Cañave — Restaurant in New York

Let's talk about Amy! Amy "IS" Cañave. So friendly and kind, the ultimate Mariposa! In fact, the entire front of the house staff is incredibly nice and accommodating. The atmosphere in Cañave is serviceable enough, a nice, casual restaurant. Prices are fair too, considering how expensive things are these days.

The food at Cañave is, "just OK." The guacamole and chips is good. The shrimp ceviche is good. The plantain croquettes is good too.

If you're going out for a casual meal or just want to have a good time, Cañave is a good option. Upon my visit, there was a 60th birthday party with live music. Everyone was smiling and having a good time. It was nice to see.

Yes, I'm saying "good" too much. It's damning praise to say a restaurant is good but not great. Being that I work in the restaurant industry, I see how owners hoodwink customers. I see through the smoke and mirrors.

For instance, we ordered a Patron Silver tequila margarita. It tasted like water. There was hardly any tequila in the margarita and I'm not convinced that it was Patron. Like many restaurants in the neighborhood, they say they use Patron Silver but in reality they use cheap rail tequila, like Conquistador. I asked if I could add more tequila in the margarita but I was told that they use jiggers and that a shot on the side would be an extra charge. I didn't want a shot of tequila. I wanted the margarita to taste like a margarita, not water.

This bait and switch is a rampant disease in the neighborhood but people don't question what they're being served. A warning to all, never in Washington Heights and Inwood order top shelf liquor. Order rail liquor and be happy with it... and don't get me started about Hennessy.

You see how "good" is starting to sink to, "just OK?" I'll continue...

Another disappointment was the "roasted" chicken. We were told, because it's cooked to order, it would take a half hour. That's great. No one likes overcooked, dry chicken. It takes precise timing to roast a chicken to a perfect 160º - 170º internal temperature. It's easy, however, if you put the chicken in a fryer and that's what happened. At Cañave, the roasted chicken is... fried.

I could be wrong. Perhaps the chicken was pre-cooked in the oven so, technically, it was oven roasted... and then fried. There was no way, however, the chicken was cooked to order. The chicken was covered in a very flavorful adobo-roja sauce, though the sauce was too salty and almost inedible. Also, why was there chipotle mayo in the spicy red sauce? The skin was extra crispy which can only be achieved through deep frying and the meat was dry and tough, the bones fried to the core. The roasted chicken was, frankly, a lie.

One more thing. Guys, lay off the chipotle mayo. You put it on everything. Mayonnaise is made with unhealthy soybean oil, used for oiling machine parts during WWll. After the war, soybean oil was oxidized, refined, and bleached for consumer use. Profits above all else.

Obviously, you don't eat at Cañave to be healthy. You eat at Cañave for a "good" time but the over reliance on the Sysco food truck for pre-processed food and ingredients is typical. No wonder why there's a propensity of health problems and obesity in this country.

Would I go back to Cañave? Sure I would. I would go for the incredible, indelible Amy but I would keep things simple. Order the basics and never ever order top shelf liquor. Cañave is, "just OK," an average restaurant in the...

It was our first time coming here yesterday, and we actually loved our meal. Food was great. Drinks were great, even though it took longer to get them than expected and service was just okay. The ambiance in the outdoor section was great. We were saying how happy we were to have come there and would make it a regular spot for us.

That was all undone when we got the bill. My husband is in the restaurant industry, and is quick to trust the bill is right... he gave his card without first looking it over, and when they brought us the credit card receipt to fill out and I saw him adding tip and signing, something about the total seemed very high. When I said that to him, he looked at the itemized bill and it took him a few times examining it to realize that it VERY quietly and in very small font above the total showed that there was a 20% gratuity added to the total... for a party of 2. This wasn't noted anywhere on the menu and our server certainly didn't let us know in any way shape or form. We are generous tippers and were going to tip 25% (even though as noted above, the service was just okay), so with the sneaky 20% already included, we were nearly hoodwinked into giving the equivalent of a 45% tip.

Having auto gratuity for a party less than 6 isn't at all the norm, but if there had been any attempt to make us aware (by having this noted on the menu, circling/highlighting it on the receipt, the server letting us know themselves), this would be less of an issue. It was unforgivably deceitful. The tip line on the credit card receipt didn't say "additional tip," it just said "tip". The credit card receipt even had a VERY large "suggested gratuity" section on the bottom, with five tip suggestions ranging from 10% to 25%. And those suggested tip percentages were based on the total that already had the 20% auto gratuity and tax included. My husband was furious, as was I - I don't write reviews often, but this was clearly intentional and anywhere that has practices like this shouldn't be...

The food is delicious. The biggest issue is the price per serving and lack of specificity on the menu. For example the shrimp platter comes with shrimp and rice. However, the amount of food is minimal and leaves you desiring more. The taste is decent but for the price of 22 bucks you should get your moneys worth. I ordered 2 different taco options and a side of rice and beans in order to feel full. Each taco meal consist of 3 mini tacos. They are overpiriced, but when it comes to tacos what place isnt overpriced? One big issue i had is that this place does not specify anything about nuts being in the food and some dishes clearly have nuts in them. My fiancee has an extreme nut allergy and no where on the menu is it specified that nuts are in the dishes. Luckily for us we had medicine to counteract the allergy, but i fear anyone with an allergy may encounter the issue. I know Mexican food and this place is marketed as Mexican (influenced) food and one thing is that nuts are not apart of many of the Mexican dishes (or they are at least written on the menu) i have ever had (I am Mexican). So we were surprised to find almonds in the black bass dish when it was not written on the menu. The waitress was really nice and gave us a free drink but that could have gone a lot worse. In terms of drinks their drinks are ok. All in all this place is ok. Not great or anything special, just an ok place to eat. Btw i had the black bass (great choice), shrimp (great choice), chicken tacos (great with hot sauce), and the short rib tacos (good). The guacamole was awesome but very small portions. Maybe we got a tiny avocado or something. And the churros are definitely delicious. Try those if you...