New Tapas Place on 5th and Bergen

Hi,

I just want to let everybody know we are still monitoring and listening to what the neighborhood has to say and keeping a close eye items we have to tweak. I ask you to understand once again our aim is not to feed you until you are full. The food is to complement the beer and wine and we do not rush you to seat another party. In fact you can sit there all night and just enjoy the atmosphere and drinks.

As for the bread mentioned in the previous post, our servers would have been happy to provide you with more but once again we will not just drop it on the table as our aim is not to feed you until you explode. (This leaves a mess for us to clean up :-) )

For those looking for a bit more value we plan to start a 2 hour daily happy hour special. This will include a 1/2 bottle of wine with hummas & bread plate and any 2 tapas of your choice for $25 between 5 and 7pm.

Thanks for the input!
Tony
Cafe Tapeo

so I ate in this place last night and I have to say that for the prices paid I was Not Impressed. I was with a pretty large party and we all tried various things across the menu. there was a godawful lavender cheese on the cheese platter that tasted like soap. the braised ribs tasted like rosemary (as in, drenched). my croque monsieur was the same price as the one at le gamin but not nearly as good (and the one at le gamin isn't really anything to write home about). there were some combative oils on the plates, and the deviled eggs tasted mostly like chili oil.

yep, another restaurant in PS that I paid batali prices at and won't be coming back to. le sigh. I wish all of these restaurant owners would go eat a really great restaurant - tapas, italian, argentine, whatever - and then open their space. tony - you need to go to bar jamon and check out the portion sizes, the wine list, and the extremely limited, restrained menu. you'll be happy you did, and you'll get your chef to lay off the wacky oils and spices and extraneous ingredients.

ilovecarbs wrote: I went there earlier this week and I have to say I was very disappointed. I know tapas means small plates but the portions were ridiculously small for the prices. The food was so-so and the service was good, but I doubt I'd go back there. It just seems like such a watse because it's a cute space and such a wonderful date spot. Hopefully you guys work out the kinks.

It seems like portion size is often at issue here. I'm just curious if that would have changed anyone's mind. Do you think if they added one more piece of everything it would be better? Or was it the so-so factor of the taste of the food? I occasionally eat at Boqueria near Union Square and you want to talk about teensy tapas portions. Yummy but I could have eaten 5 times more the amount. Sorry you were disappointed. I really want this place to work. I love tapas and don't want to leave the neighborhhod for them.

I'm not well versed in tapas, but I thought the flavor combos I had there were fantastic. I'm known to be a picky eater but I can't wait to go back for more (though I would go back sooner if there were one more piece/slightly larger portions).

Maybe the flavors vary by night/cook. Some places (esp. new places) aren't always consistent...

Subject: cafe tapeo

Hello Folks,

Just thought I would drop an update as we continue to monitor the forum.

It seems some concerns are still relating to portion size.

As I have explained in previous posts. It was never our intention
to offer you a meal to fill you up. It was more about taking you on a
journey with our beer, wine and food pairings.

We have however decided to offer an option to double up on
portion size on any tapas for an additional $3. We hope this satisfies
our hungrier customers and really provides the best of both worlds.

As a reminder we also offer a $25 happy hour special - 3 tapas (chefs choice)
and 2 glasses of wine.

As for the previous comment on our ribs not being to your liking
I decided to pull a report from our POS and check their sales.
I was happy
to see that it is the 5th best selling item over the past two months on
a menu of 32 different tapas. Numbers don't lie

Once again folks we are always listening thank you for all comments positive
and negative. We hope you will try us again as we continue to shape
our tapas bar to your liking.

Tony
Cafe Tapeo

A Rave Review for Cafe Tapeo
52 5th Avenue, Park Slope; (718) 638-1066
"The food was fantastic! We're going back ASAP in case something changes. Here's what we had, all upsized for four people: Cheese plate - good selection, missing a bleu though; meat filled beggars purses - nice hearty flavors; brown ale braised baby backs - falling apart tender, could've used a little more seasoning but that's being really picky; carpaccio - was tasty, but I'm not a huge fan of carpaccio in general; scallops - crown jewel of the evening, both the fois and chorizo versions were brilliant; pierogies - we had the classics and they were very tasty (my friend who is full-on Polish agreed)." [Chowhound]

My husband and I went to Tapas once so far, and LOVED it. Cool place to stop by after work, decor is great, food amazing. Yes, portions were small, but hey, it's Tapas. We got the $25 Happy Hour deal and paid $3 for double portions.

I must say, I am amazed to read Tony-the-owner's postings, and learn how the specials got their start - through this forum. Thank you Tony! Really, makes us want to come back even more - and sooner.