Cafe Con Leche

We stayed in this part of town for a week. This was our first place to eat dinner, and we came three times. Do you understand? They were THAT good.
The bartender has an authentic recipe for a mojito, and does not skimp on the rum. ;-) From the muddled mint to the right amount of cane sugar, this was a proper refreshment. I enjoyed one or more during each of our visits, and was never disappointed!
From the dinner menu, I can vouch for the Ropa Vieja — mouth-​watering savory goodness with a side of Congrí and some Maduros… ¡Madre mia! On another visit, the Picadillo, along with Moros y Cristianos, and some Tostones. ¡Ay, que sabroso! That brought me back for some Pernil Asado… juicy and flavorful as could be! The dish that my wife enjoyed that best sticks in my memory was the Camarones en Salsa de Mango — oh, so good! Every dish was a winner; I wish only we could have stayed long enough to try them all.
For dessert, the Tres Leches and Arroz con Leche were my faves. If I had ONE desire left unsatisfied at their table, it was that they do not offer a dessert Natilla. …but other than that, they EARNED those five stars.

Called and ordered delivery. The delivery service was pretty fast, but I was not impressed with quality of the food!
The beans were extremely bland, we had both pink beans and black beans. Neither one of the orders of beans were good nor did they have flavor! I placed an order of pernil and the pernil tasted dirty. I could not eat it and it made me sick to my stomach.
I was very surprised because some of the reviews on Unilocal and Seamless were great.
They do not offer large sodas, only cans, which was depressing when my food arrives at my door with only a can of soda.
What was good however was the pepper steak, but the portion was pretty small, mostly vegetables and little meat. It was not a lunch special the pepper steak came in its own container and two people couldn’t share the order of pepper steak.
The pepper steak and the deliver are the only reason I’m giving this place 2 stars. The price of the food along with the quality was extremely upsetting!

Food was disgusting McDonald’s chicken nuggets were more tender than my chicken sandwich which tasted as if it was still frozen. Server was excellent and the drinks were well made. Far better places in the area.

I had an o-​kay experience at this place. I thought the service was great but the quality of the cooking was subpar, with the exception of the dessert. We had ordered the fried calamari which was priced at 10 dollars for about 15 – 20 rings and came with a fresh salsa sauce. The calamari looked as it came frozen from a bag and were refried prior to serving. It tasted fresh but I have some reservation that it might have been concealed by the refrying. The salsa sauce was also very watery but it had a good amount flavor. Certainly not the best, but it was not terrible either.
While we were waiting for the main entrée, my SO and I had ordered drinks. I ordered a standard iced coffee and he ordered a strawberry shake with both were wonderful. The entry that we ordered was from the brunch special section that included steaks, pulled pork, maduros, arepas, chorizo, sliced avocado, rice, beans, and orange juice from a carton (yes, I watched her pour this from a Tropicana carton…)
The main entrée was disappointing. The maduros were overcooked, slightly burnt, and missing that sweetness!!! The arepa was inedible. I tried biting into this and could BARELY bite into it. Both my SO and I had to put this one aside. The pulled pork and the steak were also overcooked and very dry to the taste. The sausage mixed with onions were good and so were the avocados (definitely can’t go wrong with the latter unless you’re serving non or overly ripe avocados).
Despite the experience with the appetizer and the entrée, I was really impressed by the tres leche which is by far the best I have had. The sponge cake cake was soaked with the perfect amount of sweetness and the size was perfect to share.

So delighted this restaurant is back. I so missed their hot and garlic sauces on tostones!

The café con Leche was not delicious, especially for the place to me named after it. The food was not delicious either. Home fries were bland with orange-​tinged onions, like they used Sazon coloring. Just meh.

Had an amazing experience today for Easter/​birthday lunch. The staff was super friendly, attentive and quick. They even surprised the kids with Easter bags! Such a sweet touch. Thank you everyone at Café con Leche for a great day and did I mention amazing food, desserts and drinks!

First time there. Loved the place. Cute, clean and cozy décor. Huge selection food menu. Cheap prices on drinks and food. Food portions were good, enough to get full, they don’t go cheap on meat here. Excellent service. Our waitress kept coming by to us every 10 min to check up on us.

Love this place! Honestly, one of the best Cuban sandwiches I’ve ever had. And I just came back from Miami. And $ 5 Margaritas anytime before 7p everyday. Yes please! Worth the trip over to 2^nd Ave for fantastic Cuban food.

Worst restaurant experience. They did not deliver complete order and no one at the restaurant could speak english to send a corrected order. Food took twice as long as estimated and was cold upon arrival. Aside from the hassle to get refunded, their are plenty of better options nearby. Avoid at all costs!

