Café Oso

Formerly the Culinary Café, Café Oso has been re-​vamped by Phoenix College faculty member and Valley restaurateur Anthony Redondo. He and his staff have done great work here. They did an entire re-​design of the menu, and are now offering a wide array of contemporary entrees at totally reasonable prices. The table-​side guacamole gives Gallo a run for its money. Complimentary vegetable platter was savory and beautiful. The flavors and textures I had were clearly well thought out, if not perfectly executed. This is a local lunch secret that is unfortunately too-​well-​kept. At a minimum, PC students need to know about this place, since the quality and price of the food would actually fit within their budgets I think. For less than $ 10 you can have a great meal, innovatively prepared, and made from quality ingredients. I will be advertising this to my classes, for sure. Kudos to Café Oso, keep it up.

Had an amazing lunch at Café Oso today. The talapia tacos and fresh guacamole were amazing. The customer service was also outstanding. To top it off their prices are extremely fair. Can’t wait to go again!

Café Oso is one of those cool places you take friends or biz associates when you want them to know You Know the insider’s scoop on what’s cool and local and «best kept secret.» This is the learning café for Phoenix College’s culinary students so service at the beginning of the semester is not as spot on as near the end. But, you can see they are trying and it is kind of sweet to be able to give them some advice «like don’t say ‘free’ dessert with an entrée, say ‘complimentary,’ instead.» Plus, Ives is the front of the house guy who has been training them forever so Chris’ review below about service made no sense.
I dropped by a few times about a year ago when it was still the old Culinary Café. Hello — the 70s wanted their bland menu and boring white tablecloths back. A complete renovation to the café and its menu has created a place where some really creative fare is delivered at good prices. The crispy skin salmon entrée (with roasted garlic spinach and cilantro holy land couscous, often called Israeli) at $ 10 was a bargain — you pay twice that in any restaurant plus they serve a complimentary asparagus A large piece of fish was done perfectly. Dessert came with the entrée. I saw they had a chocolate churro so I thought it would be light ending touch. Churros are usually dry, cinammon/​sugar sticks. Instead, I got three huge chocolate spears oozing with a rich chocolate filling. Just in case it wasn’t sinful enough, it comes with a chocolate milk shake of homemade ice cream. Honestly, I’d come here just for this dessert. If if you didn’t order a main entrée, the $ 5 — $ 7 for the homemade desserts is worth the diet damage.
I saw three really big tacos with pile of slaw heading to one table. The menu says $ 6. Meal salads are priced about the same and there are wraps and soups. There is no debate in the reviews that the food is very good and creative here.
Hidden gems often have caveats and what you need to know is that Café Oso is only open from I think 11 am — 1 p.m., Tuesdays — Thursdays and only when the college is in session. So, call ahead, because sometimes they are completely booked by those in the know.

It’s week three of the soft reveal for the new Latin-​Asian inspired menu. The sudent chefs and waitstaff seem to be getting in the swing of things and I have to say that they are turning out some amazing food.
I ordered the meatball sliders (sans bread) with sour cream mashed potatoes. The portions were large and the sliders were well seasoned and served on a skewer atop the creamy potatoes.
I am a green iced tea fanatic, so I had to try that. I wish I had thought to ask for it to go so that I could drink it all day. Delish. They mentioned a Japanese brewing technique… I would pop by just to pick up green tea.
Now, with the soft opening they offered a free dessert with entrée and I had to try the warm chocolate cinnamon sugar churros and the hand made Mexican chocolate ice cream shake. I think it is at the top of my chart for sure.
Of course it was raining today so I was a happy camper and lunch was enjoyed with my bf. All in all, it was a pleasant experience, with students a bit nervous, hoping to please, and great food with decent prices. I will check-​in each week if I can. It’s fun to see how things progress through the semester.
Forgot to mention the pricing. We were served complimentary Mediterranean salad and a bread basket. The entrée was $ 10 and the dessert was $ 7 but free today.
And did I say fish tacos? Yum, 3 generous sized fish tacos for $ 6.