On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Cafe Colonial's Happy Hour is Monday- Friday 4-7pm and Saturday -Sunday 5-7pm and 11pm-midnight. Caipirinhas and Margaritas.
2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
Uptown Bleecker St-Lafayette St (6)
Downtown Bleecker St-Lafayette St (6, B, D, F, V)
Mon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
"Stroganoff is delicious and so is the seafood dish. Dessert Chocolate balls were amazing! Definitely get the passion fruit capahrina (sp?)…" read more »
Loading...
I really enjoyed my experience at Cafe Colonial. I think this might be unusual, but we didn't even have to wait on a Sunday at 11:15am! The atmosphere is very welcoming and the food very good.
I got the granola and yogurt, which was perfectly fresh and delicious. The granola has a surprising orange flavor to it that added a little kick! I also ordered a cappuccino instead of my usual black coffee since it was only 50 cents more! The real treat though was the chocolate bread pudding!!! OMG- it was heavenly! It takes about 10 minutes to get once you order it since they make it as it's ordered... it came out so warm and gewy! My friend and I split it and agreed we would come back for just the bread pudding! I also thought everything was reasonably priced... I got granola with yogurt, a cappuccino, and bread pudding all for $19 (including tip).
Isn't it just the worst when you're extremely hungry after a night of fun yet your Yelp integrity won't let you just walk into ANY restaurant?
Me and my friend found ourselves being picky one particular Thurs night. Roaming up and down the streets for a dinner spot, we wanted to try Bianca due to the yelp reviews but didn't want to deal with the wait.
Then we came across Cafe colonial. It looked like something quaint and cute from the outside. We liked the W'burg-ish vibe it was giving so we decided to give it a try.
Since it appeared as an intimate cafe I was only expecting sandwiches and salads but it turns out they have amazing entrees as well.
I had the Pan roasted Tilapia with mango salsa and it totally hit the spot. But the highlight of the night was this Brazillian dished called Moqueca de peixe, a seafood stew cooked with coconut milk and cilantro. It was a symphony of flavors and I loved every bit of it !
Must get hands on recipe if you got a good one send it my way :D
celeb sighting: Anne Hathaway
I've been here for brunch a few times as I live down the block, and would probably come more if it weren't for the usual absurd wait time on the weekends. This place is small but cozy and fills up quickly. Both the service and the food can be improved, but it's worth it to sit by the window and people watch Houston Street.
I spent 30 bucks here. And i was expecting the prices to be like that because its soho, but seriously? I didn't have any apetizers aside from bread, which was served in a 3 piece-set along with packed butter. But the main dish was good, the Veracruz chicken (although it wasn't spicy).
The fact that bothered me was that they have a front door that doesn't work. So it isn't the front door.
Other than that it was all good. The service was fine and the idea of making caribean-colonial food mix (from mexico to brazil and trinidad) is quite interesting.
I've been to this place a couple of times. The food is pretty good but Brunch for 2 people will probably run you $60. It's also a small spot so get ready to feel "cozy." It's a cute place with pretty good eats.
My Brazilian boyfriend wasn't impressed with the authenticity of the cuisine but we ate everything.
This place defines "meh". Food is non-offensive, but just ok. Cute inside and in a great neighborhood, but that's not why I go to a restaurant.
Usually, I would comment on the entrees but to be honest it would be a disservice to you all because I don't remember how good it was because the end was smothered (in a good way) - we had their Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeegit. Before we ordered it, I noticed patrons near us that had ordered their own or shared it. We decided the best thing to do is share one between two persons. It is the best BP I've had. The food was good don't get me wrong, but the BP was overpowering indeed. For the first taste, I had a little spec of BP and it almost killed me! Beautiful.
We went in the evening. Surprisingly, we did not have to wait in a line. We were seated within a couple minutes. Because of that, service was great. The waitresses are beautiful and are very kind. It definitely a place that you would bring a person for a date or small grouping. It didn't seem like there were many tables for 4.
