Cafe Gitane

So disappointed, had been looking forward to trying this place for a while! There was a long curly hair on one of our plates, which happens, but then two of my friends got the salmon and it was so dry and gross, besides being over cooked it looked like the spinach it was on top of wasn’t dressed. I had the meatballs and they were meh and the sliced french bread that came with was like grocery store quality.

I came here for dinner with my boyfriend and another couple based on Unilocal reviews, but I realize, most of the positive reviews are for brunch, not dinner. The location and the inside of the restaurant is pretty nice, but has a weird table set up. We were placed at a table that seemed to be at the base of a U-​shaped formation, and if you were sitting on the inside, it was impossible to get out of the table because it was SO close to the other tables. Granted, I am used to very close tables in other popular New York restaurants but this was insanely and uncomfortable close to the other tables. Also, our table was very wobbly, and considering the close proximity to other people, we asked to be moved, and the waiter basically kindly said no. All the guests I was with were very low maintenance so we managed and waited excitedly for the food.
The four of us ordered the chicken satay, the couscous dish, the arugula salad and the roasted chicken sandwich. Out of those four the chicken satay seemed to be the best. The couscous lacked flavor, the arugula salad was small, and the chicken sandwich was dry. I am a little confused about the type of restaurant this is. I would definitely not describe it as American (New) because the menu lacked any creative items. it seemed like the menu hasn’t been changed since the 90s. The other couple we were with both ordered cocktails and the consensus there was that they were very expensive and average. You definitely do not get much for your money here.
All in all, for all the incredible places in the city, this place has nothing that would make me want to come back, but the actual experience when we were there was decent. I may come back to try the brunch. I wish their menu was more creative and flavorful.

Perfect birthday spot. Good food and incredible service. Be sure to hang out in the charming hotel lobby after.

i bookmarked this place on Unilocal for a while ever since i saw pictures people posted on IG and i was really excited to check it out during my trip to NY since i love cafes and i fancy cute latte art. it is indeed a cute place, however, our waitress didn’t seem too happy when she learned that we only wanted to order one mocha for the two of us (i looked on the menu to make sure if there was a minimum order per person but didn’t see any), and she kept on looking at our direction while talking to someone else who seemed to be a manager (?). that lady then came by and asked us again if we weren’t ordering anything else before taking away everything on the table, which made us very uncomfortable. will not be visiting there again.

Café Gitane is where you go when you want to feel cool and also eat a dank breakfast. The atmosphere is very retro-​Euro-​chic (the best combination, no?) and there’s a killer avocado toast. Go for breakfast! Visit
for NYC neighborhood guides.

Not as clean as it could be, but the food was delicious and the atmosphere very chill.

Couscous was legit. The avocado toast is way over hyped. It’s edible but anyone singing its praise is an idiot. Cute café with an unfortunate association to The Jane hotel.

Adequate. Over salted avocado toast, but everything I sampled seemed fine. Wouldn’t return by choice.

Last night we had customer service. They charged us all incorrect amounts on our cards, did not let us know what was going on for an hour as we were trying to leave. Then informed us there was nothing they could do about it that night. I have been trying to get ahold of them to reverse the charges and they have not been able to resolve this issue. It takes a lot for me to write a poor review but they charged me over 50 dollars more then they should have and it should be taken off immediately without an issue.
Update:
The manager contacted me and kindly resolved the issue. I understand people make mistakes, this was very unfortunate for all parties. I appreciate her getting back to me and making it right.

I had high hopes when entering in. It has a Moroccan French flair that is charming if you ignore the rips in the chair. Mimosa is served in a cocktail glass and is not worth it for the amount you get. The melon flavor has a strange taste. The cous cous was definitely good, but avoid the baked egg dish which was watery with tomato juice and tasteless. Unfortunately our waiter was very inattentive even though she was not busy. I had to drench my eggs with salt and pepper to finish half of it. Oh and to make it better she forgot the sausages I ordered, which is fine because I didn’t want to spend another dime! No thank you to this place ever again!!!

I don’t quite know why this is classified under Moroccan in Unilocal,as the lunch seems pretty standard American food to me.
I got the Baked Salmon and Eggs, which was pretty good, but just too solidified for my tastebuds. The avocado toast — the toast is CRISPY. I mean, I’m all about texture, but when it hurts to bite down into my toast, that’s a problem. They do give a lot of avocado on the toast and garnish it with red pepper flakes, but I was just disappointed by how ordinary it tasted.

This place is a hidden gem inside the jane hotel. Upon entering you’re whisked away Into a rustic window lit room with an orangey glow. The seating is compiled of a Mish mush of couches and love seats and chairs. It is comforting yet interesting. Feeling adventurous i opted for the spicy meatballs which were served floating in a mildly spicy tomato sauce and garnished with boiled eggs and yogurt salad. The flavors are strong yet not overpowering. A good representation of morrocan cuisine. Portions are large. Only complaint is the forced 25 percent gratuity. Other than that the plate was worth the 16 dollars.

Adorable place. Great for a cute day date with some friends. I came for brunch with a big party and it was a tight squeeze, but it was fine.
Food is great. They are very generous with their avocado on the avocado toast. And it has a kick to it with the red pepper flakes, yum! I also split the baked salmon and eggs which was amazing. And then split the herbed goat cheese with chili flakes and pomegranate syrup. OMG. It’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth. The pomegranate syrup is like nothing I’ve tasted before, almost like a new fig jam. The goat cheese was delicious on bread. The cheese to bread ratio was off since It was too much to add a whole chunk of cheese to one slice of bread.
I tried my friends drinks: The coffee tasted delicious with the added chocolate to make it creamy and their mimosas were good too!
Would come back if I was in this area. Cute place and everything was delectable. Staff were very attentive and even stopped to chat with us!

