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Pan Latin Cafe
Rating Details »
Category: Latin American [Edit]
Neighborhood: Battery Park400 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10282
(212) 571-3860
- Nearest Transit:
-
Chambers St-W Broadway (1, 2, 3)
Chambers-St-Park Pl (2, 3, A, C, E)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Breakfast, Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
18 reviews for Pan Latin Cafe
Just had my first wonderful breakfast at this cute little cafe near WFC. It's located right next to the park, so a great way to start the morning with a coffee and a stroll.
They served a fantastic soy latte, yummy Mango & Banana pancakes, and a great Chorizo & Red Peppers sandwhich.
The (abundant) staff were very friendly, the music relaxing, and the couches very comfy.
I would never have thought to come to this area for a mean, but it was a very pleasant surprise. I'd definitely recommend it.
this is a great little place for inexpensive well made Latin food. Never too salty. Lots of variety on the menu. We've had the fresh Fish tacos with quinoa. Not greasy at all. Delicious salsa.
The tortarepa with chicken or pork are very good as well.
Excellent cafe con leche, fruit batidos and mmmmm, guava bread pudding.
Wow! I wish this was in my neighborhood.
This cafe pretty much serves the Battery Park City (North) residents, as it's not easy to convince people who live on the mainland to cross the West Side Highway to visit this faraway land I call home.
They came by my building a few weeks ago with free breakfast, pastries, coffee and empanadas, so I was happy to check the place out for their lunch menu.
They make a delicious wrap - with lots of veggies including avocado - and toasted to a nice crisp. The decor is pretty strange - so not really a place to hang out or impress a date or anything like that, but it's functional, healthy and tasty.
Delicious.
A cute place with some slightly uncomfortable seating but fantastic food. They also deliver. Their food is a bit greasy - although the "healthy" veggie pressed sandwich seemed pretty healthy. The best is their fruited pancakes with Guava syrup. You can get that and a side of protein for about $10, all day. I also love their salad dressing, and their kids' menu features one of the best cupcakes in the city.
A very enjoyable little restaurant. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but if you're ever in the area....
Perfect if you're lollling around the park but not worth a trip.
This isn't really a restaurant but more of a cafe that serves small restaurant-worthy food. Seating is comfortable if you're in a booth, Ikea-ish if you happen to be squished in one of hte tables for two.
Perfect for break, lunch and a quick snack. The sangrias and empanadas are really good. For about $4 a pop, the beef and shrimp ones are really fantastice snacks. The entrees although really mouth-watering looking aren't as great. Chicken and rice of all varieties lacks a punch. Sophies up Chambers is way better. However, if you order right, you could be in for a real treat.
Usually go for lunch on the weekends or for drinks on weekday evenings. It is a good place to sit outside and hang out for a few hours, especially with the free wireless.
The best things are the mango chicken/arroz con pollo, liberal smoking policy outside, and the old dude that has a glass of red wine every night.
WATCHOUT for the really out of it staff that comes by your table "sometimes", the $9 wine by the glass and the "broom in the corner" freakshow bathroom behind the counter.
A nice family run restaurant that's a hidden gem in Tribeca.
The medianoche sandwich is awesome and their baked breads make everything taste special.
If you're a fan of Latin food and getting sick of just the Cuban stuff, here's a great spot. It's not a big place but it's has a cafe style environment that's nice for reading the morning paper and in between, talking to the stafff & owner who are all very friendly. .
(sad to see Yelp's a bit lacking in reviews around my neighborhood - looks like I'll have to pick up the slack!)
Pan Latin is a tiny cafe at the corner of Chamber Street and River Terrace. What's great is that it's next to the water and has a gorgeous view, what's not so great is that it's probably too far off in the corner for anyone to venture over. too bad for you, because this place makes the most wonderful cup of cappuccino - in a huge mug, with the foam literally 2-inches high and almost spilling over. I'm a picky coffee drinker, and I think the espresso is amazing.
The cafe is tiny, but cozi-fied with booths and couches. Also, they have a surprisingly large selection of food, from empanadas to pastries to fruit smoothies to pancakes to sandwiches. Oh, and to top it all off - they have free wireless. great coffee, couches, AND free wireless?!
(ok now that I've shared this with the world, you're not allowed to take my couch spot.)
Even though I live close to Pan Latin Cafe, well perhaps BECAUSE I live close to the restaurant, I havent visited it as yet, but I have ordered from it a bunch of times.
I have normally gone for their sandwhiches which are delicious. Being a pork fanatic, I always order some sort of pork stuuff.
Tried: Guava glazed pork chops, and the guava glazed chicken
Sandwhich with a super delicious dressing and the bread is to die for!!! Oh and almost forgot, I have also tried the fish tacos (tilapia), which was good since it has a neutral taste. It was better than I expected but lacks flavor. Perhaps my spicy palate craved something more. A bit of spice and perhaps some lime, and it would have inched up on my rating scale.
I have only tried the Guava cream cheese pudding which is nice, the way I like it - not to sweet, and feels homemade.
I need to get over to this place and check it out in person. Oh almost forgot, delivery times are ok, not too quick but not bad either.
Warm, small, friendly cafe, with very good food and a lot of personality. On warm days you can sit outside enjoying views of the river, or if there's a chill in the air cozy-up on one of the love seats in the small indoor seating area. Either way you'll enjoy a good variety of Latin dishes for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Although I live in San Francisco, my wife's mother lives next door to Pan Latin, and it's a regular spot for us on our frequent visits. We've sampled a good portion of the menu over the past 2+ years, and have rarely been disappointed. Any issues that arise are more related to Pan Latin having a tiny area for cooking/prepping, and the staff's ability to keep up with more than a few patrons at any given time. For that reason, it's ideal if you can avoid rush hours, which typically coincide with the morning and evening commutes.
