Café Calaca — Restaurant in New York

Staff was kind to bring me my food. Only ordered an empanada… the vegan one because all the others ones were sold out … tasted like absolutely nothing. And I’ve clearly been ripped off because sucking tajin or salt off my bare fingers would’ve been more enjoyable. It was supposed to be spinach, ricotta cheese corn and something else …. Literally tasted like absolutely nothing but mush…… so basically I ripped my $5 up and threw it in the garbage. I thought it was going to be some savory delicious made with love Hispanic treat. Taste bland like a palm colored person , they had some flavorless sour tasting green sauce and then pickled onion. They both tasted the same and was the only thing that gave the empanada any flavor. Went to sit in the backyard. Cute and very spacious , I was chilling trying to catch a vibe till i I seen a rat run by I got up so fast and ran tf out of there I don’t even play like that. YEAH I KNOW ITS NEW YORK BUT YALL CAN SET TRAPS OVER NIGHT. YA CANNOT HAVE RATS RUNNING BY PEOPLE FEET IN THE DAY TIME NIGHT TIME GARDEN IS DIFFERENT. If mice and rats have the bold nerve to be running by in the daylight that means something IS UP with the garbage and litter in the area. I was a little skeptical with how close it was to the subway then I saw it was a little further down so I was like ok it’s probably cool it’s not right next to it. Nope. They probably have rats in their under ground storage too where they keep they food. Watch where you eat your food. The single star is for the kindness of the either who brought me my food outside...

This restaurant had amazing food (I got the chilaquilas and the spicy mocha), great ambience and they allowed me to bring my dog into their spacious and adorable backyard space which is what I was looking for since we all needed to get out of the house. However I'm giving them four stars because I was juggling a new born and a dog in a tiny space and no one in their staff offered to help me at all...no one opened doors, offered to bring me my food to my table so I wouldn't have to bring my whole crew back into their tiny space from the backyard and they not only watched me bring my food and hot coffee out while also carrying my newborn but one of the baristas carried food out to a different customer while I was doing it. If it wasn't from the help of their friendly customers (there were many — one even offered to watch my dog and gave him a treat while I went to check on my order...I love NYers) I would have never gotten my food or been able to get in or out of their restaurant. I would have understood if the staff was in a rush (especially given the worker shortage these days) but it was slow when I was waiting on my food and there were three people behind the counter, two of which were waiting for more orders to come in. I loved the cafe but little acts of services go a long way and not offering them when someone is clearly struggling is not...

Felt played by the raving reviews here. This place was mid at best.

Their menu options were very limited when I visited. They did not have any vegan options so I asked to have the chorizo taken out of my breakfast wrap. What I got was a disgrace of a wrap. Seemed like they didn’t use any salt or seasonings at all…I was surprised there were no potatoes and was told the chorizo and potatoes are pre mixed (not told prior). Left feeling like I grossly overpaid - $36 for two wraps and a coffee. Nuts!

The location is also in a weird, loud junction and definitely does not show “calm and cute” as the pictures portray. People were posted up in there having full work meetings (mind you- it’s a small tight space).

Overall, just vastly disappointed all around....