Hands down, favorite Bakersfield restaurant! Best food, service and wine. Never had a bad experience.

Finally came back to re visit. Fortunately, nothing has changed. I haven't posted pictures yet, so I wanted to do an update. I've always came for dinner, and didn't realIze that they don't offer the tri tip for lunch. No problem at all, so I opted to get my second favorite entree, their fried chicken with the mango chili sauce. Still fried to perfection and still tender. The mango sauce wasn't as spicy as it used to be I think. But still very tasty. And I can't forget about the amazing Isaacs tortilla soup. I've been coming here way before it was featured on DDD. I also notice this time that they have 2 hot sauces. A regular hot sauce and a fruity hot sauce that was actually spicier than the regular. I wish they would sell their mango chili sauce as well. It's always nice to still see the same staff since the last time I came 2 years ago. Next time I will have to come for dinner since I missed out on the tri tip. I will still continue to come every time I visit Bakersfield. read more

Mama Roomba - Isaacs tortilla soup - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

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We have been fans of Mama Roomba for years. After a few disappointing visits in 2019, everything tonight was o-so-fantastic like when we first fell in love w Mama Roomba. We ordered corn and cheese empanadas, salt and pepper shrimp, sweet potato fries and jerk chicken. Our waitress was perfect. Book or call ahead. They got busybusy on a Tues eve. read more

Mama Roomba - a bag of food on a table - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

One of the best restaurants in Bakersfield. Everything on the menu is great. Always good service. read more

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Simple dishes, yet so excellent! The Cubano was superb and came with a side of garlic potatoes. The sweet potato fries were crunchy on the outside but moist inside potatoes with a slightly spicy Ketchup. A great little restaurant! read more

Mama Roomba - Menu - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

The food was ok. Nothing to crave or get excited about. Probably good for Bakersfield but not for me or ppl who love great food that looks tasty as well as beautiful. Use to better presentation, more flavor and better quality food, This place is mediocre, not bad, but not great either. One thing that was upsetting and disgusting was the old oil used to make my calamari. I get it's COVID, but come on give us to reason to come back. read more

Mama Roomba - Old oil. Calamari looks completely different on YELP. COVID-19 food. - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

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Enjoyed it. Great hours and access. Nice staff. Great service. The menu takes chances. Food isn't flawless but it is very good! Tri tip was a little tough. Chicken breast was a little tough. Calamari was perfectly fried, nice light breading, and tender. Calamari dip is very good. The calamari dip is also better with the sweet potato fries then the ketchup they serve with the fries. I wish they offered dark chicken meat. Maybe someday they will. read more

The restaurant smelled like the restroom. I couldn't get over THAT and just enjoy my meal. The food is sub par and expensive. Also you have to order everything separately even your entree. I won't be back read more

We reaaaaaally enjoyed our meal here. It was absolutely delicious. The corn & cheese empanadas were one of my favs as well as the fried chicken. Everything was honestly good. The ambiance is very cozy & small but nice. We will be back! read more

Food was tasty but overpriced. Main dishes are served a la carte meaning, typical compliments like rice and beans are served at an additional cost, imo these should be included. For example, I love that the restaurant serves ropa vieja, traditionally it's served with white rice and black bean, to get those you need to add an additional cost making this dish more expensive than when eaten in the bay area. It's worth visiting this venue, but, I wouldn't go out of my way for the experience. read more

Wow what a find! Nice little Caribbean restaurant nested near downtown, Mama Roomba was delicious. Small little restaurant on the corner. Quaint decorations. The place is small, just letting you know - not really great for groups due to the limited seating available. Food ordered: Refired beans and plantains Fried chicken Tri tip Pork chops Salmon Cassava fries Calamari *Did not try the beans, was told it was okay. The plantains do not go well with the beans* *Fried chicken was told to be extremely juicy and wonderfully flavored, did not try* Tri-tip was cooked perfectly, temp was medium rare and extremely well flavored. Hint of spicy, hint of seasoning in every bite. One of their really good dishes. The pork chops was not dry! juicy in every cut- think and comes in two large pieces, topped with sauteed onions and a sauce I couldn't figure out what it was. The pork chop was my dish and I enjoyed every bite. Not too chewy, not to rough on the jaws - great portions. Salmon dish was very good. No sauce, needed for this one - in my opinion. Seasoned really good - not dry at all, flakey and cooked wonderfully. Probably the better cooked salmon dishes I've seen. Cassava Fries, these were different to me. Never had cassava before - thick pieces, they came out nice and crispy. Very thick pieces, very starchy and the ketchup it came with was fucking delicious. Best ketchup i've ever had. Calamari was probably my favorite appetizer, crispy, juicy and included both body and head of the squid. Enjoyed this one a lot and totally a must! Ask for extra lime/lemon to squeeze over it! Overall experience here was great. Service could had been slightly better but overall still a wonderful experience. Great food, good service, good company and atmosphere was perfect. Would totally come back. read more