Ordered delivery. Got meat empanadas, a cuban and plantains. Food came within estimated delivery time and came hot. The prices are so reasonable so I didnt expect massive portion sizes, but I was wrong! A huge plater of plantains, three giant empanadas and a big cuban sandwich. Made for two dinners and a lunch! The food was really delicious! Will be ordering from here again!!!

I have several qualms with this restaurant.=:
1. The pork was very, very dry
2. The beans were overly salty
3. The maduros (sweet plantains) that we received weren’t anywhere close to ripe. When I called to complain, the woman said all they needed was some salt. I am Puerto Rican– I know a ripe plantain from one that should not be served. When I informed her that I was hispanic and there was no way salt could save these plantains, only then, did she offer to refund me. That says it all.

Just ordered the fish on seamless it terrible. Small and tasteless. So disappointed. $ 18 for a piece the size of my fish and thin as paper.

We couldn’t believe our luck Care con Leche had come to the upper eastside! The empanadas were flavorful and meaty. The fried chicken and sweet plantains along with black beans and fluffy yellow rice made for a delicious and rapidly deliverer dinner

Stumbled across the new location by accident and was very pleased. Many happy memories of the food at their original location years back. Sorry to hear they had to leave the old space but since it’s closer to me now won’t complain.
Really excellent food — great atmosphere and service — owners are great people.

Being Puerto Rican and living in El Barrio, Latino restaurants are usually disappointing as nothing can compare to home cooking. So when this restaurant relocated to this new location after years of business on the west side, I hoped it could live up to expectations. Unfortunately I was very disappointed and will probably only give this restaurant and its owners one more chance to redeem themselves.
I met my father at the restaurant this past Saturday evening. He was already there when I arrived sitting in the back of the restaurant on the banquette bench. When I go to sit down, there was some food on the bench. When I go to grab the napkin on the table to wipe my hand, I notice some greasy spots on the table also right next to the aluminum cups sitting upside down (lip of the cup touching the table).
So this brings me to issue #1: clean your tables and chairs.
Issue #2: GET RID OF THE ALUMINUM CUPS! People do not pay to go to a restaurant and drink water that tastes like its from a canteen. Use glasses.
Issue #3: Do not place glasses upside down, especially if your tables are visibly dirty and greasy.
Although we were sitting in the back, the restaurant was very cold. The temperature was low 50s. I looked at the lady next to us and she had her hands in her pocket. When I told a man that appeared to be the owner that the restaurant felt cold, he turned on the heater. He acknowledged that it was cold but he was avoiding using the heater because it was new and let out a burning smell. I’d prefer a burning smell to being cold any day.
The guacamole had way too many onions. Use Serrano peppers.
I ordered the pernil (pork shoulder) to really put this place to the test… the saving grace was the beans.
Pernil should not be tough and dry. I’m used to pernil being soft enough to be pulled apart (hence the term pulled pork). You should be able to see the strands (fibras) of the meat. The pieces I was served looked like they were cut from a turkey breast or a ham. They were thick dry and tough to chew. Please cook your pernil another 2 – 3 hours on low heat. In my family, the pernil cooks at least 6 – 8 hours no higher than 350°.
The rice was a good consistency but no flavor, please add some salt.
The beans were the star of the meal.
The tres leches dessert was also pretty good which saved the meal.
To the owners, I guess years of compliments by your upper west side patrons who were probably mostly New York Caucasians have mislead you.
Your food needs some serious improvement. It’s is miles away from being considered home cooking. Using aluminum cups and setting them upside down on the table made me feel like I was walking into a rookie restaurant owners first restaurant.
As much as I would like to come here regularly like Amor Cubano, Cascalote or even Fonda Boricua (when I have hours to spare), my first experience felt more like Caribeno, or Sandys.
Please step it up.
Thank you

Nice spot. Went to have lunch with my friend and found out they have happy hour ALL DAY!!! How can you beat that!

Thank God this place reopened. My family and I were regulars when they were on the UWS and so sad when they closed.
They’re now in East Harlem serving all our favorites, mofongo, ropa vieja, arroz con camarones… café con leche. On our visit last weekend we had their brunch, a meal that certainly packs a Latin punch-​chorizo, steak, eggs, arepa, pernil, and rice/beans…all chased down with a mimosa. Satisfaction.
Service is as good as I remember. Attentive, friendly, courteous, and genuine.
What are you waiting for. Go.

Went to Café con Leche for my birthday dinner with the family. Convenient location, was able to find parking in the street. The décor is bright and friendly. The food was great. Will definitely visit again.