Highly recommended place to eat. I ordered the Huevos Rachos. It's not your ordinary HR. The tortilla was different, yet delicious. The cotija cheese and ancho chili cream is a nice touch.
The manager was super nice and welcoming. He invited us back for Saturday night Salsa Dancing.
Great location as well. It's just across the street from a nice park near the water.
My review is broken down by two parts of Pan Latin Cafe's business:
(1) CATERING: I used Pan Latin to cater a corporate reception for 100+ people and Sandy, Pan Latin's founder and owner, was a pleasure to work with: she accommodated my budget, was very generous in the portions provided, and brought me bottle openers during my event even after Pan Latin had delivered the order and I admittedly forgot to request the openers. The empanadas and tortilla ruedas/ pinwheels were amongst my favorite appetizers and I would absolutely use Pan Latin to cater future events.
Rating for Pan Latin's Catering: 4
(2) IN RESTAURANT DINING: With such a great catering experience, the bar was set high when I walked in for lunch. I ordered the 'Pan Latin Cuban' which differs from the classic sandwich because it includes a "small portion of black beans and tropical fruit," and so my feelings of disappointment began to ensue...
My sandwich was small and lacks worthy of notice. Sad, but true.The "small" portion of fruit and beans, which had zero taste, really means "Costco sample size." Both came in the same tiny, plastic cup that Costco uses to distribute food samples! No joke.
B/c it was known that my party of 6 all work at a nearby company (with ahem, potential to use Pan Latin for catering) we were sent a complimentary dessert* Please note, business is business and I commend Pan Latin for treating our group extra special.
Rating for Pan Latin's In Room Dining: 2
I really hope to visit Pan Latin again to order something different (*or to have more guava cream cheese bread pudding...I've had guava and cream cheese puff pastries, but never with bread pudding. Props for this combo!) but for now, this Battery Park cafe is okay, with a weak cuban sandwich.
Sometimes the food is great, sometimes it's just okay...and the service is always just okay. Besides this, it's a cute neighborhood spot although I would love another option like this in the area.
I'm giving it four stars because the food is straight up fantastic and because it basically has no competition in the area. A must try is the tortarepa sandwich - although pretty much anything you get is tasty and fresh. So why not five stars you say? The service is abysmal even by cafe standards. The servers are generally friendly, but its amateur hour when it comes to doing their job. Expect to wait, correct your order, get your own water etc. The seating is super uncomfortable and the decor leans towards messy fraternity house chic (I just coined that phrase so no using w/o permission). Overall though the food is just too good and I like the location right beside the park. Definitely recommended.
Maybe my expectations were too high? The reviews were mostly great for pan latin and when I walked in I could smell them cooking something delicious in their kitchen so I was expecting more than it is/was.
I ordered the medianoche sandwich which had great reviews. My meal arrived 15 minutes later than everybody else seated at our table... very unprofessional*. The bread was fresh and warm but I like things fresh and hot! Moving on... the sandwich was tasty but not noteworthy though you could tell that they use fresh organic products (yes, you really can tell and it really does make a difference :)
While I would go back if I was in the area I would not go out of my way to dine here again.
It is interesting that this restaurant received mostly 4/5 star ratings in 2007 and early 2008... not so much during this later part of 2008.
*To be fair I would like to mention that the seating and sit down service appears to be merely for the convenience of its customers.
Five members of http://Meetup.com's Thrifty Gourmets group and I field-tested this restaurant on Tuesday, September 3rd at 8 P.M. None of the employees gathered around the cash register or behind the display cases greeted me as I entered the café. I had to approach them and introduce myself. Pan Latin had a record of my reservation and honored it. Nadia, our friendly server, set our table and seated us promptly. She greeted us, introduced herself, but did not provide an overview of the menu or note any specials. When asked, though, she willingly provided explanations of items on the menu and offered her opinions of them. She did not provide us with breads or other appetizers while we waited for our orders to be delivered. These dishes arrived within 15 to 20 minutes and were delivered correctly. I ordered the tilapia tacos. They were presented attractively, with a side of tasty white rice and black beans. The filets were amply sized, meaty and lightly crusted. Unfortunately, they were cold, suggesting that they were not prepared recently. They were lightly flavorful, but would have benefited by having a tangier, more complex coating. OVERALL: I'll keep Pan Latin mind for future jaunts around Battery Park City. Otherwise, though, the restaurant is not a standout and doesn't merit frequent visits.
So here I go again with a 5 rating. The problem is this place is addictive. I am obsessed with the protein salad. The salad is a nice blend of berries, papaya and quinoa (keen-wah). I started orderring from here about a year ago and since then it has been a staple. Sandy (owner) makes a point to keep it all organic and fair trade, which I find impressive due to the prices being cheap. You can get a meal for two, with desert for around $45 or less. I recommend the glava glazed chicken and the protein salad, both under $10. If you have a sweet tooth, try the bread pudding you will not be dissapointed. The breakfast is good, but I am not really one to order eggs for delivery and I suggest stumbling in to the cafe for breakfast/brunch. Good news for you late sleepers is breakfast is served all day, so for those of you who had a rough night out with Mr Baccardi and Mrs Coke, feel free to turn up to this lovely little cafe with your black glasses on and ask for an agua fresca and a egg and bean burrito.
