Cafemantic

I have been here several times since my initial review. I continue to rate it highly for quality of food and service. Both high points of the experience. I am typically a beer drinker but on my last visit ordered a glass of red wine as recommended by our server. Price…$ 11.50 a glass. That is patently absurd. It may dissuade me from returning.

Cafemantic (in Romatic — Willimantic) is a hidden gem. I like the small plates format. I enjoyed a very nicely prepared flank steak with some yummy fingerling potatoes. These potatoes were deep fried with… BACON. What a treat. I recommend this restaurant. Give it a try!

This place has changed since I was last here and its all for the better! Delicious and worth the price. Friendly waitstaff. I’ll be going back for sure. We had about 8 dishes that included the hanger steak, octopus, mac & cheese and the garlic bread. Give it a try you won’t be sorry.

Pros for Cafemantic: I did like the setup of the restaurant. It had a very hipster and modern feel to it. I have gone for breakfast and lunch and received great food! Our breakfast bill was very high. but worth it. They are pricey. It is a great place to bring your parents to or go on a date, or with friends. For breakfast, I recommend the breakfast sandwich because it has a hash brown on it and it is delicious. They also offer coffee and lattes that are exceptionally tasty. We were served with great-​tasting mimosas for breakfast. For lunch, I usually get the spinach artichoke dip and caesar salad with tomatoes. I am not so sure if the dip is still around though. I would say this is one of the better restaurants in willimantic with a well-​rounded repuatation.
Cons: Although the food is good, I have had terrible experiences here.
First off, I went and my friend and I wanted to split the spinach artichoke dip as our appetizer and then we both got caesar salads as our course. It took 20 minutes for the caesar salad to come out and our waitress forgot about the dip. It was honestly such a let down because we were really looking forward to it.
Second, this same time, I went with two other friends, so there was a total of three of us. We had the worst service and were not pleased at all, so we were not planning on leaving a good tip BUT the gratuity was already included in the bill!!! How? When we originally came in the restaurant, we saw a few of our other friends and the hostess sat us all together in the same area but different tables. THE WAITRESS MADE IT SEEM LIKE WE WERE A PARTY OF 7, which was not the case! I have not been back since.
Another time I went, we had the same waitress and experienced the same type of customer service. She was rude and unorganized with our courses.
In order for Cafemantic to earn 5 stars from me, they need to work on their customer service, hopefully this review helps!

We decided to go here on a whim, even though it is a 40 minute drive. I’ll cut to the chase — it was worth the drive! We started with bread with herbed ricotta spread and garlic bread. We knew immediately this restaurant was something special.
For my entrée, I had fried pork yumminess they call Heritage Pork Milanese. Wow.
My wife had the mac & cheese — nice & creamy and a nice blend of cheeses. My son & daughter-​in-​law went the breakfast route with a fritatta, biscuits and gravy and bagel.
Everything was well done and we definitely will be returning.

Visiting Willimantic for our daughter’s senior year art show. Was planning to go to The Willimantic Brewing Company. After speaking to a clueless hostess we walked across the street and walked into Cafemantic. We were seated rightaway (5 of us) and chose 7 excellent tapas dishes and everyone was perfect. Service was excellent as well. Recommend the octopus, mussels, beets, hanger steak, oysters, dates wrapped in bacon and gnocchi.

Brunch here is insanely good! For all the people complaining about prices– that’s what you need to pay (unfortunately) when eating farm to table. It’s no fault of the restaurant, they are trying to feed you the best of the best. Lunch sandwiches are my favorites– especially when they have soup on the menu to go along with it! And for dinner? The chef knows his stuff! Octopus, steak, mussels, and my personal favorite– the bacon wrapped dates! This place is definitely worth a visit!

I love this place. It’s one of the few classy places in Willimantic. Beautiful interior, amazing menu. Try the soy latte!

