Cafe Cortadito
“I crossed my fingers hoping my date would order the ropa vieja so I could steal a bite, but alas it was not meant to be.”
“5 stars for service and solid attention to drinks during a 1.5 hour bottomless cocktail brunch.”
“Each was mouth-watering and had me more than excited for my main course: the Chimichurri Churrasco (bum, bum BUM!).”
Cafe Cortadito
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Food is amazing! Boozy brunch is fantastic! So why only 3 stars, the service. My friend had made 3:30pm reservations for 3. As soon as arrived there was a huge crowd of people standing outside waiting to be seated. Yes, the hostess/waitress is phenomenal I give her all the credit for being able to manage crazy boozy brunch! However, she NEEDS HELP! She can not run this establishment on her own.
We were unfortunately not seated until 4:30pm and I'm certain she didn't even check to see if we had reservations. At first, we were seated in a table for 2 and felt overwhelming cramped. But after requesting a different table and being accommodated, brunch went by smoothly. I ordered the ropa vieja which was divine! The drinks were very well made. Offered mimosas and sangrias. I believe it's unlimited drinks when you order an entree for $34 or so. Not a bad deal.
Definitely recommend this place bc their food is amazing and it is a boozy brunch but be highly advised that the service department needs some tweaking.
I have been coming to Cafe Cortadito for over 3 years now (so I am unsure why I had never reviewed it before now!). This place is always, and I mean ALWAYS packed. If you are more than 2 for Brunch, I strongly advise calling ahead for reservations. It is a rather cozy spot (read: small and tightly packed) but it only adds to the fun, party brunch experience. I've never sat in the back room but the front is always filled with merry brunchers, happily seat-dancing to the music that is always bumping through the speakers. Even if you have a bit of a wait, it is worth it. Once you sit, make sure to order drinks right away. Sadly the only issue I have with this place is the service. The few servers they have bob and weave through the tight tables so they are sometimes unable to see that you are empty so you will have to be slightly proactive if you can catch their eye. I'm a big fan of the champagne mojito, personally, but they do offer a range of breakfast cocktails including beer.
Now we get to the food selection. I have yet to get a single dish that I am unhappy with. The brunch menu is pretty varied and you can easily get a huge meat lover plate as well as a vegetarian dish. My usual go to is the ropa vieja/plantain egg dish. The salty pulled meat over the sweet plantain is a delightful mix. They offer beans and a side salad with the dish. They will also offer you the entrees for brunch for a small up charge if you'd prefer just ropa. The steak sandwich was good as well and I am always up for a chorizo omelette.
I don't often come here since it is a bit of a sensory overload but when I do come, I am always thoroughly impressed with everything. The hostess and servers are doing the best they can with what they have. Be patient to be seated then enjoy one of the better brunches in the area.
HEY YOU. YEAH YOU, yelpers who told me wrong.
Not one person at my table (of 12) was thrilled by their food. The drinks were a 7/10 and the food was MAYBE a 6/10 – but at brunch prices just not wonderful.
Also I've never had yuca taste so….yick. HOW? and the "salsa" is not anything worth having. Some of the sweet plantains were not cooked all the way through. I've had tremendous cuban food in this city. This wasn't it. Moreover – at brunch I said I was going to order from the non-brunch side of the menu to the woman in charge. She said fine and then gave me the vegetarian order from the brunch side (a sandwhich instead of rice plate) and charged me for unlimited drinks on the bill before I pushed the correction. This could be understandable but it grinds my gears when management yells "It's not my fault! Next time you need to really tell me."
I understand why it's packed for brunch – the drinks are decent and included in the price, the food is instagramable, and the music is good. But…from the inside – watch yourself, yelpers. And this is NYC – go find you some cuban food that is actually excellent.
Came here for a girls bday brunch for a party of 8. We had reservations for 2pm on a Saturday so you can already imagine how nuts it was going to be. However, we were shocked to see how immensely small this place was which made it even crazier of a situation! 2 people from our party were running late so they sat 6 of us pretty quickly. We were crammed in the back room and it was very hard to walk around in the restaurant as a whole, because not only was it crowded but they squeeze tables into every crevice to maximize seating. We thought "bottomless drinks" and say screw it, let's do it.
