The Nobu Matsuhisa crossroads outpost — Mexican-Cuban fusion with fire-roasted corn and the kind of celebrity-adjacent energy that defines Malibu's casual dining scene.
Cafe Habana began in New York — a tiny Nolita joint that somehow became one of the city's most beloved casual restaurants. Its Malibu incarnation occupies a corner of the Malibu Lumber Yard shopping complex at Cross Creek Road, a pedestrian-friendly enclave that has become Malibu's answer to the village square. The location is deliberate: this is a neighbourhood restaurant for a neighbourhood that includes people you have seen on a screen, and the atmosphere reflects the peculiar egalitarianism of Malibu at its most relaxed.
The Mexican-Cuban menu is built around fire and simplicity. The grilled corn — charred on an open flame, painted with mayonnaise, dusted with cotija cheese and chili powder, finished with lime — has become one of the signature dishes of coastal Los Angeles dining and rightly so. It is one of those rare items that improves every time you eat it. The Cuban sandwich is pressed precisely, the tacos are honest, and the margaritas are strong enough to make the celebrity sightings feel unremarkable.
For a team dinner, the format is close to ideal. The menu is broad enough for mixed groups, the price point is genuinely accessible by Malibu standards, and the energy — loose, sun-warmed, vaguely festive — is exactly what a work dinner benefits from when it wants to pretend it is not a work dinner. The outdoor seating, when the Pacific air cooperates, makes the case even stronger.
Cafe Habana sits between Duke's Malibu and Tra di Noi in the Malibu dining hierarchy — less grand than the former, more casual than the latter, and entirely its own thing.
Address
3939 Cross Creek Rd, Malibu, CA 90265
Neighbourhood
Malibu Lumber Yard
Price Per Person
$30–$55 with drinks
Cuisine
Mexican-Cuban Fusion
Dress Code
Casual Malibu
Reservations
Recommended for groups
Hours
Daily lunch and dinner
Parking
Cross Creek parking lot
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