This place sounds like it has great menu items. Enjoy the entrees first! If you are unhappy with that, don't worry. Cafe Colonial will rescue you and change that right up with the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding.
The pulled-pork sandwich is one of the best ever.
Yes, despite the fact that the bottom half of the bread gets completely violated by the pulled-pork juices. I think it (bread) likes it.
I, on the other hand, felt rather ambivalent about the violated bread. Pulled-pork juices is tasty, but how the hell am I to consume the sandwich if there's only one piece of competent bread?
Very Small Brazilian that serves typical food from the south. As mentioned in another review, this is what you would eat at a Brazilians home on any given day- Southern Brazilian-
The food was great - I had the hearts of Palm Salad and it was HUGE!
The service was fast, an the price was low (great deal).
The place is low Key, perfect for a date or lunch where you want to talk and listen. The waiters wont bother you and will leave you there as long as you want to be.
I just wish they had Diet Guarana on the menu- (they only have regular).
The Cafezinho (brazilian for little coffee) is FANTASTIC!!!
Went here last summer for Sunday brunch, and there was a long wait! The food was good, although a bit bland (had to spice it up with salt/pepper/ketchup) it was fresh and a good size plating.
The atmosphere was relaxed, but it's very very small, so I suggest going early, or later if you want to beat the brunch crowd.
We ended up sitting outside right in front where the street is and where people were waiting, so it was kind of weird trying to eat with hungry passerby's and people waiting were anxiously watching us.
I say, if you don't have to wait too long, it's not too bad. Pricing is a bit high, but normal for manhattan, ended up being about $25/pp.
My overall response is just "meh".
Finally decided to come here for a late weekend lunch - it is one of those spots you walk by a million times and can't stop ogling the cute decor and people. It is definitely as crowded and tight as it looks, but I guess that adds to the charm.
I had the tilapia salad, friend had the steak sandwich. Both were not too special - not well-seasoned or particularly tasty. The shoestring fries were dry and a bit burnt.
The food may not be so great, but the cuteness and people-watching may just be irresistable.
I checked out this place for lunch with a friend and did not have a great experience.
The food was overpriced and the service was horrible. My spinach salad, with a very small amount of chicken, was $16. Our waitress never came back to check on us, even though my water ran out before my food was even served. I asked the server for bread and he didn't speak English or understand what I was asking (although every other table had bread on it).
The food was ok, but I will not go back to this place again.
Come here early on weekend mornings if you want to avoid the long brunch lines. Menu is your usual brunch fare and it's done pretty well. The highlight though is the brazilian cheese bread. Though not a traditional brunch food, it is so good. Definitely order these as a snack/appetizer.
the first time I ate here was last year...and i still remember their Spinach Goat Cheese Salad...probably the BEST salad i have ever had! It was SMOTHERED in delicious guacamole dressing and made the salad a heartier meal (being the fatty that i am, i'm usually still hungry after just eating a salad for dinner - not the case with this salad).
writing this review just reminded me to go back for more...
After spending ten days raging in Rio de Janeiro for Spring Break last October (our fall, their spring), my friends and I were feeling nostalgic for some good Brazilian cuisine.
Overall, I was not exactly floored. The pao de queijo was stale bread with a cheesy flavor - not a pleasant surprise when you're expecting puffy dough with gooey cheese in the middle.
The coffee was good. Omelette and potatoes also not bad. But in general pretty bland.
Also the restaurant had trouble accommodating a fifth person at our table so our friend arrived only to be turned away. Our bad for not giving them the correct number of guests to seat, but even though we were willing to squeeze in and there were extra chairs available they were not at all helpful.
I might go back, but not before trying the other Brazilian restaurants NYC has to offer.
This South American cafe serves great entrees and a mighty fine veggie breakfast. If you can grab a window seat, it's a great place to watch the world go by!
Try their french toast-It's to die for...made with fresh french baguettes.The Syrup that they serve is excellent.
