Sandy’s Cafe

Sandy’s is closed but the lovely couple that used to run it have moved around the corner to Baba’s Deli. I found them today and was thrilled!
You can get the same awesome homemade empanadas, tamales, omelets, illy coffee and Balthazar pastries just up the street. Given taking over a deli they also have a wider variety of sandwiches, drinks etc. available now as well.
Cherry on the sundae is the gorgeous backyard with a fountain and wifi. Don’t be fooled by the deli look outside. You can enjoy your homemade Mexican food and coffee and work in their backyard while the weather stays nice. They also told me they plan to upgrade other food items and the inside with more seating.
Head over to Babas!

Sandy’s has been taken over by a new crew in the past year. They are super friendly and helpful. Most of their treats, including pies, are home made. Pastries are delicious and freshly delivered from Balthazar (where one of the owners was a chef). The space is small but cute and you can sit outside. This is a lovely neighborhood place in an equally lovely neighborhood.

The woman working here was so kind and they had iced decaf. I know, I know, but I’m pregnant and I’ve got to make do. Unlike most decafs, that taste like cardboard, it actually tasted good!

I’ve been here a couple times now and I love this place. It feels like stepping into another neighborhood in some small village somewhere… Such a nice lady at the counter who is fun to talk to, homemade foods and nice coffee, and plenty of space to relax, read, hang out. It’s a simple and humble place that exudes really friendly vibes. It’s tucked off 5^th Ave so you might not see it at first but you’ll be rewarded by stepping in. Really hope this place sticks around for a long time.

Cute cute place. Owner is super nice. Popped in there for two iced coffees this past weekend and sampled their quiches. Super tasty. And they have pies too. All made by the owner. Prices are more than reasonable. Will definitely visit again!

Sandy’s is the perfect neighborhood spot! Amazing tamales made from scratch, awesome juices and Gigi and Neil, the hardworking owners, are so friendly and accommodating makes it hard not to want to stop by for a coffee and say hi every morning. So glad this place opened and I hope it keeps going strong!

I’ve lived a block away from this modest-​looking place for four years, but only recently started going when it was renovated. I now love it and go all the time!
The coffee and cappuccino are among the best I’ve had in the south slope, and the egg dishes — omlettes and breakfast sandwiches — are *amazingly* good. I can’t quite believe they can prepare stuff so well considering that all they’ve got is a tiny single-​element hotplate behind the counter, but seriously: The guy who cooks the stuff is magic. Apparently he worked the omlette station at an Intercontinental hotel, so that’s probably where the mad skills came from.
Anyway, it is a real gem of a café. They have power outlets and wifi so it’s a good place to sit and work too.

Walking into this sweet cozy place was like stepping into a mini vacation in Mexico. Wonderful place to sit and relax. I just had a delicious chicken empanada with side salad — I wish I got two! And nice to meet co-​owner Neil…

Neil, the part owner, makes a perfect Cortado. Plus, the Wi-​Fi is 5G and never fails. This is a super friendly home like place to have in the South Slope!

So admittedly I was turned on by this place because they are a café BUT they have a sign for authentic tamales and empanadas. A Cali girl on a continuous search for delish Mexican I had to stop by.
It is just this little lady with a huge smile to greet you. No customers. No potential customers. But they had tamales! I got chicken in green sauce but they also have chicken in red sauce and sweet tamales. On the weekends there are pork too.
The empanadas looked great but being gluten free I couldn’t risk it.
Tamale turned out to be surprisingly delicious! For $ 2.25 it might be my Tuesday/​Thursday snack en route to work.

You know how something’s you think you’ve found a great secret and you don’t want it to get out because then it’ll become overrun and spoiled? Well that’s how I feel about the empanadas here. OH MY GOD. However we were the only ones there, so I feel like I need to post something to keep this lady in business because we cannot let these things disappear from the face of the earth. And Jesus the weren’t even freshly made… she heated them up in a little microwave.
Okay so to set expectation here, this place is literally just a sweet little Mexican lady behind a counter selling her wares. There are 2 tables. She makes tamales (also very good) and empanadas, has some pastries, and sells tea/​coffee/​etc. Very small operation, but what she’s makes, she makes well. She gave me some of her home made chipotle hot sauce and it was spectacular.
I walked past this place almost every week for 9 months and never went in. I’m glad I finally did.