The music spills out onto Avenue C from the joined storefronts—one a barroom, the other a long and skinny restaurant—and if that doesn’t lure you in you might as well keep going. Because it only gets better—starting with the warm welcome from Manny Garcia, the owner, who seats you and hands over a menu listing soul-warming Cuban plates that arrive piled high and at quite reasonable prices. Bistec de Palomilla, a sirloin marinated in garlic and oil, comes heaped high with sautéed onions good enough to be their own side. The dough in the trifecta of empanadas—pork, chicken, and vegetables—stands up to the fillings without stealing their flavors. At Cafecito, the food is bold but always refined, the music saucy but not too loud. It all makes sense in a place where large gold-framed mirrors, all mismatched and quite elegant, seem to materialize mid-meal on the stark brick walls, as if by magic. Call it a delayed reaction—or simply a case of “mojito-vision.”

appetizer (choose one)
Empanadas
House salad
Bollos (roasted corn and black bean fritters)

entrée (choose one)
Bistec de Palomilla (sirloin marinated in garlic and olive oil)
Pollo Cafecito (grilled spice-rubbed chicken breast)
Adobo pork chop (14 ounces, marinated, and grilled)

dessert (choose one)
Flan
Flourless chocolate cake (with vanilla ice cream and candied walnuts)
view full menu here

Seats all run along the walls, and the bar is fine.

The little counter—with a handful of bar stools set up outside the restaurant, right on Avenue C, but facing inward so you can order through the window—is a rarity in New York and a reason to return to Cafecito in the spring. Sipping a mojito there with a plate of empanadas feels a bit like New Orleans, a little European, and probably very Cuban.

Sun–Thu 11 AM–11 PM; Fri–Sat 11 AM–1 AM;
Brunch: Sun 11 AM–4 PM

$7 (jamón y queso sandwich) to $20 (grilled skirt steak)