The Price was just right for New York City standards..
Had the medium rare steak, over-hard eggs, sweet and regular potato fries. Fries were a little soggy but ok.
puts a little dent in the wallet ($$) but something your stomach will thank you for.
Very good place.
I had the corm crab asparagus soup and my friend had the pulled pork sandwich which was delicous.
I'd certainly return for its solid food and good atmosphere.
I haven't eaten here.
I sat down on a Saturday for brunch with a friend. The place was about half full. Now, they were training new staff that day (you could tell by the deer in the headlights look of the youngish looking staff) but still we waited ten minutes after they sat us to get some water. And then we ordered coffee. And sat. And sat. And sat.
We got up and left after about another 10 min of waiting for service, of any kind. Really? You can't serve people when you're only half full? They didn't even notice that we'd left.
Looks like a decent enough place. Not sure if I'll ever come back here?
We went to Cafe Colonial for breakfast and ordered an egg sandwich with a coffee. The egg was $3.50 and was delicious. The house coffee came in a standard diner size cup (small) and cost $3.00. Even in NYC, that's too high. I have a feeling the restaurant is cutting corners.
This was my first time at a Brazilian restaurant that was not "Brazilian BBQ". Food-wise, I've been enlightened. Service-wise, I've had better...could this have been the worst? Maybe not over a lifetime, but probably in the last 6 months to a year...
Passionfruit Capirinhas: kinda sweet and tart, more potent than the passionfruit mimosa
Passionfruit Mimosa: light and bubbly, the passionfruit gave it a nice island-y touch
Xinxim De Galinha (chicken cooked in a dried shrimp peanut sauce served with kale, fried bananas and rice): This was pretty tasty, though the chicken was a little dry. I would've been perfectly content with my dish had I not tried my friends' dishes...The xinxim was weak in comparison to the Tilapia and Beef Stew. Fried bananas were tasty and I found myself mixing it in w/ the xinxim and rice - totally not something I normally like to do (mixing sweet, salty, and rice).
Beef Colombo (beef stew cooked in ten different spices served with arborio rice and avocado salad): tender meat w/ potatoes (not sure if it was potatoes or some other starch) served with a side salad w/ avocado and tomatoes. Stew portion appeared small but was just right. Wonder if I could make this at home...
Pan Roasted Filet Of Tilapia (topped with mango-papaya salsa, served with mashed potatoes and spinach): perfectly pan fried served over mashed potatoes, we were all digging this one.
Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding: pretty damn good, but it got to be too chocolate-y towards the bottom, impossible to finish.
Service:
Pros: quick w/ the water refills, I didn't even notice when they were doing it. I would just look down and water would magically appear!
Cons: Although the restaurant was half empty, they refused to seat my friend who had arrived first. Service was SLOW, slow to seat us when we were there, slow to take our order, make drinks, etc. When they did seat us, our big heavy wooden table was pushed up against the bench, so we had to move it ourselves to get in! Our friends on the other (non-bench) side of the table kept getting knocked into b/c the place was so small. The table behind them was empty, if Cafe Colonial had thought about it, they would've moved that table back so that my friends could've had a more comfortable experience. Poor, poor service...
Overall:
If you go, expect slow, poor service. Order the Tilapia and Beef Stew. And go for the chocolate croissant bread pudding if you have a sweet tooth.
Despite what the other reviewers wrote, I happen to like this place! However, we didn't eat here for dinner. We ate here for brunch.
The food was fresh and hardly seasoned, which is a big plus for me because I like to control my own seasoning. Our waitress was fully attentive. Our water glasses were always filled and our food came quick.
The ambiance: quaint, shabby/chic, no matching furniture and a hodgepodge of different art hanging on the wall.
The crowd eating here all seemed to be health-conscious, stylish, minimal make-up wearing droids. I don't know how else to phrase it.
My boyfriend ordered a salmon sandwich and polished off the entire plate. He said the french fries were great, and this is a man that can be very picky about his fries.
