Cha Cha’s In Bocca Al Lupo

Honestly I used to love this place now it’s an embarrassment to Little Italy and New York in general. It’s a tourist trap that doesn’t even attract tourists anymore. I stopped eating the food here over a year ago after reading their health department report. I went for the mocha but now that the girl served me a mocha with sour whipped cream, the place is now off my radar for good. Avoid this place at all cost. The food and service here has gone the way of Cha Cha’s acting career; down the toilet. And WTF, an Italian café where the whole staff is Egyptian? Avoid this place at all cost. It’s a tourist trap!

THEY STOLE OUR MONEY!
DO NOT GO THERE !!!
I would give 0 stars if it was possible.
We, a student tourist group from Germany, went to Little Italy to eat a typical new yorker pizza. The food was okay, we waited for a long time and the service was very unfriendly. We payed with a credit card and later saw that they charged us twice so that in the end we had to pay about 80 $ too much.
Later when we wanted to contact them per telephone they hung up on us.
That’s what I call service!
Never ever again.

So me and my girl went to this place last night to kill time before X-​Men: Apocalypse started at 9:40 and the place was nice and quiet. Decent spot for a date night. We had a medium white pizza and we enjoyed it. The service was ok but the waiting time could have been better and I wish they had a wider selection to there menu but other than that we enjoyed ourselves. What more can you ask for?

I had 2 scoops of pistachio ice cream for $ 5.
It is complete waste of money. The ice cream was melting and for $ 5 it was an outrages price.
Their ice cream is not different than the ones sold at stores.
We were visiting NY and did not know who sells what. If you read this, go and try somewhere else.

I love this place. Food is decent, waiters/​waitresses are friendly, cozy place for spending quality time with friends and family. They have the best home made tiramisu.

Best Cannoli in Little Italy, including Ferrara!!!

Was in the city for a week with cousins and we wanted to try some local places while we were here. We wanted to something casual and decently priced and stumbled upon this place since everything else seemed as more of a sit down and have a course meal. Once we entered we were immediately seated in a corner even though there weren’t many people in the restaurant. We moved to another table and sat for over ten minutes before a server acknowledged us. When she finally came to the table she brought us over the menus and took our drink orders. We had to flag her down so we could order because we were starving! After what seemed like forever they brought over our food. We each ordered their mini pizzas. I ordered the margherita and a glass of sangria. The sangria was great, but the pizza was just bland. When we finally requested our checks as separate the waitress gave us an attitude about «I asked if you were together and you said yes». There were two groups of people at two different tables that were under the same tab and she had asked us earlier if we were with them. We said no that were we separate from them and she had asked them if they were all going on the same check. My cousin had to get up and break down the whole situation to her. If I’m every back in the city I’d maybe go back for the drinks, but the staff needs better training.

Decent place to grab a snack and a drink (they have spiked coffee drinks) but really, nothing special. I had a Chicken Caesar panini and it was just OK.
I did like that they had a cute outdoor patio seating area. It was also not crowded at all (on a Saturday evening).
Service was friendly although the waitress forgot our water.

I didn’t eat in the restaurant so my review is based solely on my cannoli experience. Our first was so good we had to come back the next day for another and a half a dozen to take home with us. They were delicious.

Got scammed out of my money. You’d expect something half decent; this is not.

What a nightmare! I was at this restaurant with my son. The waitress had a huge attitude and was very nasty to me. I then overheard this same waitress talking about me to the bartender. I then asked her what her problem was, and she then began yelling at me in front of my son. She continued to curse at me and called me ‘bitch’ in front of my child. At that point, I began to yell back at her and she continued with «fuck you, you bitch!» I have never in my life had anyone speak to me like that. All this in front of my child. The lack of class, the disrespect, and the horrible treatment was one I will never forget. Do yourself a favor, and stay away from this hell hole. I still have yet to receive an apology from the place. I wrote to them and nothing… yet I read other reviews and read about the cursing and the attitudes of there workers. Horrible.