I visited Cafemantic for the first time a few weeks ago, and overall I was impressed with the place. I’ve never been the biggest fan of tapas/​small plates restaurants, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the friendliness of the staff. I was lucky to be able to visit as part of a very large group, there must have been at least 10 of us in the party, which is a great way to be able to sample as many different dishes as possible.
We arrived about 20 minutes before they opened, but one of the staff members noticed us and allowed us to hang out in the warmth until they finished setting up. Once we got seated, they helped us pick out a couple of bottles of wine (it was half price bottles that day) and we started putting in orders for more than half of the plates on the menu. I must have tried at least seven or eight different dishes, but the ones that really stood out to me were the Gnocchi and the Scallops. They also threw in an «accidental» mac n’ cheese at the end of the meal which was a really nice touch because I was the only one left with enough of an appetite to eat it. Needless to say I was hurting by the time we left.
Overall, I enjoyed eating there, and would likely return if I were in the area again. It’s not exactly my favorite style of restaurant, but the atmosphere and quality of food are enough to make up for that.

Visiting family and came here on a recommendation. Phenomenal food and service. The various entrée’s change daily so I would live here if we were closer.

Very cute restaurant that is sorta off the beaten path. After all, I don’t find myself in Willimantic… ever, really… but I would be willing to go back for this place. I went with a huge group of work colleagues and I was stunned with how stellar the service was despite this. There is a lot of variety in the entrée options including gf, veg and vegan/​vegan-​convertible (by removing an item or two) options. Additionally, there is plenty of space for groups. AND, something that I find helpful, the restaurant handles the check splitting excellently.
There is only street parking, which was a pain. We found a spot right in front of the restaurant but got a lot of honking and middle fingers when we held up traffic to get the spot.
I tried a lot of dishes that night and I highly recommend the white bean hummus.

We went here for brunch and it was wonderful! The roasted beets and smoked salmon salad was excellent and the service was impeccable. The décor was very unique and charming. We are already planning a trip back!

I love Cafemantic! My husband brought me here for our anniversary and I’m a frequent visitor every since. The service and food is always top notch. My favorites are the olive and feta (so simple, but oh so good!) and the ricotta. Yum! Each plate we have tried is amazing. Great spot!

Ok, they still have the cutesy inefficient ordering system in the front of the café, but I have to admit they’ve really stepped up with a lovely dining experience, so I’m gonna improve on my last review.
Went in for brunch and got a nice avocado and smoked ham sandwich on ciabatta bread with sweet cream butter and a coffee. It was very nice, the ham was thin and fatty prosciutto and the avocado was ripe, the bread was glistening with grilled butter and it just tasted awesome. The coffee was on the weak side but the very nice waiter noticed that and brought me a fresh carafe. All this while sitting on their back patio on a cool sunny fall morning. It was just lovely.
Like a friend who annoys you but you still like a lot, Cafemantic has won me over. Well done!

It was a Sunday morning, and I decided to take a short drive out to Willimantic, to try out the brunch at Cafemantic. My partner in crime wasn’t up for the trip, so I packed up my son and picked up my parents.
Let me start by saying, that the food here is amazing, and the staff equally so. The restaurant was decorated nicely and it was very clean.
The only negative was, while being seated, I was told that they didn’t have a highchair for my son. The waiter brought us some pillows to «boost» him. We tried to use them, but it just didn’t work out for us. The pillows were sliding around under him, hardly safe. We took turns keeping the little guy busy, so that we were able to eat.
Reading the menu, I got very excited about ordering. Unfortunately, the limited selection left very few options for my mom and dad to choose from. My mom is a vegetarian and my dad doesn’t eat eggs. I know, not the norm.
We started with Homemade Ricotta and Blistered Peppers. Wonderful by themselves, even better together. The creamy Ricotta is prepared with herbs and olive oil (and I believe a hint of lemon), and served with bread for spreading. Fun to share, but I could have devoured it all on my own!
I went simple, with the egg sandwich with bacon. The bacon was a large and tasty piece of meat! My parents both had the Home Fries and mom added the Cucumber Salad and Mixed Greens.
We all left full and happy. We will definitely be returning (with a booster seat).

A hipsters dream– we sat on the patio. Which was very simply decorated with overhead string lights.
Hubby and I came in for our weekly date night, and were pleasantly surprised.
The tapas we had were delicious– garlic bread with spicy marinara, Mexican corn and Mac and cheese (w/​o bacon) and chocolate truffles for desert.
Only disappointment was they had discontinued the tomato mozzarella panini.

