Cafe Cortadito

Found this place due to the boozy 1.5 hour brunch and thought the ambience and food were great. However, the waiter/​manager tried to kick us out saying we had exceeded our time after only 45 minutes! We spent the next 45 minutes arguing for more drinks because we knew when we sat down and they were trying to tell us otherwise. All in all not worth coming here.

This is by far my favorite Cuban restaurant in the East Village. Very nice atmosphere, friendly service, and amazing food!

Botttomless yummy MOJITOS during brunch! Sold!

want to know what it’s like to be in miami? come here, or just read the reviews. I lived there for 7 years & have scoured NYC for decent croquettas & cortaditos, Cuban coffee. I was so excited when I found this place. my group of 3 (all in our 30s) showed up around 4pm on a Sunday & were met by 20 year olds in full club wear & makeup yelling in a cramped space over their carafes of alcohol. we were told there was no coffee that day bc the bartender wasn’t there… I can’t even deal with that comment. if you’re Cuban & you own/​manage this restaurant then you know how to take some bustelo & make Cuban coffee. and so, just like miami itself, the food is great, the people look great, the music is loud & fun but it’s all flash & very little substance.

Came here for a reservation on a Saturday night at 7:30. Made the reservation on Wednesday morning. The hostess/​waitress/​table clearer/​probably dish washer too decided to take her friends (she was laughing and joking with them) who were waiting after us to a table for two. She takes another couple that doesn’t have a reservation. She then tells us to give her a few minutes.
We wait for a good 10 minutes when I ask her if they’ve even saved a table for the reservation and she proceeds to tell me they are busy and behind schedule… Excuse me?! We just spoke with the two couples waiting with us that said they have no reservation and all of a sudden you’re behind? This place is a joke and doesn’t know the basics of running a restaurant let alone keeping a reservation. I won’t be coming back

I really wish I didn’t have the horrible customer service I received here because I enjoyed the food. I came here for my birthday and the hostess was downright rude!
Once she seated us she threw the menus down on the table and walked away without saying a word. She then came back and just stared us down until we were ready to placed our orders. The food took a while to arrive as well as our drinks. Not only did we have to wait for our food but was given an attitude when we asked about it.
My sister and I ate our foods and left with a bad taste in our mouths. I will never be returning to this restaurant. And really hope she changes her attitude.

Nice ambience and décor
Music is nice as well as lighting
Good service
Good food
Clean and intimate

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 entrée 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.

Had the shredded beef tortilla and champagne monitor brunch, was good. Nonetheless this place looses two stars because it has too many rules. Won’t let a few people at the table get boozy brunch, wouldn’t seat us when 90% of our party was here, two had an emergency, and the hostess or owner is mean and bitchy.

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…

After waiting on line for over 30 minutes, despite having a reservation, I had lost all hope for the cramped, small space. Then to make it worse the three of us were squeezed into a table of two. Thankfully the hostess/​waitress (who is incredible for practically running the place by herself) took our orders promptly. After a few minutes she switched us to a bigger table that had opened up (insert angelic sounds here).
And then the food came out– their saving grace! I had a delicious meal of steak, fried egg and rice. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned. On top of that the yummy drinks started coming and I forgot all about the long wait.
Really fun atmosphere and great music. It was hard to talk at first because the music was really loud (so definitely not a place to hold meaningful, long conversations) but after a few of their drinks we felt bold and unstoppable and were talking loudly over noises. We had about 3 large pitchers before our 1.5 hours were through.
Overall really fun place to hang out with friends and laugh about stupidities. Awesome for dancing in your chair. My suggestion is to not over book it on weekends and definitely hire one more waitress. If you’re okay with waiting, it’ll be more than worth it! Still salivating over that steak.

Worst service EVER!
The hostess-​waitress (An old lady) had a attitude from the very beginning
We purchase a deal on groupon and as always we check the fine print and was a simple deal $ 65.85 you purchase for $ 35 that’s it.
Ones we seat she came and after we told her or order she asked if we have a groupon we said yes and then she starts yelling saying we must say this from the very beginning and we need a different menu and most of what we order didn’t apply to it and if we don’t like it we can just call groupon to cancel.
I read the deal I bought and doesn’t say a special or fixed menu.
Since we were there we eat what was on our «special menu»
HORRIBLE FOOD DONT RECOMMEND THIS

5 stars for service and solid attention to drinks during a 1.5 hour bottomless cocktail brunch.
I enjoyed the Vegetariano sandwich which was quite tasty but wasn’t the best brunch item I’ve ever enjoyed.
Aside from the obnoxious bachelor party which took over the entire inside seating section, a great experience was had! :)

The dope:
— The owner saying, «why do you want the check already, you have another ½ hour of all-​you-​can-​drink?» (we got so F’d up on the 1.5 hours of continuous carafes of sangria/​mimosas)
The ok:
— The Cuban sandwich and the ropa vieja sliders
The meh:
— The spot is mad small. I got bumped into like every 2 minutes by servers and patrons.
The nah:
— Loud as fuck… no joke. Pitbull pumping on max volume the whole time. You have to yell at the people at your table to get your point across.
The funny:
— Some drunk white chick gets up, opens the exit door and as she’s about to bounce, just starts screaming at the top of her lungs… for no apparent reason.
Shit was entertaining.

