Demo site Marchena's is a restaurant Moxireel invented. The dishes and the prices are made up too — they are here to show a real kitchen how its own menu would read.
Marchena’s (954) 555-0136 Book a table

Menu

Dinner, every night but Monday. Same menu at the bar, same menu for takeout. Prices do not include tax or the tip.

To start

Para empezar

Everything here is fried, baked or dressed to order, so the first plate takes a few minutes. Order it before you decide on the rest.

Croquetas de jamón, six$9 Nilda’s recipe, unchanged. Ham, thick béchamel, fried when you order them — give us four minutes and do not burn your mouth.
Garlic bread the way Nilda learned it$7 Cuban bread, too much butter, more garlic than is reasonable, run under the salamander until the edges go dark.
Tostones with mojo$8 Green plantains smashed and fried twice, salted hot, with garlic and sour orange for dipping.
Little neck clams, white wine$15 A dozen, garlic, parsley, chilli if you want it. Comes with half a loaf, because the broth is the point.
House salad$9 Iceberg, tomato, red onion, oregano vinaigrette. Exactly as it was in 1989 and we are not changing it.
Meatballs, three$12 Pork and beef, a ladle of gravy, a spoon of ricotta on top.

Pasta & the Sunday gravy

From two doors down

The gravy goes on at nine in the morning and comes off at four. When it is gone it is gone, which does occasionally happen on a Saturday.

Sunday gravy rigatonithe one to get$21 Pork, beef and a little sausage cooked down since morning. Ricotta and a torn basil leaf.
Spaghetti and meatballs$19 Three of the big ones. If you want four, ask; we will not tell anyone.
Baked ziti$18 Ricotta, mozzarella, gravy, twenty minutes in the oven in its own dish. It arrives too hot to eat and that is correct.
Linguine with clams$23 White, garlic, a lot of parsley, no cheese. Cris will bring you cheese if you insist, with a look.
Chicken parmigiana$22 Pounded thin, breaded, fried, sauced, under the broiler. Comes with pasta. Nobody has ever finished both.
A bowl of pasta in tomato sauce on a worn wooden table, fork resting beside it.
Rigatoni, Sunday gravy, table four.
Between the two halves of the menu

The Cuban side and the Italian side were never meant to sit on one card. They do because Nilda cooked both, and because on a Wednesday somebody always wants ropa vieja while the person opposite them wants baked ziti.

Nothing on this page is over $29. Everything on it comes with bread.

From the plancha and the grill

Havana side

Every plate here comes with rice and black beans unless it says otherwise. Swap the rice for a salad or fries at no charge.

Ropa vieja$24 Brisket pulled apart in the pot all afternoon with peppers, onion and cumin. Rice, beans, sweet plantains.
Lechón asado$23 Pork shoulder in sour orange and garlic overnight, roasted until it gives up. Mojo on the side, onions on top.
Whole yellowtail, off the boatwhile it lasts$29 Whatever came in from Pompano that morning, grilled with garlic, lime and a lot of parsley. Ask Tono what it actually is tonight.
Palomilla steak$26 Thin sirloin, garlic and lime, a pile of onions on top and fries underneath, the way it is meant to be eaten.
Pollo a la plancha$19 Half a chicken, pressed flat on the hot top, lemon and oregano. The one Rafael orders on his night off.
The Marchena burger$15 Eight ounces, house pickles, aged cheddar. Fries, or plantain chips if you would rather.

Sides

Black beans and white rice$6
Sweet plantains$6
Yuca with mojo$7
Broccoli rabe, garlic and chilli$8
Fries$5

Sweet

Postres
Flan de Nilda$8 Made every morning in the same six tins she bought in 1990. When they are gone, that is it for the night.
Tres leches$8 Soaked through, not soggy. There is a difference and Cris will explain it if you have the time.
Cannoli, two$8 Filled to order, so the shell still cracks.
Affogato$9 Vanilla ice cream, a shot of café cubano poured over at the table.

The bar

Ten stools, same menu

Tono is behind it most nights. Full dinner menu at the bar, first come, no reservation, no minimum.

Draft and bottled beer$6–9
House red or white, by the glass$9
Cuba libre$11
Negroni$13
Café cubano$3.50
Batido de mamey$6
Before you order Ask us

If something on this page needs to change for you — no gluten, no pork, no dairy, a plate of plain buttered pasta for a five-year-old — say so when you sit down. Most of it Cris can do.

Takeout

Same menu, same kitchen

Ring it in and give us twenty-five minutes. Pick it up at the bar.

(954) 555-0136
Allergies

Tell the person who seats you

It goes on the ticket in the kitchen, not just in somebody's head.

A table

Five or more, or a weekend

Otherwise walk in. There is nearly always a stool at the bar.

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