New Tapas Place on 5th and Bergen

I think it just opened last Friday. We tried it on Saturday and it is *very* good. The portions are a bit small for the prices, but all of the food was excellent and they have a great wine and especially beer list. Yet another great addition to the neighborhood!

I'm surprised you had such bad service... we had really excellent, attentive service on Saturday. And the food was inedible?? I thought it was excellent - not authentic Spanish tapas, but I don't think they ever claimed to be. They are eclectic but very good. The portions were small, but we ordered 4 or 5 things for 2 of us, and were pleasantly satiated. I hope the nice owner will talk to the waiter who rudely added on the wine.

Subject: tapeo

Hi,

I would like to introduce myself as the owner of Cafe Tapeo. As already mentioned
we did indeed just open . I am also the owner of Black Sheep Pub on Bergen St. I mention
this because when we opened the sheep we based our choices for beer, decor, wines, loading our jukebox all from neighbors, surveys on craigslist and then modified it as we went along.

As for Tapeo we intend to follow the same tactic. I therefore make it my business to
Scour reviews from yelp to citysearch and all local message boards.

I have found there to be very opposite opinions, either disappointment on service
or portion size or people r blown away. I feel it is necessary to offer my defense on the negatives at this point.

To begin with we opened our first week without the POS system (destroyed by the flooding and storm) just the week before. Out of money and completely exhausted we decided to open regardless and give our best.

Without this luxury it left us slightly disorganized and upset our training. As a side note, why is everybody on vacation over the previous and following two weeks – our scheduling nightmare!!

As for portion size, we do not want to increase size as this moves away from the concept
of tapas. Originally it began as a piece of bread topping a drink to prevent flies
using it as a landing strip. And so it progressed.

We consider Cafe Tapeo to be somewhere between a bar and a restaurant. We don’t turn
tables over in the typical 45 minutes in fact the average have been over two hours.

The idea is to come spend an evening with us and eat and drink over time. The time spent relaxing and enjoying our beer, wine and food as you please makes for an evening out by itself.

As for food prices we will be looking into food costs and reevaluating everything once again.
But in our defense the food reviews have been truly wonderful. Our costs range from $4 to $15 most settling around $7. We only purchase Grade A seafood’s and meats and buy local and organic as much as we can. A common shock is our $12 empanadas, to explain, they contain Fois Gras product that costs $28 dollars a pound. Either way we still reevaluate and probably make some adjustments.

Please if anybody was disappointed, come again once the training wheels are off and let us treat you a little.

Thanks for listening and thank you for your comments both positive and negative.

Tony

Hey Tony -

Good for you for responding!

I'm a big fan of tapas, but usually try to hold off on a new place for a few weeks until they iron some kinks out.

Much luck with your new place!

Tony, are you seriously serving Foie Gras? I hate to be a stinker, but are you aware of the cruelty involved in that food? Are you aware that Chicago banned the use of that stuff? Why would you use that?

I have to agree about the foie gras - cruel and there are many ways to make a great empenada using other ingredients.

I do love me some cheese - too bad Giraffehead wasn't impressed. Was it the selection, quality or quantity?

What's up with the foie gras comments? Foie gras is one of the most heavenly culinary delights in the world. Thank you Tony for bringing such top-notch gourmet ingredients to 5th Ave.

Are those concerned with foie gras also refusing to eat anything but free range poultry and beef products? Chickens that are kept in a holding pen that barely allows them to turn around or cows that are give unnatural supplements to make them burst with milk live far more tortured lives than a goose that roams free and is force fed on occasion.

I've been to a farm with force fed geese, and trust me, they do not live horrible lives by any stretch of the imagination.

So for the people who don't want foie gras, there's a very simple solution -- don't order it.

Flexichick, thanks for the response. It is a little strange to have foie gras in empanada form, but heck I'll try almost anything once. I had the foie gras and scallap dish at Tapeo and it was quite an interesting flavor combination. But you're totally right that it's a little different and may not be for everyone.

The fella and I tried this one last night and were pleased.

Service:
Our server was happy to find out about and item if he didn't know the details (I ask strange questions sometimes). He did forget one thing we ordered at the end but we were actually glad it didn't come and forgot about it ourselves. That said, our server and the other person bringing some of the food and drinks around were both incredibly nice and attentive--much more so than anywhere I've eaten in the area. Our guy checked on us just enough and was helpful.

Food:
The drink selection was small, but we were both happy with the choices. The food was different and excellent. We had:

chipotle chicken with mango salsa--great, but needed more mango to
keep the flavor of each bite balanced.

begger's purses--the meat, veggie, and fruit ones were all small but the flavors and quality made up for that. I especially loved the veggie purse--I could eat those all day.

The atmosphere was nice and relaxed and we'll definitely take friends there for a lazy evening (but not our big eater friends).

Drea wrote: Actually, I'm a vegan, and I choose not to partake in any animal products whatsoever. And I don't agree with foie gras *at all* in that it is an exceptionally cruel way to make food out of something. And I will make a point to not go to this place, due to the fact he wants to serve foie gras.

I do eat animal products and still agre with your comment.
Do you eat in restaurants that serve animal products and just make veggie choices?

Tony, thanks for taking the time to tell us a bit about your place. I wish you the best of luck and hope to stop by sometime soon.

I agree. Kudos Tony, for having the integrity to answer as yourself on this board. That alone makes me want to go. Best of Luck!!

In a perfect world, I'd eat only at vegetarian spots, but if I did that, I'd be terribly limited, and I doubt many people would want to go eat with me, lol!

Also, to clarify, I didn't tell you not to eat there. Nor did I tell you that you shouldn't eat something. That is your choice. I stated my position. And for you to call me a hypocrit when you don't know my stance on the other issues either is nonsensical. Unless, of course, you weren't referring to me-but I think that you were.

And no, I wouldn't frequent any place that served foie gras. That, again, is my choice, not yours.

Exactly, to each his own. And that is also why I do shun all animal products, because to consume them-now *that* would be hypocrital, yes?

One day, I'd love to have a garden and grow my own vegetables. Get a soymilk maker, make my own soymilk, the whole deal. Since the only space I have to do any sort of growing is out of my roommate's window on the fire escape-and for some odd reason, he just won't let me grow things out there in pots, LOL!!!!! One day, but for now, I get into fairway, 3 guys from brooklyn, farmer's markets, etc. I'd never eat eggs or milk or anything again, though. It's just been too long. About 11 years.

I went last night. Very nice atmosphere and the open window gave a great breeze. We ordered 5 different vegetarian tapas. All very tasty but super tiny portions. Yes, I know it's tapas and have eaten tapas many times. But the 2 perogies were so teeny, about the size of my thumb and the 2 empanadas were even teenier. There were 3 of us so splitting these mini treats were tricky. There were 3 of the beggers' purses so at least we all got a full mouth full. The humus was awesome, but could have had more bread and I can't remember the last thing we got. Often when I've had tapas (even at "non-authentic" non Spanish style places) you get a big bread basket and some dipping oil. That takes the hunger edge off. So overall the food is great, but the portions were generally smaller than expected. Will probably go back at a later date but eat a snack beforehand.