My mom suggested I try this place so I decided to give it a try. When we went the owner was very nice and she told us how they had recently moved from their west side location.
I had the pork chops with garlic sauce. My food was very flavorful. In addition to my order they gave two side sauces that were also pretty tasty. The rice had a perfect texture to it and was sooooo good!
They also have happy hour ALL DAY! (Yes you read that correctly!) Five dollar drinks! I tried the lime margarita and that was very good. I will most definitely be back soon! I can’t wait to try other options from the menu.

Ordered the Mexican omelet. It was overcooked to the extent of being brown all over and also tasted really bland.
Totally overpriced and not worth it

I went for brunch today and service was amazing. The food was good too. The portion sizes were great. The sauces they give you on the side were tasty.
I’m waiting to see how this place shapes up. There are a few odd things, like the mimosa came in a wine glass (completely flat) with a maraschino cherry in it, and on the warm side.
All in all though, a great addition to the neighborhood, and I look forward to dining here again.

I am a longtime patron of Café Con Leche. I have been visiting them since they were on 95^th and Amsterdam, and 81^st, and Amsterdam. I ordered recently for delivery, from the brand new East Harlem location, and for the first time, I was underwhelmed. I ordered arroz con pollo (which I have been getting for YEARS from CCL), beef empanadas, oxtails, and 2 sodas. They delivered all the food, but no sodas. I immediately called, and informed them of the mishap. They rushed me the sodas. The chicken was cooked hard. The meat used to be very soft, tender, flavorful, pieces of chicken. These were more chicken bits, cooked with no love. The empanadas were decent. I was given two huge patties which took up the entire pan. I sampled the oxtails, and they were pretty good. They include rice with the oxtails, so we got yellow. That was tasty, as I remembered. Café Con Leche let me down this go round.

Well I walked in this evening without any great expectations. I have been made aware of this restaurant through an acquaintance who suggested I try it out. Much to my surprise the food was excellent the environment a pleasure to be in. I’m not particularly fond of 2^nd avenue with all of its on again off again construction. That aside the restaurant was very clean the customer service was also very good. Onto the food, I ordered the mango shrimp and it was TERRRIFIC! I truly can’t wait to go back to this restaurant

I’ve been going to this restaurant forever! The west side location was quirky and charming, but I live on the east side, so didn’t get to visit as often as I would like.
I am so happy to have café con leche near me! The food is better to Han it was on the west side! No really! The owners are so friendly and pleased that their clientele still follows them to the new location. It is well worth the trip.

My boyfriend and I used to go the the Upper West Side location near us all the time for brunch and takeout. Today we jogged over to the new location, and we were so excited to see that much remains the same! The food was great, the familiar bright paintings adorned the walls, the café con leche was amazing as always, and the staff was so welcoming. Although we miss having Café Con Leche a few blocks away from where we live, it was definitely worth going to the new location. We will be back and I wish them much success!

I have been going to Café con Leche for so long I can’t even remember! And the food has always been yummy and authentic. Starting with their garlic bread, then their avocado salad, and moving on to chicharron de pollo, mofongo, and rice and beans… And please you have to order their tostones and dress them with their garlic and spicy sauces! Mouth watering! Clean, flavorful, fresh, oh so delicious! It’s like being back home again (PR is my rock). Home cooked and a friendly service that makes you feel welcome and part of the family. Our last foray was at the new location in Harlem, and the owner took the time to come by and chat with us… and the sangria was on the house! We are foodies (the night before we were at Per Se), and we also love honest to good home cookin’. Try Café Con Leche, you won’t regret it!

Welcome back the Café Con Leche Familia!
My wife and I were going here since we were expecting our first daughter (now 13) at the old spot on 80^th and Amsterdam. The food is great and the owners are the sweetest people around. Always a warm and pleasant time. Don’t miss this great spot. It’s actually the best spot in the area to now eat. Breakfast lunch and dinner!

Our family visited the new café con leche on 104 St and love the new ambience and location. We are familiar with café con leche as we were regular customers from the previous 80^th St location. café con leche has a new, bright and fresh atmosphere. It is even better than we recalled it. You wont go wrong with the grilled salmon with spinach salad, shrimp with garlic sauce and of course the rice and beans. Café con leche is family owned and operated. They go out of their way to make your meal tasty and delicious. You absolutely cannot leave without 3 items– the crispy fried tostones, the tasty garlic and pepper sauces made from scrath and most of all a pitcher of sangria– they still make it the absolute best!!. You will surely enjoy your dining experience and feel like family here. The owners go out of their way to make sure you feel welcome. And please, don’t leave without having — a rich and creamy strong café con leche. !