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The environment was very cozy. The food was decent for the most part. The bread and butter was horrible, the bread was hard and cold and the butter was melting in its wrapper. But other then that the traditional Cuban sandwich was good and the skillet shrimp, sweet potato fries, and Peruvian ceviche were all decent. The waitress didn't have very good customer service though. read more

Mama Roomba - Peruvian style ceviche - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

Listen, I'd add pics but we ate too fast and forgot to take em! From the moment we walked in, our waitress was awesome and answered all our questions. She made some suggestions and made us feel comfy. We ordered food to share; the warm salmon salad, the chicken with Chile mango sauce, and the chicken paillard. I wasn't the biggest fan of the rice, but the other food way more than exceeded my expectations! Ohhhh, that salmon was amazing. I am already planning a trip back to try more stuff!! Highly highly recommend this little gem. read more

Such tasty food and great service! We both ordered the fried chicken and had the mushroom appetizer.The food came out steaming hot and the chicken was cooked perfectly. They also have awesome sauce for the chicken and plenty of beer choices to pair with dinner. The staff was attentive enough but kind enough to leave the three of us talking even after they locked the door to incoming customers. It was great to catch up with our friend and not feel rushed out, I'll be heading back to try more of the menu. Great atmosphere, food and service! read more

Mama Roomba - What's left of our mushroom dish- really tasty - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

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Just come for the empanadas and appetizers. Don't bother with the main dishes. We got the corn cheese empanadas and they were great - perfectly fried, but with a surplus of cheese in my opinion. For our entrees, we ordered the Tri trip and the Jerk chicken. The trip trip was too under cooked and the jerk chicken was simply chicken breast baked in jerk sauce you could buy from the supermarket. Aside from the food, the service wasn't great despite us being one of the few tables occupied. Update: a few hours after the meal, we are both feeling uncomfortably bloated and I'm now wondering what kind of ingredients they're adding to the food... read more

What can I say , the food was amazingly delicious. I ordered the pork chops and they were nice and juicy. Great meal. They are pretty big pork chops so you can definitely share this. They're blacked beans and plantain dish is also very tasty. Definitely a top spot to come and try . read more

My husband and I did not intend to come to this restaurant at first -- we were on our way to check out Muertos (just down the alley-way from this spot), but Muertos was closed on Monday, so we "got stuck" going to Mama Roomba for dinner! AND BOY ARE WE GLAD WE DID! :) Both of us came into this restaurant with no expectations since we haven't heard much about it - and the location was rather obscure. We were hungry and waiting for our out-of-town friend to join us for dinner as well. We proceeded to order: (1) Chimichurri tri-tip entree - the meat was succulent and nicely cooked (my husband asked for medium and when we cut into the meat, it was perfectly medium w/ some hint of pink in the meat. tasty!) my husband thought the tri-tip was just OK, but i really enjoyed the flavor and texture! 4 stars (2) Jerk chicken entree - this was a half chicken, marinated in some tangy caribbean sauce - the portion size was big, I had to share it with my husband in order to finish it. :) i can see why this dish is popular / one of their signature items. 4 stars (3) cheese/corn empanadas for appetizer - my husband ordered this and there were 3 pieces that come in the order, cheese + corn filled the empanada and it was rather tasty 3.5 stars (4) salt & pepper shrimp for appetizer - this was great, the shrimp (6-8 pieces) was cooked nicely (texture was crispy & crunchy at the same time, with great flavor), it reminds me of the way salt & pepper shrimp is prepared in Chinese restaurants, haha Atmosphere was pretty casual with plenty of seats for customers - service was friendly and prompt. We came in to this restaurant on a whim and left feeling satiated and happy we stopped by for dinner! :) What a delight~ read more

Mama Roomba - Salt & pepper shrimp, cheese& corn empanadas, jerk chicken, chimichurri Tri-tip :) - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