I love cha chas!
They make good panini and gelato, which is made fresh by the owner himself (I think).
They also have outdoor seating.
Perhaps my favorite place to go to in
Little Italy.

Came here for a snack the other day… it was disappointing. A Caprese Salad is 3 ingredients — basil, tomatoes and mozzarella. When they use cheap mozzarella and dried basil instead of fresh, it’s an insult, especially at $ 10, in an «Italian» restaurant in Little Italy. The cannoli were similarly disappointing: the trick to a good cannoli is that the crust is stored at room temperature and the cream is stored cold, they are then combined before serving. This way the crust is crunchy and the cream is fresh. The crusts were not crisp in this case, which is again disappointing in an Italian restaurant that supposedly specializes in sweets in Little Italy. I’m sure this is passable Italian food if it were located in a small town in Nebraska, but this is New York, and Little Italy, you’re charging New York prices, and your customers expect high quality Italian food.

Basic food, small portions, over priced. Do no recommend

I use to come here when I was younger. This place use to be the spot. What happened? Each time I pass by it was dead city. One night some friends and I decided to walk through memory lane. Came in to see how things have been. Things have surely changed. Their menu’s are still the same but half the stuff we ordered was either out or closed for the night. I really wanted to give them a better review but half the things I ordered they didn’t even have. Plus it was like 2 tables that night and she forgot my order?! I really hope they bring back their A game!

I like to put my Hoohoo Dillydilly in Cha Chas, is that wrong? Isn’t that the way we were designed? I learned of the concept from Eric Cartman and especially his mother, though hopefully those two never… well you know. Anyway.
This place has a lot of memories for me from a long, long time ago. Both good and bad. This was «our Italian restaurant.» My first love, and all that. It’s sad, it’s bittersweet, it makes me smile and cry at the same time. But don’t tell anyone I said that it makes me cry. I’m already testing the patience of homophobics with my long hair, my weird humour, my English accent, and my soccer skills.
Everything here is good… nothing is amazing. I recommend the Lasagne «extra saucy.» Like everything in Little Italy, it’s overpriced, but not to the degree that it will destroy your monthly salary. Assuming you have a monthly salary.
They do decent-​sized to go portions if that is your thing, and they have lovely décor filled with pictures of the owner with every single famous person that ever came in here, which is about 20,000 of them. Who all play in soccer leagues at the bottom of the sea. Get it? 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea? Never mind. It’s an in-​joke. Or an out-​joke since I sort of came out in this review.
If you must eat on Mulberry Street, this is as good as anywhere, and better than most, and as I said, get the Lasagne. If you would rather go elsewhere for Italian food, you’re probably better off, both price-​wise and quality wise. But for the memories and for being the best of an overpriced, over-​touristy bad bunch, Cha Cha’s gets a solid 4.
And by the way, who doesn’t love Cha Cha’s? Can I see yours?

0 stars if I could… Honestly.
Normally I do not write reviews for small local shops but after last weeks experience I felt inclined to. Lividly appalled from the moment I walked in w/​a party of two. Literally way to early for grouchy old lady going through menopause. She kept pushing us to the back towards the close spaced benches meanwhile the place was not even busy mind you. Continued to push and continued to mumble nonsense under her breath. But of course I sat myself and party of two elsewhere so it would be more roomy. It was extremely early, ordered a coffee and it has got to be one of the nastiest watered down coffee. & I drink coffee like its water.
Although she super attentive to the other two patrons that was there. But brush us off when we attempted to call her over to order additional items. Brushed me off when I asked her where the restroom was. **NOTE: Restroom was the size of a shoebox. I even left her a 20% tip that she didn’t even deserve and said thank you. No response.
I noticed she kept running out to the back into another «cottage like cabin» in which I am assuming that is the kitchen. My god. Couldn’t even get coffee correct. The thought of where my coffee came from makes me cringe. Imagine what goes on in that little hut back there where food comes out.

