Gustazo Cuban Kitchen Waltham

First time there. We went on Friday night. Everything was great! Alina the server was knowledgeable and fast. We ordered the taco of the day (shorts ribs) , ceviche of the day (red snapper) and the Vegetarian croquet (mushroom). Dessert was the best churros we have ever had. Highly recommend!

I don 't have anything good to say about this restaurant after I saw that they added a hidden 4% charge on my bill for a kitchen appreciation fee without asking, telling, or otherwise informing us of this charge. While it may seem like a small thing, and I am a person who worked in restaurants for many years so I most certainly understand the job, it is shady business practice for the owners of the restaurant to add on a hidden fee that they should be paying for and instead are passing on to the consumer. At a hefty $180 bill to then add an additional fee on top of that and such manipulative language is very poor form for a supposedly professional restaurant. What I 'd really like is to have the money refunded to me, but I can promise you this is a restaurant I will never go back to.Worse mice and rats spotted in restaurant by multiple patrons beware.

The food tasted great! The interior was a little bit dark for me but being seated next to the window was nice. For the price of the food, it was a little bit concerning to see a 4% appreciation charge for kitchen staff on the bill… however i didn’t mind too much as the food was good. The flavors were well balanced. I enjoyed the camarones a la plancha and the flan the most.

Being from Cuban descent I decided to try out Gustazo tonight. Unfortunately, I was not impressed. The empanadas were small (very little meat), not of great taste, were topped with sesame seeds which I don’t like, and just over priced. The lamb chops were of the tiniest portion I’ve ever seen and overpriced as well. My wife said the ropa vieja was not bad, so 1 out of 3 things went well. I should have stuck with the usual places I normally go to in Watertown/Waltham area or drive into Boston. In addition, what the heck is a kitchen appreciation fee of 4.00%? This is the first time I have heard of this and would not of known unless I looked over the receipt. I drove in the rain to pick it up, the fees and suggested tips are a bit much for takeout! I thought tips were for dinning in and delivery services?!

Rats in the restaurant, stay away. From looking at older reviews it seems that they have been around for the past 6 months. I went with a group of girlfriends and at the end of the meal we saw rats going around, and the kitchen operates with open doors where the rats can go in and out. The present manager offered no apology or anything to try to make things better, very poor customer service. It seems that the rats are in their house. Never again