I ordered the salmon scramble, and although it wasn't the best that I'd ever had, there was something very wholesome about it.
Who knew Cafe Colonial was Brazillian?
I sure didn't. Headed there for dinner with my Brazillian friend after unknowingly passing by several times. Caipirinhas were spot on. I had the passion fruit one. Yummy. The Beef Columbo (beef stew) had a lot of spices in it and was served with a fresh avocado salad creation. Super yummy. My friend had the salmon which she said was good.
Food and drinks were awesome. Place was cute, very LESish grundgy but the service was slow as snails and the restaurant wasn't near full. If the service were faster they'd get 5 stars for sure.
It was the name that got me first and then the mural outside. It just looked like a sweet little place. So we trudged down here one Sunday morning to have breakfast. It was about 9am (they open at 8:30) and there was just one other patron.
This is a really nice and airy restaurant, although I suspect that when it's full, it's probably pretty cramped. But early in the morning, it was great. The wait staff was friendly and told us we could sit wherever.
We chose omelets and french toast for breakfast. For sides, you could have home fries, salad, or fruit salad. M chose the home fries and I chose the fruit salad.
Then we sat back, relaxed and waited... and waited.... and waited... Considering there were just a couple of other people in the restaurant (by this time another couple had come in), and that they had been open for at least half an hour, the wait was a bit much (minus 1 star for that). Finally our food arrived and it was, well, not that great (minus star number 2). My omelet had obviously been prepared on a surface that was far too hot -- to the point that the exterior of the omelet was almost plasticy. I probably should have sent it back but I don't know, I didn't feel like being a pain that day. M's omelet was also just okay and the home fries were a combination of regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, which he didn't appreciate. J's french toast was not fabulous either, and ridiculously expensive given it was just three baguette pieces (costing around $8).
The fruit salad, however, was fantastic. This was the sweetest, ripest fruit salad I've had in a while. I also saw one of the waiters making a really great looking fruity drink with just about every fruit in season and passion fruit juice - looked delicious. He said that these drinks went out faster than he could prepare them (hence the head start). The coffee was also good - I went for a regular latte rather than the house special (I forget the name but it was regular coffee with a shot of espresso - the perfect hang over drink, I suspect).
I really liked the service and the vibe of this place - had the food experience not been so bad, it would have easily gotten a 4. I will definitely be back to try some other meal. Just skip the omelets and try something else and I think you'll be fine.
UPDATE:
Came back for the Brazilian shake and the corn. The shake was EXCELLENT - really, really good, and considering all the fresh (not frozen) fruit in it, the $6.50 price wasn't too bad (although it is a bit steep). The corn was okay. I think Habana does a better job with the corn.
Two words: steak salad. Unreal.
Okay, so it was two words, then a dangling modifier. Or is that just an adjective. Whatever... great steak salad!
Quanit, cheerful, and just a nice place to sit down and have a casual meal. The rest of the menu (what I tasted) was fairly good and no complaining, but the steak salad is what you should come here for.
The food is fine, nothing special or anything but definitely good enough. The service on the other hand, is really pretty terrible. On multiple occasions I've been treated quite rudely, including yesterday when the waitress actually opened the check in front of us to check the tip. Definitely won't be going back.
I love this place. Its quaint and charming.. in the middle of manhattan. This place is agreat starter to a day full of shopping and perusing in and around Soho. I came here the last two times i visited NYC and I will surely be back the next time I am in town.
The prices are reasonable, brunch items are great, steak salad with a vinegarette is delicious. I highly reccommend this place on a hungover sunday... the bloody marys will surely awaken your senses. They have a fruit or milk drink ,from what i can remember, that is HEAVENLY... I just can't remember the name or what was in it.
My experience may have been ruined when one of the servers was giving the guy next to me his carrot juice, and he spilled it all over my jacket. Either way, I wasn't too impressed. I had the spinach omelet, nothing special or memorable about it, but it wasn't awful either. If you want some privacy, make sure you get a table in the middle of the room, because most of the tables along the walls are shared.
