After a late night out, a burrito from Flaco's was just what I needed. Some friends and I came in and were able to quickly get a burrito and 3 or so Arepas. Their guava pastries are also incredible. I'd definitely recommend Flaco's closer to downtown though, as the one in Mid (if it's still there I'm not sure) can get a little crowded on a friday night. read more

My call in order was wrong :( My co-worker wanted a plain beef taco with only cheese lettuce & tomato but it was covered in onions so she couldn't even try it. My food was ok, even if it wasn't quite what I ordered. Was a little bit dry, but it did fill me up. They wouldn't take the gift certificates & more coupon or the "secret password" they advertised on facebook for a discount. Also didn't have any takeout menus so we probably won't be coming here again even though they're close to work. I guess its better at night when your drunk, I don't recommend it for lunch. read more

Fantastic flavorful food! I love the cuban gator (modified cuban) and the ropa vieja is spectacular. They're open late, reasonably priced and fairly convenient. Not open on monday nights, which makes me sad. read more

I can't tell you how many drunken nights have ended (and been redeemed) here. One bite of a pork burrito and I've forgotten all about the horrors of wading through the midtown or downtown crowds. Call me dramatic, but the burritos here are just...orgasmic. There, I said it. I highly recommend the "pork burrito with everything, and pink Sriracha sauce." I'm a little salty they raised their price to $6, but hey it's a small price to pay for a a little piece of heaven. read more

I love this place, but it kills me every time i come in for lunch and theres usually one woman working the counter busting her ass for like 6-8 customers and theres this employee who's a man with a hat and glasses who is always sitting there checking his phone or something, i mean cmon give these ladies a break and hire someone who at least acts like they care, ill even come in sometimes and the dude will see me at the counter then walk away, another staff member during lunch would help out alot! i love the food its super convenient and the owners are so sweet! would recommend to anyone obviously but that dude who acts like a manager could turn up the customer service a bit read more

Not real Cuban (at all lol) but the food is really good, the cafe con leche is on point, and the guava/cheese pastelitos are gooooood. But, kind of a bummer when it takes so long to get your food, you paid extra for avocado and then they don't include the avocado....or your sauces. Employees need to be a bit more attentive. read more

Tried their 'coladas' and was definitely let down. I asked before hand if it was authentic tasting cuban coffee, which I was told it was. That was far from the truth. I'm from miami and have tasted GOOD cuban coffee and this taste like trash. I gave it two stars instead of one because the sandwiches are okay, I guess. read more

I've never been so satisfied by a sandwich. Flaco's is no typical sub shop. There's a unique atmosphere, accompanied by peppy customer service. And the food is on point. I even brought my family when they were in town. read more

If you are a fan of marinated cardboard filled with disgusting crap they call meat, this is the place for you. Here's why it gets 1 star: 1. Food - not very good; doesn't taste that well. 2. Authenticity - NOT Cuban. You can tell by their accents, the people that work there, and the quality of the food that they serve. 3. The sandwiches - again, horrible. Their sandwiches don't have almost any meat. The pork tastes dull and the bad bread has a stronger taste than the meat. They are just not good sandwiches. Too small, too dull, and too little meat. Also, for the record, Cuban sandwiches are not supposed to have mayo. 4. The atmosphere - it looks as if they've been renovating for 10 years, and stopped halfway through. They should clean every once in a while. 5. The service - HORRIBLE. They need a seminar on customer service. They don't really care whether or not you actually enjoy your meal. Just bruttal. You can easily wait 40 minutes for a sandwich. They are sort of rude. 6. The language barrier - if you work at a "Cuban" restaurant, you should know the names of the items you're selling. If I say the name of a product that is on your menu, even if you don't speak Spanish, you should recognize it. Period. 7. The price - overpriced. Overpriced. Overpriced. A small pastry and a Cuban soda (no refills!) will set you back almost $4.00. That is just wrong. 8. Dyslexia - the people that work there are seriously messed up. They cannot get an order right. If you say you want a Cuban sandwich with no pickles, they will give you extra pickles. If you tell them you want something, they're very likely to either forget or get it wrong. Finally, as a Cuban, I feel insulted. These people are rude and lazy, and they don't show the hospitality nor respect you'd expect to find at this place as a fellow patriot or as a customer. Overall, this place sucks. I miss the flavors from home, but doubt I'll be eating here again. They seriously need to learn how to make themselves look less rude, even if it's feigned, and pack more meat on those sandwiches. This sounds harsh, but I swear I'm not an ass. Look at my other reviews and you shall see they're not all negative. The fact that I am Cuban and was forced to wait over 40 minutes for a simple sandwich makes me biased....but still well within reason. Remember that this place will only seem good to you, because when you go there, you're very likely to be drunk. read more