The deal was pretty enticing. $40 for an entree and bottomless drinks from several options (mimosas, sangria, and mojitos – mojitos being the strongest option). For 6 people we got 3 pitchers at a time for the table which you get to swap out at anytime. I thought that was pretty cool.
Service was so nuts because it was so crowded but for the most part no dishes were messed up and the pitchers were turned around really quickly, which was important due to the 1.5 hour limit.
I had the Huevos rancheros and they were surprisingly fantastic. I wiped that plate clean! A lot of my friends had the steak and eggs which was another awesome dish. Their shrimp salad looked delicious too.
My two late friends showed up toward the end of our time limit (yeah – tell me about it) but the staff was cool enough to let them order and we paid their dishes separately without the bottomless drinks which was about $17 each I think.
Overall, it was pure madness where even the line for the bathroom made me feel like I was at a club with people arguing over the line order. However, the food was the redeeming factor. If you're coming for the drinks, take note that they are VERY watered down so you'll have to double fist to feel a slight buzz.
Dined here for the Groupon promotion. Food was delicious. The ox tail was really tender and tasted yummy. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and didn't feel like I was chewing rubber. The mussels we good also and had a kick to it.
For the service it felt like my girlfriend and I were ignored a couple times when the waitress walked by or maybe she's to busy. They had also forgot about our tostonies which came out last after our entrees.
Came here for friends birthday brunch. This place definitely solidified why I abhor brunch in New York City…
Pros
-Food: The food was delicious! I ordered the "calentado", which is steak and a fried egg over white rice and a side of black beans. I don't know what they put in those beans but my GOSH they were SO GOOD!!! My table also ordered plantain chips and guac. The chips were nice and crispy and the guac was smooth and yummy. You get plenty of food and the pricing is not bad.
-Drinks: Standard "bottomless brunch". Drink as much as you can (just don't end up like the girl who passed out in the bathroom)!
-Music: Nice music. Adds to the ambiance. A little loud for my tastes, but it was fine
-Cleanliness: No complaints!
Cons
-Service: If not for the food, I would give this place one star (less if possible). The server was straight up RUDE! He I seemed very annoyed at every question that was asked, was not very attentive, and the few times he actually did check on us, he continuously reminded us that we needed to wrap it up because theres a 90 minute limit for brunch.
-Extras: Being that I was in a party of seven, our chips ran out fairly quickly. When we asked for more chips to go with the guacamole we had left over, we were informed we'd be charged a ridiculous for it. No thanks
-Layout: Yes, it's NYC so of course space is limited, but come on! This place needs some feng shui! I was scared I might knock things off of other peoples tables with every step I took.
Been here twice for their bottomless brunch. It's a casual yet boozy brunch place. If you're looking for a more energetic atmosphere and get hammered during day time… Then this place is definitely one of the best option out of alllll the long list of bottomless brunch places out there in New York. So expect to talk really loud, practically screaming across the table to your friends among the loud blasting music, and don't expect the food to be too great either.
$30 gets you endless pitchers of mimosas, sangrias, or mojitos with one entree of your choice for about two hours (Fri-Sun only). Both times, everyone liked the sangria the best then the mojitos. The mojitos are strong, and the mimosas aren't quite good here. For brunch entree, the best thing to get is the lobster benedict. Everything else really isn't as enjoyable. And even so with the lobster benny, they're quite inconsistent in the kitchen. Half the table would receive perfect poached eggs, others would receive overly done non-runny poached eggs. Lobster are sometimes a tad over cooked too. I like how they use a delicious cheesy corn arepa though instead of regular biscuit or breading. But still, it's the only best option out of trying most of the things on the menu.
Service is alright, food comes out quick. Again, this is for someone who wants it more casual during the daytime yet still wants a fun atmosphere of boozy brunch but don't want to party too hard or spent too much money at crazy party brunches like Lavo or Bagatelle.
Great place.
Went for a date night with my friend…we had a Deal for an Appetizer and two entrees.
The place is super small, decorated nicely (open kitchen which I love)…
The food was good…nothing spectacular but definitely good. I had the chicken and yellow rice and was not disappointed.
It was worth it for a Groupon deal but I don't think to pay full price…