

We had reservations for the rail at Sunset, but were seated as far away from the rail as possible - in the rear near the bar - whilst plenty of tables in the main dining area were empty during our entire visit, which was long and leisurely. My friend/host was sick with guilt over making me miss my long-awaited sunset view from HB, but I had sympathy knowing how addicted he is to the GOLF course, which is where he had been 🙁 I can easily slip into island time while on STT, but HB brought me back to my East Coast tension - checking my watch, tapping my foot, fearing the loss of HB's graces.

Again, the food was AWESOME. Admittedly, I am not easily pleased by meals at restaurants. I live in Philadelphia and this city is known for it's abundance of fine restaurants and I must have sampled most of them at some point - gotta love business lunches/dinners and corporate expense accounts 😉 . But, the food at HB is deserving of all of the praise it receives and they obviously don't have any problems averaging something like $85 pp for a meal.

It's just that when I spend that kind of money, I feel better about it if the people to whom I give my credit card seem really grateful that I've dined with them and want me to have had a good experience. I didn't sense that at HB. The staff seemed disconnected from us as guests.

I wish I could have sat in the main dining area, as then I would have a better sense of the "feel" of the dining experience. But, due to where they sat us, I have no input on the view, the atmosphere of the dining room, etc.

Hubbie and I went last year. Atmosphere was beautiful. Food was good...service was fair. ... very expensive and hubbie left hungry.

So many other places far better IMO.

Bluie: If you are over on the northside (well, even if you aren't), I recommend The Old Stone Farmhouse. Great food, old-time quiet atmosphere and very gracious service.

EE, thank you. Yes, I will be on the North Side and appreciate the recommendation.

I have heard much about Old Stone Farmhouse and have poked my head inside, but have not yet dined there. I wondered if it was overpriced (I always see pics of important VI government people dining there, which makes me think overpriced! 😉 ) and I guess I have never eaten there because it is enclosed.

My crew is partial to exotic foods with preferences for hot spice and curries, spanish/cuban (hence, my love for the cuisine at Meson Amalia and Havana Blue), Medittranean and Middle Eastern originating foods...and, of course, West Indian. For some reason, I got the impression that OSF was more traditional american - steaks, grilled fish, pastas, etc. Is it? Either way, sounds like it is worth the visit.

Thanks for the tip!

A lawyer quits a lucrative business to run a restaurant. Do you think it might be a tad overpriced there? 😀 You can always find senators at Alexander's, and he is not overpriced. I don't see OSF as traditional at all, maybe at some time in the past?

My husband and I, and my sister and her husband ate at Old Stone Farmhouse, and I am one of those bad people that bring frozen meat and cook at the villa. This was about 1 yr ago and we all loved our meal! I cook at home probably 90% of the time, so you know I don't spend a lot of money dining out. When we do, we figure that if we enjoyed our meal, it was worth the money spent, and this was definitely one of those meals that we enjoyed! I don't feel that it was at all overpriced for the meal we received, the ambiance of the place, and the service. Even though it is an enclosed restaurant, it is very nice inside.