The restaurant Siboney, also popularly known as "Sibonese" (according to owners Julio and Jose Luis, pronounced "see-bone-easy"), is beautiful, but the food and service need some improvement.
My service and food experience was very similar to Mr. Brujo's, only that instead of trying the ox tail dish, I tried the shrimp in red hot sauce. The dish itself cannot possibly be construed as "fine" by even the most liberal definition. Like Mr. Brujo said, the actual plates are nice, but the food isn't. This particular dish is equivalent to a hot (as in heat, not spice) Mexican-style shrimp cocktail. Surely, the shrimp were bountiful, but the sauce tasted very much like a heated ketchup and tabasco sauce concoction.
Our server was a young and attractive Cuban lass. She was very nice but consistently had a surprised-look on her face, as though she was increasingly trying to figure out what was going on. I don't blame her since it was rather hectic in that place. Her and the other servers - all females - appeared to argue frequently about their mistakes. Nevertheless, I cannot stress enough how nice this server was. Unfortunately, she failed to bring out one of my appetizers, and she had a hard time describing the "pescado siboney" dish. That is why I opted to order the hot shrimp cocktail.
The person I was with ordered the ropa vieja, which tasted very good. However, the rice and beans lacked flavor and seasoning. As for drinks, Sibonese is currently on BYOB status, and the owner Julio offered to run across the street and buy us a bottle of wine. That was very nice of him. The other owner was also nice, but not as gracious. He could often be heard yelling "coño" (not sure what it means, but it seemed like a friendly, endearing term) in the kitchen and bar area. This was a welcoming departure from other self-proclaimed fine dining establishments. The staff here weren't afraid to be themselves and yell randomly.
This was my 2nd time at Sibonese, and while the service and food aren't quite up to par with "fine dining," they are certainly making strides. Good luck Julio and J.L.