Came here looking for Moroccan food, and was quite disappointed. I should have read the Unilocal reviews more closely — it’s not the place to get authentic Moroccan food. The majority of the menu is ordinary American fare. I couldn’t eat the couscous because of an allergy, so I ordered the chicken tajine, the daily special, instead, and was sorely disappointed. It was burnt, dry chicken swimming in hot boiled-​celery-​and-​olive water, with maybe half of a fluffy pita cut up into pieces on the side. It tasted very so-​so for the price ($ 19), and was a far cry from the delicious, rich, flavorful Moroccan tajines I had in Paris. My friend ordered the couscous and was satisfied; it looked good, but since they couldn’t prepare it without pine nuts I was stuck with the chicken.
Décor was fine, service was meh. But mostly I was so disappointed by that tajine.

Lovely place. Great dishes and an awesome décor and Moroccan setting. You feel like in the middle of Morocco.
The tuna ceviche is a must as well as the Moroccan cous cous that comes with hummus. Even the trout and lentil salad is amazing and I’m not a restaurant-​salad man.
The prices are accessible, the food is great, it has a good service and it’s a perfect spot for a date night. You can go and have some drinks after at The Jane!

I really like this place. The food is fresh and delicious and wallet-​friendly. And the atmosphere is quite cool; Café Gitane feels European and like a spot frequented by expats in other parts of the world.
Per all the recommendations, I ordered the avocado slathered toast to share. Simple and brilliant. The mixture of mashed avocado, olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes was so delectable and satisfying. And the toast underneath was quite nice.
For my main, I got the baked eggs with salmon and potatoes. Oh yes, come to momma! This is comfort bistro fare. The portion was perfect, not too big or small.
Some additional pluses of dining at this West Village café:
Assortment of teas, such as hibiscus (five bucks for a pot)
Less touristy
Interesting music
Prompt and polite service
His and her bathrooms (you know how hard it is to find a decent restroom in NYC!)
Unlike other Manhattan businesses, Café Gitane is rather spacious. I’m surprised others consider it small. The ceilings are also high, creating an airy effect.
Overall, real pleased with the simply prepared yet tasty food, pleasant service, and charming ambiance.

Rien a redire!!! Le cadre est super agréable on se croirait dans un vieux café français, le service est bien.
J’avais entendu parler du couscous de café gitane il est réellement excellent et copieux ce qui est rare à NYC. Le meatballs est également très bon, le smoothie a la banane est un peu lourd car contient aussi du sirop d’érable.

La vraie baguette. La vraie beurre. Un vrai café crème. I’m back in Paris. yum.

You need to know ahead of time that Café Gitane is located off of Hotel Jane’s lobby for if you rely on signage you simply will not find this gem of a spot. Walk up the ¾ flight of steps at 113 Jane St to enter the floor to ceiling wood panelled lobby. Turn left into Café Gitane, which transposes you directly to Casablanca. Northwest Africa meets French colonial chic, complete with a stuffed crocodile scaling the wall behind the bar and several long-​shafted ceiling fans encroach upon the void between the noggin and the ceiling.
Missing – to complete the fantasy – is Sam playing the the non-​existent piano and a white-​smoking jacket adorned Rick lighting a cigarette at the bar. In this post Bloomberg era cigarette chic is out but one can always channel the 40s and imagine what is was like not being able to breathe indoors?
I enjoyed the couscous with merguez sausage and she had the chicken sandwich. We ordered delivery of the same the night before and we were ‘jonesing’ for a repeat. Food goes down easier when the throat is lubricated with a decent and relatively inexpensive offering from Margaux. I would have preferred a vin from Algiers to keep it thematic. There was consolation knowing the Margaux would simply taste better.
I’ll be back this evening which isn’t soon enough…
Post Script, I failed to mention that we ordered one of the most amazing and simplest desserts: vanilla ice cream encrusted with pistachios (orgasmic experience).

I ate here after staying at the Jane overnight. The food was just okay, it wasn’t amazing. I had the salmon tartar sandwich, avocado toast and hot chocolate.
The da ditch was just okay. The avocado toast was good but not worth the $ 8. The best thing about my meal was the hot chocolate? I loved the coco paw print!

A beautiful restaurant with a beautiful décor located in the heart of The Jane Hotel. I had dinner two nights and their Moroccan couscous is really great. Loved the mix of different spices and creamy hummus.
Service was pretty unstable. Great the first night, bad the other night.

The restaurant is cute. The hachis Parmenides was recommended to me but was nothing to write home about. It was essentially mashed potatoes over largely unseasoned ground beef. Pretty bland.
However the service was fine and my dinner companion LOVED his burger. Seriously, he is still talking about it days later so I wouldn’t write this restaurant off.

J’ai pris seulement le petit déjeuner à 2 reprises au Café Gitane suite aux nuits passées au Jane’s Hotel. C’est tout simplement magique, on se croit vraiment dans les années 50 – 60, le personnel y est d’ailleurs habillé en conséquence. Le décor est splendide (plafonds hauts, stores vénitiens, banquettes en cuir, serviettes à carreaux rouge et blanc …).
C’est un petit déjeuner classique à la française, mais qu’aucun café français né vous servira jamais tellement c’est préparé avec soin et amour et avec un soucis du détail incroyable.
On sourit quand on doit répéter à la serveuse «pain au chocolat», prononcez plutôt «paigne oh tchocolaite».
Un vrai jus d’orange pressé, un très bon café, des tartines grillées succulentes …
Bref on est tout de suite sous le charme.