Had this place talked up to me a lot so maybe I went it with too high expectations. Don’t get me wrong, food was very good — it just didn’t blow my mind.
Love the tapas-​like plates as you can try a lot of the different items (there are always new ones) and it’s reasonably priced for the high-​quality that you get.

I had the pleasure of attending CT’s Mac & Cheese competition at the Coventry Farmers Market in the fall, and I’ve meaning to take a trip to the winning restaurant ever since! We went on a Friday night, and although it was packed, only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table. The hostess and servers were all very friendly and enthusiastic!
We sat down and ordered some drinks — the mojito caught my eye because I wasn’t in the mood for just beer or wine. I have to say, this is the only thing that I was actually disappointed with our whole night. The mojito tasted very watered down and had little to no flavor whatsoever, and came in a champagne glass — not my idea of a mojito, especially not for $ 10. My advice, stick to the wine and beer selection, mixology is not their strong suit, even if the specialty cocktails might look appealing.
But THE FOOD. Out of this world amazing! We ended up ordering 3 small plates — the mussels, meatballs, and of course the Mac and cheese. We were a bit concerned before we received the food whether or not the portions would be large enough to fill us for dinner — and they definitely were! Out came a steaming HEAPING bowl of delicious mussels with chorizo in a yummy Dijon wine sauce. If you get this, don’t let them take away the bowl with all that yummy broth! Use that homemade bread and soak it all up! The meatballs were so moist and delicious, there aren’t many words, I’ll just let you salivate over the picture. And of course we already knew the Mac n cheese was a hit. We ended our meal with an espresso — probably the best I’ve had in a while. Can’t wait to go back for lunch and try their sandwiches!

Cafemantic. I’ve been here a few times over the years, and it’s cool to see how it has developed into the place it is today.
Most recently, I met a friend here for happy hour. They have a small plates menu with many locally sourced options. We ordered duck, cucumber salad, and shrimp black bean avocado salad. All were delicious. I’d never had duck before, and that dish now has me looking for it on other menus. The cucumber salad had a bit of a kick to it, which was a nice contrast against the cool cucumber. They have a pretty good drink selection– nothing extensive, but one can find something they’ll like. Our waiter was very attentive even though it was crowded.
I’ve also been here once for brunch, and would love to go back. I got a pumpkin mimosa and some kind of French toast– both were excellent. I’m not sure if it’s still on the menu, but when I used to work in Willimantic I would sometimes order the Elvis panini– toasted french bread, chocolate, and Nutella with optional bacon. THAT was delicious. They also have your usual café stuff– coffee, tea, pastries, smoothies, etc.
No parking lot, but there is plenty of street parking either along that street or on adjacent side streets (free) and a lot across the street at the Willimantic Brewing Co. parking lot if they aren’t open (i.e., if you go for brunch).
One of the best things about this place is the ambiance. They succeed at making you feel as though you’ve fallen into a different world while you’re there. It’s cozy, unique, and charming, a genuine café feel. It truly lends itself as an asset to the character of Main Street Willimantic. I feel lucky to live so close! (This is also the restaurant I was at when I found out the sellers accepted my offer for the house I’m living in, so I’ll always have a soft spot for it) =)

Sooooo much love for this place
For starters, this place a hipster’s dream (though they’d never admit it). The design of everything looks like it came from Pinterest and the waitstaff is so cool it’s almost intimidating.
Came in on a Sunday around 1 with no reservation for a late Brunch, and got a table immediately.
Coffee was delicious. Sticky buns were uhmazing. We split the small and both hardly finished one — there’s a LOT of sugar.
I got the white bean hummus dip with the intention of trying the 5 cheese macaroni and cheese but didn’t get anywhere close to finishing the hummus. It probably could have fed 6.
Staff was perfect. Our waitress was SOOO nice.
lll be coming back for sure.

La calidad y servicio son muy buenos. La relación calidad precio es buena. Un buen sitio para ir a cenar o comer.