Came here for brunch on a Sunday.
Like others say, make reservations if you can.
Ambience: Small and cramped. The crowd is mostly in their 20s. Music is amazing. They play everything and it really makes you want to dance. Sucks they only have one bathroom, so the line can get pretty long.
Food: We had the steak, eggs with white rice and the ropa vieja omelet. Both quite tasty.
The mojito champagne was quite good.
I wish it wasn’t so small, but other than that, a place I would gladly return to.

I went on a Thursday afternoon for dinner using their Groupon deal. My biggest impression of the place is that service was rude, particularly the older female waitress. She went to seat us in a cramped space next to another couple. When we asked to be seated in an open area, she said that was for four people. As we say cramped in our table, the two person table they tried to pass off as a four seater went unused the entire time we were there. When she came to take our order, I told her we had the Groupon and she proceeded to list off which dishes were unavailable. For one of them, she just said the shrimp was unavailable and I asked if she could clarify whether she meant all shrimp dishes were off limits or just a particular one. She just repeated herself rudely and walked off. There was also an older male waiter that was nice enough.
The guacamole was disgusting in my opinion; it tasted old and over salted. The highlight for me were the plantains and the shrimp in creole sauce appetizer. Reading through the reviews, I wouldn’t mind trying the brunch but the food was not worth the trek to alphabet city.

I came here for brunch last Sunday. I made reservations for two about a week before showing up. I highly suggest doing so because they were packed and there was a line forming when we got there at 12.
I ordered the lobster Benedict (+$ 2) which was amazing and heavenly. My friend ordered a ground steak meal which was also very flavorful. My friend did the unlimited drinks deal. He said the drinks were strong and worth the $ 30 brunch. They had tropical mimosas, margarita champagne, mojitos, Bloody Mary, beer and sangria. My friend said all the drinks besides the mojito were good.
Service was not as bad as the previous reviewers’ experiences. I did not encounter the rude waitress unless it was the main lady who greets everyone… in that case she wasn’t rude. She just took a while to seat us. The servers were polite and brought the drinks on time. We did had to wait about 20 mins for the food to come.
The only thing I don’t like about this place is that it’s cramped and really loud. I wanted to enjoy a quieter brunch but the music was way too loud. Im glad we got seats outside otherwise it would’ve been unbearable.
Overall, great food and great place for boozy brunch.

If you are looking for a nice, quiet, classy place with the standard eggs benedict brunch, you should probably skip this place. But if you’re looking for a fun spot to get rowdy and drunk on the weekend without spending a fortune, this is your place! I fall in the second category, so I had a fantastic time with a group of friends.
You’ll notice immediately that the crowd here is very young and packed with people trying to take advantage of the bottomless brunch deal. The music is turned up really loud and is great if you’re looking to be a little tipsy, yell to your friends at the top of your lungs, and maybe dance in your seat, but if you’re trying to talk or really just have a peaceful brunch, you’re outta luck.
Second, you will not find your standard brunch fare here because everything is Cuban, packed with flavor, and probably loaded with spices!
I loved it all but if you’re not into either of the above this might not be the place for you.

3.5 STARS
Ive been meaning to come here for a while as a lot of my friends have had great experiences here.
I came with a group of 6 of us on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I made a reservation for 6 and was shocked at the size of the table they wanted to squeeze us on — it was small for even 4 people. We ended up talking our way in to a bigger table. The place is super cramped.
We did the bottomless brunch special. It’s nice because there is a large selection of entrees to choose from. The deal is one entrée with unlimited mimosas, margaritas, sangria, beer, mojitos, and bloody Mary’s. Our favorite was the mojito — the rest were too sweet and tasted like a hangover bound to happen.
I had the lobster Benedict which was delicious. Other people at my table got the steak and eggs which looked tasty as well.
Our waiter was a little stingy on drinks — they tried to end our 90 minutes of drinks early. We still left brunch beyond tipsy which was the goal. Note to all — if you want to do the unlimited drinks, you have to have EVERYONE in your party do it. It didn’t effect our group, but I can see how that could be an issue.
One of my friends sent back her food because she was served cold eggs. We also had half of our party served their food 10 minutes before the other half.
All in all, good food and drinks but service could have been better.

I’ve only been here twice, the first time was with my boyfriend in the winter. I prefer it now that it’s warmer outside as they open the windows and have tables outside. Both times that I’ve been here the food was delicious, and both times I ordered shrimp. I also enjoyed the sangria.
I gave it a three star rating because the first time I ate here I saw a water bug on the wall on my way to the bathroom, and this time around my water tasted funky and I had a rock in my black beans (yes, I said a rock). I didn’t make a big deal over either because I didn’t want to ruin the nice time I was having. I’ve read a lot of reviews that complained about the hostess and her attitude but she was very nice and attentive, even reminded me not to forget my sun glasses.
Although, the food is amazing (minus the water) I don’t think I’ll be returning.