The cuban sandwich is good and their arepas are as good as the ones you get in Miami. Their service was atrocious. Would never go their again. read more

Went into the store, read the menu and wandered for ten minutes while asking if I can make a order, no one gave me a shit. Then I left. That's is my beautiful story with Flaco. read more

Truly excellent food; must stop here every time I'm in Gainesville. I always get the media noche and it's a better sandwich than I've had anywhere else, including Miami read more

The sunshine bowl with lentiles is so good it could make me club a baby seal. There was one time that it was really not that good, but honestly I never expect perfection from a place that has EVERY DRUNK PERSON IN GAINESVILLE in line complaining that the line is too long. Lets be honest... no matter how drunk you are you should still be aware that if they have 5 people on staff, 30 jerkoffs in line, 5 minutes to make a sandwich, 6 sorority girls talking on their phone, 10 updating their facebook, one scorned lover coping with beer and tacos, 3 kids from basecamp 'freaking' eachothers minds, 2 people drunk enough to have their first homosexual experience... it's going to take more than 10 minutes to order and begin the munchin. read more

The food itself was very good. The service was poor and I waited a long to even place my order even though the place was empty.

Love this place! The plantain and cream cheese sandwich is my fav..The sunshine is good too

Amazing pastries, but the sandwiches and everything else taste pretty bad

Love the bowls (rice pork and lentils is the go too) but this is the first time I get brown rice and idk if it's always like this but it's not fully cooked :( there are a lot of hard pieces of rice and it's pretty tasteless. Would def recommend white rice read more

Always a little worried about trying new places, but that never stops me. Came in with my beautiful fiancee and ordered the medianoche, arepa con ropa and the pork lentil bowl, and everything was amazing. Especially loved the Arepa. Great friendly customer service, and a fun relaxed atmosphere. Definitely a gainesville favorite. read more

Funky little cuban cafe, open late. Good cheap food, local vibe. My favorite dish is the cuban gator (cuban sandwich with ropa vieja), with a side of lentils and rice (add siracha hot sauce). The guava and cheese pastries are good too. read more

Disappointed with the chicken and beans, the bowl was very dry and rice completely dried which i had to get replaced. The chicken was not juicy to balance the rice. I was hoping a 4.5 stars taste but was not able to swallow the food and was constantly reminded of Chipotle as a better alternate. Maybe it was bad day for my order. read more

So I came back because I wanted some beans and was on university... Went to eat lunch they still had not opened. Told me it would be another 15 minutes. I decided to wait because class would be starting within the hour. Waited, until they took my order and SURPRISE ...again..., no plantains, no black beans and no bags... Could have mentioned what you were out of before having me wait for something that was not there. read more

I wasn't always sure about Flaco's. I went when they first opened and had a dryish, not so temperature hot beef sandwich. I was hesitant to return, but an Arepa loving friend convinced me to. I tried the Ropa Vieja Arepa (2 piping hot cornmeal pancakes with shredded beef and queso blanco between them) and loved it. Since then I have revisited the sandwiches as well and have enjoyed the Cuban Gator (traditional Cuban but with shredded beef and pork ) most. Another plus about Flaco's is that they are one of the few places to dine after 2am, it's a good place to eat and sober up if you have indulged a little too much, or if you just want to keep hanging with friends after the bars close. It does get busy at that time so there may be a wait if you go then.They do seem to have some entertainment at times and do serve beer. Sandwiches run in the $5-7 range and they are large. Though they do not come with a side, they will fill you up! Much, Much better than Checkers at 2am! read more

Yum, love the ropa vieja arepa!

best cuban sandwich in town in my opinion. decent prices and good portions, and the pastries are tasty as well. my only complaint would be the wacky hours that i can never remember. they're actually not too bad, but ive had a craving on more than a couple occasions that went unmet because they were closed. understandable from a family run business though. read more

As far as late night food its 4 stars. Empadas are above average any time of day.

Best Cuban food I've ever had. Delicious sandwiches, delicious desserts, great atmosphere (keep in mind it's a college/after-bars/late-night kinda place), great service, friendly staff. read more

If your drunk the food taste great. If your sober it is lacking. It is just A-OK. Nothing special.

