Cortadito Express

We stopped at the outside window after the Badger game. We shared the Ricardo sandwich, like a Cuban. It was wonderful. The smoked ham was great. We also had an order of the veggie empanadas, also excellent as were the potato croquetas. Nice and creamy inside. Both were served with a wonderful spicy sauce. Service was really pleasant! It’s a wonderful addition to our neighborhood!

Living in a mid-​sized American city doesn’t prevent Madison foodies from enjoying culinary delights from around the world. The ethnic diversity of the restaurant choices here equals or trumps that of many larger cities. Caribbean food is no exception, but Cuba has been underrepresented until recently. While we will not anytime soon find ourselves alternating breaths of salty, tropical seaside air and Monte Cristos, we are fortunate to settle for sipping café Cubanos and munching on croquettes while overlooking Lake Monona from the Cardinal Bar.
Carved into the former coat check area of this nightclub long known for its tropical tunes and dancing — the music doesn’t stop during Sunday brunch — Cortadito Express offers a modest menu of Cuban choices. I ordered the Dirty Bird sandwich over my typical favorite, the Cubano. The pulled chicken was roasted to perfection, with the slaw providing a sweet, crunchy contrast and the spicy mayo completing a trifecta of textures and flavors. The bread was fresh and toasted just right. The meat croquettes are somehow crispy, yet they melt in your mouth with their cheesy potato filling.
I had a bite of my wife’s Cuban sandwich. The pork was seasoned just right with a perfect amount of yellow mustard on the same well-​toasted bread. I’ll order it next time but will skip the side baguette, which unlike the sandwich bread was dry and didn’t seem fresh. I also look forward to trying the brunch versions of both sammies, which add an egg to them.
Definitely a must if you’re in a tropical mood. It hit the spot on this muggy day.

Traveled to Cuba this morning and had a Cortadito. Great atmoshpere. Service was a bit slow for my coffee, but the staff was working really hard. Definitely going to hit this place up again.

Overview: The place is in an old coat closet, so don’t expect the world.
Hits: Happy staff and interestingly reused space.
Misses: Everything else.
Bottom line: Give it a try and maybe you’ll have better luck. I gave it three tries and struck out.

Oooooolé!
I don’t dabble in The Cardinal Bar very often but now that Café Cortadito has opened up shop there (in what apparently used to be the bar’s old coat closet), I’ll be a regular. From their small space, they dish out delightful meals with a Spanish flair. After a bit of bike riding, my fella and I treated ourselves to their Appetizer Sampler Platter and split The Dirty Bird sandwich.
The sampler offered smaller portions of their guacamole and chips, house cured olives, ceviche, croquetas papas and meat croquetas. The croquetas papas were melt-​in-​your-​mouth-​and-​then-​take-​a-​nap delicious and the ceviche had a light, fresh taste. I’m an olives girl so their house cured ones took the cake for me — a little spice, a lot of salt, a happy Katie. For $ 11.95, I’d say this was a pretty solid deal considering an order of the ceviche is $ 8.95 on its own. Share the platter with more than two people though and you might just jeopardize some friendships. You’ve been warned.
The Dirty Bird consisted of chipotle poached chicken thigh with roasted corn, sweet potato, jicama and cilantro slaw all on house-​baked bread. Yes. Oh yes. It was a little sweet, spicy and all kinds of nice. Go.there.now.

What do you get when you convert an old closet to a latin inspired walk-​up kitchen? Heavenly goodness. Use the window at the sidewalk or step inside the Cardinal and order at the kitchen window. Either way, the outcome will be tremendous. After burning some calories «Riding the Drive» (where they close certain Madison streets to all car traffic and open it up to bicyclists and pedestrians), we thought we should replace (and add more) calories by stopping in. The staff is super friendly and when we heard how they baked My girlfriend and I ordered the appetizer sampler along with the chicken sandwich-​the dirty bird. The appetizer sampler is a great value if you wish to try a few things on their menu. For just over $ 11, you get an offering of ceviche, freshly made guacamole, chips and two croquettes of two kinds-​potato and meat served with a side of delicious aioli. The ceviche was nicely prepared-​you could taste the freshness of the fish balanced by the acidity of the citrus it has been marinated in. The guacamole also was well done although scooping it out in the narrow serving dish was a tad difficult. I think the croquettes, however, stole the show. Biting through the brown crispy shell allows you access to the warm, soft potatoey gooey-​ness on the inside. Dipping them into the aioli was a decadent treat. The Dirty Bird sandwich is also noteworthy. Served on a cuban roll baked that morning, it is an exciting blend of shredded and marinated chicken, chipotle, jicama, roasted corn, sweet potato, and cilantro with a harisa aoili dressing. It is something I could eat every week and never get bored of.
Since the kitchen is located within the Cardinal, there isn’t any dedicated seating per-​se. Rather, have a seat wherever you like in (or at) the bar and they will bring the food out to you. Since I was already over-​caffeinated up from an earlier stop, I did not try any of their coffee offerings but if they are even half as good as their food, I will be a big fan. And with it being open until 3 am on the weekend, I may also be a frequent fan as the food would go well with a few cocktails consumed beforehand.
A great find!

I went here with 2 friends for a late lunch. I am gluten-​intolerant, so the menu is kind of limited. I would’ve gotten the gaspacho, but they mix bread crumbs in it. I got the ceviche, which was really good. However, it was $ 9 for a tiny dish of it and a giant plate of greasy chips. I think it would have been nice to serve it with a small salad or rice. Again, the ceviche was good, but not worth $ 9 +tax/​tip.

Loved the Ricardo sandwich which features multiple pork products and other good things. Their menu could use a few more descriptive bits about what’s actually in the sandwich, but it’s super tasty. Tried the potato and meat croquetas, liked the potato one more. Word on the street is that the churro has been tweaked. Go for the sandwich. I’m really interested in what the breakfast version is like. Bonus points for half off taps during Friday night happy hour and lots of lovely ladies dancing for our baby to Tony Castaneda.

Paid $ 5 for churros & chocolate. Received a small sauce dish of chocolate and limp, oily churros. I’m no churro expert, but these were limp enough that if you picked up one end of the churro, the other would flop over and they were super oily as well. Disappointing.