Seriously over priced and over hyped here on yelp. Went in for a Saturday dinner based on reviews but were sorely disappointed. Walking in the door, it swings open to basically hit the unfortunate person sitting at the right table. People are awkwardly waiting to be noticed and seated in the foot of space between the first two tables adjacent to the door, awful space planning. We ordered the jerk chicken and tri-tip plates, and skillet shrimp and Chilean empenadas to split. At ~$7-9 for these "tapas", its a ridiculous price tag for the small plates, more appropriate for a full portion. Maybe justified if they were scrumptious, but the shrimp were swimming in a watery butter sauce that doesn't penetrate the shrimp and warning: the empenadas have raisins. The jerk chicken came completely black, and an overly strong sauce applied too liberally on top. The pork tri-tip was a bigger success but by a small margin. The novelty of it arriving on a sizzling hot plate was lost when it was tough and lacking any real flavor, even with the chimicurri sauce it comes with. My boyfriend seemed to enjoy it well enough but the only flavor I got from it came from the house bottled hot sauce - the single positive I had that night. However, the biggest thing that the plates are lacking are sides. The chicken came with three leaves of spinach for garnish. No carbs or startch, no veggies, nothin'. Rice or beans or plantains and the like are available as sides for an additional $3+ on top of the ~$15+ for plates. Bottom line: don't come hungry, and don't come for the sub par ambience. read more

Mama Roomba - Jerk chicken - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

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Omg I can't say enough about this spot! Coming from NYC. And having ate a hell of a whole lot of Latino foods I must say this little restaurant in the middle of Bakersfield is bomb as f$@&!!! My husband and I are so full right now and we only had lunch. Idk if I'll even have room for dinner later. We had the beef empanadas that had the most bangin sauce I ever tasted. The Cassava aka yucca fries and a Cuban and some very hearty chicken wings. Everything we ordered was bomb. If you just so happen to be in the neighborhood, you definitely need to go to this restaurant. We will be returning for dinner service on a another night. Do yourself a favor and go eat here. Update: Just ate there this afternoon. I think they changed chefs because what I was served tasted nothing like the food I ate the last time I was there. The beans weren't authentic to cuban cuisine. They were more like Mexican refried mush. Which I have never had at any cuban restaurant. Ever. The rice first off wasn't white rice as what was ordered and it was mushy. Even the empanadas were not cooked the same. My husband ordered the fried chicken and got four pieces of chicken strips. He too was very disappointed. It's bad when the save is the best thing on your plate. Needless to say I was very disappointed in the food. And I will not be returning. Sad cause my first time there was so great!! I hope they get a better chef who knows how to cook cuban food right, soon. Good luck to all who decide to try it. read more

Cute little spot to hang out with family and friends they didn't have chicken the day we went but that's ok I had the tortilla soup it was very delicious and the sea food soup it's was so tasty had clams in it and big shrimp also there fresh waters area so good as well I had the cucumber it was so refreshing would visit again our Server was great and they have cool beers as well some from Brazil give this place a try read more

Mama Roomba - There ceviche was amazing - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

Another gem on Wall St. Downtown is home to some of my favorite local restaurants, yes talking about you Mama Roomba. It's no surprise why this cute little place is a fan favorite in Bakersfield. Cuban sandwiches are the best in town, I'll lead with this point first since that's what i know most people are hoping to hear from the reviews. My fav is the calamari, fresh and crisp to perfection. BREAD: amazing. You always tell yourself not to load up on bread and ruin your appetite but when it's that stinking good how could you resist? Don't forget the wine wine wine. Good selection, can't complain. There's a few different vegetarian options that i am eager to come back to try. Vegetable soup with lots of mushrooms, yes gimme all the mushrooms. And cheese empanadas? Please and thank you. See you soon Mama Roomba. (Hungry just thinking about it) read more

The best Caribbean food I've ever tasted and it's right in my hometown, friendly prompt service, 5 star presentation and food cooked to perfection... my hats off to the chef, thank u Isaac... I'll be back... from Tim The Bartender read more

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With the number of good reviews I was disappointed. The place itself is an older, quaint restaurant. It was on the loud side while we were there. We had the fried calamari, carribean beef in a sauce, and the vegetable dish. No complaints about the fried calamari or the carribean beef, although they advertise a pineapple sauce with the beef and I could not tell that it was a pineapple sauce. The vegetables were bad. It looked and tasted like they got a frozen bag of vegetables at a store, put them in some boiling water and served them. Very bland. For the price we paid, we will definitely not return. read more

We go there every 31st December to enjoy a great meal and excellent customer service and I hope I will continue my tradition. I really feel good and at the last day of year you want to feel good . We make reservations in advance and we are always given a table almost immediately . Every thing is good here and my favorite is the shrimp and the sweet potato . The jerk chicken is also tasty . read more

Food and service were on point but oh that bathroom. It smelled so bad. Unfortunately our table was by the restroom and I lost my appetite because of the smell. I would still go again but ask to sit in a different area. read more

It's one of my fav. Restaurants, is delicious and original, great service and nice ambiance.