Costs more than it should and service is usually slow, but Flaco's is delicious after a night out.

Selling point: 2 dollar tacos. Good Cuban coffee as well. Good choice for after party crowd in downtown.

Cuban food is one of my most favorite foods to eat and I know good cuban food when I eat it and Flaco's definitely isn't good. It's decent at best. They don't even have black beans or yellow rice (staples of Cuban food) so I had to settle for their lentils and white rice with ropa vieja (shredded pork). I ordered a beef empanada as well. Easily the worst I've ever had. It was small, soggy, and worst of all, not tasty. In all, the whole meal set me back by 8 bucks, without a drink. If you were thinking about going to Flaco's save yourself the time and money and go somewhere else. Btw, their cuban sandwhiches looked extremely undersized for the price you're paying. Another reason why i had to settle for the ropa vieja meal. read more

I like Flaco's. The food is tasty, of course nothing like in Miami, but very good for Gainesville. And especially for the downtown area where I live it is vital to bring a little latin flavor. read more

i haven't been to flaco's but one of the owners is an old friend of mine that i've been trying to get in touch with. so i'm kind of asking you fellow reviewers to help me out, if possible. i believe there is a male and female owner, i know the male. don't want to name his name out of respect, but if anyone goes there and either knows him can you please tell him that his old friend from germany, niki vozel, is looking for him. i would greatly appreciate it. read more

Great food for a good price. I have been looking for a good Cuban restaurant in Gainesville and this is it. Good empanadas and pastries, and I love the lentils. We had them cater for our wedding and everyone loved the food! read more

Don't eat here. The people who make the food are rude and will curse at you. The actual food is medicore at best and anyone who thinks otherwise was probably drunk. Plus its over-priced because they've monopolized the late-night food market short of taco-bell and checkers which are worse. My recommendation instead of Flaco's for late- night food? Go home and eat cereal. At least the box won't cuse you out for trying to get fed. read more

This place has great food but I have to say the service is absolutely horrible! Definitely not going back

This is literally the only place I want to spend my money at when I do go out to eat. The arepas are a deal for less than $6 and I always end up here after going out on Thursday nights read more

Loved the burritos in the back but HATED the food in the front. If you're going to tout your food as CUBAN, it better be Cuban. For example, taking something normally in Cuban culture called an "Elena Ruz" and name it "Jill's" and be rude enough to just blankly and silently stare when politely asked "Why did you name it Jill's?" (i was pretty curious). I was also pretty annoyed when I asked for the "tostada" and they looked at each other and back at me and said "Uhhh, we don't have that..." when I clearly saw a server making it in the back for another customer. I asked if I could have what he was making, and they with sudden clarity responded "Oh!! Bread! Ok!"..... If you're going to have toasted bread and butter labelled as a tostada on your menu, you might as well learn what it means.. I don't recommend ordering it either, what I was presented with was soggy warm not even pressed Cuban bread with half-melted butter. What a sore disappointment... Basically don't masquerade as a Cuban place when your servers act too elitist to learn what menu says.... read more

i love the Donna sandwich w/ a scoop of lentils IN it, sounds funny but was suggested to me by the owner and I'm so glad!...w/ the siracha sauce, a quesito (sweet cheese pastry) and an excellent cuban coffee all for about $10 (including the tip)... hard to beat!..everyone that I've taken to flacos ends up loving the food, we jones for it !...plus its a locally family owned business and open till like 2am!.. read more

First let me start by stating that I've been a loyal customer to since 2011, never have I experienced such a horrible customer service in my life. I started my stating that when I first moved to Gainesville the burritos use to be only $4 and WOW did she blow up on me. She started by saying that it's not her fault the prices went up and if I really wanted to complain at 2:15am she doubts the owner would be up to do anything with the most horrible attitude ever. For me to go out my way and write a review about my service should truly have some value. She was nasty, stating that I should hurry up with my order and that she doesn't care if I'm going to order or not. My friends even made a comment saying that they have never seen a person getting so nasty. She told me her name was Cynthia and that I could complain all I want and she doesn't care. Honestly I understand that the food industry does deal with people who are rude but at no time did express any hard feelings or any rude intentions towards her. I believe that customer service should be something that every restaurant should strive to uphold the highest standard and with that current employee, I vow to never recommend or spend my money with this corporation again. I truly love the food but I've never felt such a huge embarrassment at a food restaurant. Never should a employee need to raise her voice. The owner should honestly reconsider her employments read more