I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't seen anyone famous here. Either way, the food's pretty good and the area's definitely cool. The steak salad has at least as much meat as a full steak, but doesn't cost nearly as much.
Just watch out for the bread, it's kind of addicting.
Been curious about this place, finally came here for brunch one day. Wish the portion were bigger, overall it was alright. I still prefer Cafe Habana~
Tasty. Prices adjusted for Manhattanites may not agree with your reality--or mine, a few short miles away in Brooklyn.
We dropped by this place because my friend lives across the street. The restaurant itself is pretty quaint - it's at the SE corner of Elizabeth and Houston, and it's a small, low-key, charming and cozy restaurant. This is why it's so disappointing that the food sucked. Yes, that's a techical foodie term.
I had the steak salad. The arugula and tomatoes were fine, but the steak was way overdone. Imagine the beef you get in a beef with broccoli dish - you know, extra brown, doused with sauce? That's exactly what this "steak" looked like. it was chewy and not that flavorful. On top of that, they doused it with a ton of dressing, overcompensating for the lack of flavor in the beef. As a result, the overall dish was way too salty.
My friend had the vatapa, which is a seafood stew. Scratch that, SUPPOSED to be a seafood stew. It was heavily, heavily, cream based - way too rich.
I haven't checked out the other dishes, but these two displayed some heavy-handedness from the chef. Again, the venue was quaint, and service was decent. I was deciding between glasses of two different red wines, and the waitress let me try a taste of both.
There's something really charming about this place, but I can't quite say what it is. I love the Brazilian rice and beans with grilled hearts of palm and sauteed greens, and the passion fruit caipirinha is fantastic.
just a random stop as this place looked pretty charming. however the experience and food didn't do it for us. the table next to us was seated at the same time but they looked over the menu and the plates coming out and promptly got up and left. that should have been a telling sign. but we stayed and endured.
the eggs looked (and tasted) as if they came from one of those As Seen on TV omelette steamer things. the portions were small. the homefries were soggy. the service was painfully slow. the prices were high for what we got ($4.50 for 3 or 4 strips of low quality bacon).
given all the other great places in a close vicinity i woudn't do this one again.
I really love this unique little place. The atmosphere and style of the whole place is quite enjoyable. I have yet to have something that I didn't like from this place. If you go you must try the cheesebread.
An old time favorite. I am happy to have food and guarana there!
The serivce is good, and the fish is always fresh.
I like to sit, drink and see people pass by.
Def, one of my favorite....
Ah and the bathroom is clean!
I have eaten here twice and had great experiences both times. I enjoyed spot-on caipirinhas, friendly and timely service, and good grub.
I got the Brazilian Rice and Beans and a Batida de Coco (cocktail with Cachaa, coconut milk, and sugar). The cocktail was delicious! The rice and beans were just standard. I'd probably try it again, but it won't be the first thing I race out to.
Had dinner at the table across from Matt Dillon here today. That was neat. The Xinxim whatchamacallit is pretty tasty-- chicken, peanut sauce, fried bananas. Washed it down with a Guarana soda which really did the trick, since I was coming down hard off the 8 cups of coffee, 2 liters of coke and 3 redbulls I had over the past 36 hours. Good food, a bit pricey but I suppose everything on Elizabeth St is.
I love the Brazilian-style ribs, the casual artsy ambiance, and (I must admit) the waitresses.
Neighborhood: Nolita
Category: Nightlife
Neighborhood: Nolita
Category: French
Neighborhood: Nolita
Category: French
Neighborhood: SoHo
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Category: Steakhouses
The city that captures my heart and places that…
Where to go for breakfast after, um, many…
I've had breakfast/brunch at these places and I…
These are a few spots that I'd recommend to anyone…
Healthy, pregnancy-safe food (no sushi or…
that have at least one dish for us low-carbers…