Simple and tasty offerings. My favorite is the skillet shrimp dish with a side of rice. Whenever we happen to be passing through B-field we'll plan a meal stop here. Good friendly service as well. Local feel for sure. read more

So I am visiting my cousin's in Bakersfield I am from Palm Desert o and my brother and sister-in-law is from South Carolina. So my cousin was telling us about this great fabulous restaurant that served Caribbean food so we decided we're going to try it. We just so happen that Jamie waited on us and explained every dish to us. Not only was she spot-on but as we are going out the door we saw where Guy Fieri been there to critique the restaurant. We are all so happy and it just happened to be on Fat Tuesday. If you're wanting Caribbean food this is the place to go. And ask for Jamie she is the best. read more

If you want some good food for an anniversary or date night this place is the place to go! It is so good! Highly recommend the fried fish, fried chicken, platanos and black beans, and the corn empanadas! read more

Small hole in the wall restaurant vibe. It's cozy and the menu is not like anything else I've seen in Bakersfield. Small tapas served family style and enough to share with another. I had grilled lamb pops which I learned is an off the menu special served only on Tuesdays. These were amazing and I'll definitely be back again just for the lamb. Try the fried chicken which is moist and the seafood soup. Both are fire too. Will be back again. read more

Wow!!! I am so sad that I have not dined here before. This place is a 10/10 and very few dining experiences have met that rating for me. We started with the ceviche, had the fried chicken with beans and plantains and lamb special. Every single thing was absolutely perfect. I am not going to lie, I am kind of a picky eater and every dish looked like something I was not going to like. I could not have been more wrong. Every bite had me singing praises. I want to try everything on this menu. And here is the finale, 4 drinks, an appetizer, 2 entrees with a shareable side was under $100, you've got to be kidding me!!! Please Bakersfield, keep this gem, go eat there now. read more

The atmosphere was great. The fried chicken was scrumptious and spicy. Not dry at all. I'm not a fan of sweet potato fries but they tasted great. The chicken paillard went will with the rice and beans. I would recommend the Mama's Latin Fried Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce (Guy Fiery approved). Food is not too expensive. Less than $20 a plate. Definitely recommend for the Downtown Bakersfield area. read more

Mama Roomba - Mama's Latin Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Fries - Caribbean Near Me - Bakersfield, California

Interesting menus, good service, portions are designed to share and the food is good.

My two coworkers and I enjoyed an excellent dinner at Mama Roomba, a Caribbean tapas-style restaurant in downtown Bakersfield. They're a cozy space, with an entrance on the corner of the building. There's a separate bar in the back and roughly a dozen 4-tops out front. We were lucky to be seated quickly without reservations, as they were packed on a Tuesday at 6pm. (We had fun guessing which other tables were MSPs.) It was the first 102º day of the summer and the mojitos went down very easily and were a great way to start the night. It was hard to not order too much, as we wanted to try everything. Our waitress said the fried chicken was the most popular, and we had no regrets on that one, it was cooked perfectly, and the dipping sauce was sweet and spicy and nice. We also enjoyed the salt and pepper shrimp, which were big and served with the shells off. The black beans and plantains are classic, done just right, and the big bowl of beef stew was rich and hearty. The only real surprise was the ceviche, which they do as a shrimp dish rather than fish cooked in lime. The portions were quite generous (for tapas), and we were stuffed before we left. I'd for sure come back the next time I'm in town. read more

The staff is very friendly and the tapas are very tasty. The non-beef empanadas was very tasty and so were the shrimp selections. We also had the chicken in cream sauce. read more

Food is served family style, and it's very delicious! Seafood was nice and platanos were too. It's a small space but service was good and the waitress explained to us the procedures of the place since it was our first time going. I would go back! read more

Truly,the select combination of ingredients they mix here to swirl Mexican food with fusion that is incomparably scrumptious to any other comparison you would make with a like quality establishment! And this place is an establishment unto itself! If you love either of these kinds of foods and you are coming or going through Bakersfield then this is "Mecca" necessary. The seafood is what I loved along with various tangy Mexican sauces applied to most dishes. I can't recommend a particular dish as I would want one of each an hour before a fire squad myself.Everything I saw or tried was the bomb! It was just that good to me! :) :) :). My guess is if I look back at this review in a year there will be 900 more photos to prove my point! Go to this place folks! read more

First time we tried it was first Friday in October it was great food loved it. We ordered the beef with a wonderful sauce and salt and pepper shrimp with fries and mojo ketchup best food we have ever had read more

Staff was warm and welcoming. Food was really good! My husband got the fried chicken and I got the pork salad. Salad was fresh and delicious! Cute spot read more

Great food every-time and amazing service who are very attentive. This is our go to spot