My family and I came from a long way and I felt like having an espresso in Little Italy. Two Italian guys sitting in front of Umberto’s recommended Cha Cha’s, so I figured how could I go wrong. So my son and I went in while my wife went looking for omiyage. So I ordered a cannoli and an espresso then went to use the restroom. Holy CRAP!!! Worst men’s room ever!!! First of all I’m not a huge guy I could hardly fit in this place. The toilet was smeared in…(use your imagination). I’ve used porta-john’s at construction yards that were cleaner than this place! The cannoli was good however and the service was ok. I will skip this place next time.
Listen, if you’re planning on going to NYC, do some diligent research first. This past trip to NYC which was just last month, I learned a valuable lesson; a lot of iconic NYC places have been living off of their past reputations, and are definitely not trying to maintain the excellence that got them in the first place.

«The most fecal of the downtown holes…» From their spore-​dotted cakes, to their oily food cooked in turbid aged grease, to the utterly repellent, violent, hateful and racist owner/​manager, this place, from the shoddy indifferent service, to the appropriately empty sea of chairs that will surround you if you defy the direction of the footprints left behind by their few and fleeing customers — Cha-Cha’s — is the place to go to experience what a low rating truly means. I live on this street, and though Mulberry Street has a lot of mediocre restaurants, not one of them even approaches Cha Cha’s in it’s unmitigated squalor and sheer nastiness. «The most fecal of all the downtown holes…» Is the most succinct description I can usually give to friends or inquiring tourists. Hats off to you Cha Cha’s! That’s quite an achievement!
It’s regrettable and a genuine disservice to Unilocalers that the most accurate reviews can only be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page and searching for the «not currently recommended «reviews, whose comments and ratings are inexplicably hidden and uncounted.

Cha Cha, I’m not feeling the love.
Let me start by saying I’ve been here many times in the past for dessert and cappuccino, you rock when it comes to desserts. My particular favorites are the tiramisu and cannolis.
Today’s lunch visit was lackluster. My brother and arrived promptly at Noon (on a Wednesday) and the restaurant was empty. I definitely got the sense this is an after-​dinner dessert place and not necessarily a luncheon destination. We remained the only people in the restaurant until two more people showed up around one o’clock. So if you’re looking for a nice quiet spot for lunch, you found it.
The waitress seated us at a table in the back room. The room is surrounded by skylights and big windows overlooking the back patio, nice touch. In the summer time the outdoor is a great place to hangout for dessert and coffee with friends. As I indicated earlier the menu leans heavy on the dessert side. We were here to try the lunch menu. So we decided to sample a little bit of everything and share the dishes. We started with an order of garlic bread, followed that with an order of calamari, a 9″ margarita pizza pie, and a sausage calzone.
o.k. I have to start with my favorite, the sausage calzone. We both loved it. Perfect size, plenty of sausage and lots of cheese and a side of tomato sauce. Yum! This one got a thumbs up from me.
My second favorite would be the 9″ Margarita Pizza, made with fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes, and fresh basil. This was delicious. Nicely prepared but could be served a little hotter.
Now for the disappointments. The garlic bread was just blah. For $ 4.50 you get a half a loaf of Italian bread, sliced into 1″ thick slices with a little garlic butter and grated cheese on top. Presentation wise it looked very nice, taste wise there was room for improvement.
I was really in the mood for fresh calamari so I had my hopes up. Denied. The calamari came out on a bed of lettuce with a side of cold tomato sauce for dipping. The whole dipping the calamari into the cold sauce just doesn’t work. If you decide to order calamari here make sure you ask them to heat the sauce.
When it came time for the check out bill had a math error which added an extra $ 13 to our bill. What? The counter was covered with calculators for the waitresses, why the mistake? Check the math on your bill before you pay.
So, Cha Cha’s, as desserts go you’re an 8 out of 10. A definite hit. As a luncheon destination it’s more like a 3 out of 10.