Cafe Bossa Nova

Authentic Brazilian food. I love everything on the menu. The soups are delicious! And the cheese bread is famous. A must visit!

Brazilian food that is great for the carnivore, vegan, and dessert lovers. Seriously, the desserts are incredible and run out. Also, really well made cocktails. Try the cheese bread, it’s vegan and served warm.

Love this place. One of my favorite places to eat in Little Rock. From the atmosphere, to the awesome yucca fries, to the really nice staff. Gotta go here and come back for more.

Love this place! There salpicao and their stroganoff are to die for! The tres leches is amazing and the cheese bread made from yucca root is too good to miss out on! The environment can get a bit loud at times but it is a wonderful culinary experience! I recommend everyone give this place a try!

My husband and I had brunch there. Good food and wonderful customer service! We would definitely be back again next time we are in Arkansas.

Recently had lunch at this restaurant for the first time in several years. Nice atmosphere and location in the upper higher crust Hillcrest neighborhood of Little Rock. Service was polite but slow as it appeared that were just a couple of waiters for a close to full house. What surprised me about Café Bosa Nova were the New York prices in Little Rock. For a very small veg panini the price was just a shade under $ 15. You also got a small salad but could substitutes for two more dollars a cup of soup which I did. With a thee dollar ice tea my bill was $ 20 not including tip.
My point is simply that the food value was simply not there for the money spent. $ 25 for a six inch panini, a cup of soup and an ice tea struck me as excessive.

Omg I just love café Bossa nova it’s literally the best place in Little rock. Awesome employees and Food!

We had lunch here today and food was delicious. We began with soup, mine was chicken soup with leeks and carrots. Her soup was shrimp and bacon. Both were delicious. We had sandwiches with salad also. She had the garden burger. I had the Pango chicken sandwich which had a sweet sauce that made it unique. Our waiter was William and he was friendly, efficient, and professional. We will definitely eat here again when we return to the area.

Yum! Brunch!
Came in here this past weekend because I wanted to take my wife out for a nice late breakfast. We found out from a friend that they have Sunday Brunch from 10:30am to 2pm, which is a nice, wide, sleep-​in-​friendly window.
We’d also been told that the french toast (Brazilian-​style french toast, that is) was to die for — thick slices of bread, battered in butter and brown sugar, soaked in egg overnight to get that perfect melt-​in-​your-​mouth texture!
…Needless to say, we had to try it. And it was exactly as advertised. Not only is it everything we were told, but it’s the first time I’ve ever had French Toast on a baguette-​style bread, so the bread itself was very tender and did indeed melt in my mouth, but at the same time the thin crust was almost bowl-​like and allowed me to even pick up the toast as I messily devoured it.
Speaking of the toast, don’t use syrup on it. The flavor of the toast is wonderful and unique — the syrup was syrup, nothing snazzy. The same goes for the eggs that come with it. I had mine scrambled, and they were good, but they were just eggs.
Or were they?
Be sure to ask for some salsa/​hot sauce. We got some of the typical stuff in a bottle, but then they have some hot chile-​infused olive oil that comes in a little white genie-​lantern looking thing. And that stuff is awesome! Just be careful, a little bit (really little bit) goes a long way! But that sauce spiced up my eggs to well beyond ordinary, and set off the rest of the meal nicely.
My wife got the vegetable frittata (omelette, on this menu), and it was *delicious.* Had I not been looking forward to the french toast so much, I would have been very jealous. The spice infused oil was also spectacular on that.
It may have been because I was enjoying myself so much, but I actually thought their regular house coffee was possibly the best I’ve had in town!
We will be back, and probably soon, because we skipped the mimosas. Honestly, who goes to brunch and doesn’t get a mimosa?

Had a great experience! Restaurant was full but we were seated quickly. Staff was polite and knowledgeable on the menu. The cheese bread was a nice appetizer. I had the sausage soup, a house salad and the evenings chicken special w/​lemon herb over rice. Each item was cooked and or prepared perfectly. Portion size was just right. I was able to enjoy each course without being «stuffed «, but was filled to contentment. Meal timing was great so we could really enjoy each course. I only wish I had more room and time… the deserts looked delicious!

We found this wonderful place while we were in Little Rock for a doctors appt. we just wanted something different. We got there around 1:15 and they still had their lunch special which was Shepherds Pie. It was very good. i It was served with a kale salad with a flavor packed lemon vinegarette
The fresh warm gooey cheesy rolls they serve are worth the trip. I only gave 4 stars because the prices were a little high. $ 50 including tip for the two of us at lunch.

We started with the pao de queijo — gluten free cheesy bread shaped like mini muffins. It’s tasty and a small enough portion (6 little muffins) that you aren’t in a bread coma by the time your entrée arrives. To drink, I had the caipirinha cocktail. I hesitated to order it because it was $ 10, which seemed a little steep, but it was refreshing (made with muddled limes) and worth it. To eat, we split the salpicao. There was a split charge ($ 2 or $ 3), which was offputting, but our waitress (very friendly) said they actually gave a little more food for the added cost. We saw a non-​split portion, and we did seem to have more food between the two of us. The dish tastes like chicken salad — albeit very good chicken salad — atop a bed of warm rice sprinkled with what tasted like potato chips. It’s served with a side salad of mixed greens with a tangy dressing, which complements the chicken dish nicely. All in all a great lunch stop!

I’ve always wanted to be a scientist. There’s something intellectually romantic about wearing a lab coat and toiling away at seemingly insurmountable problem only to triumphantly shout «Eureka!!» (at least if you’re Archimedes) when you solve it. Unfortunately for me, my hopes of being a scientific philomath were dashed in college when I was told by a professor that a «monkey at a typewriter would have scored better» on my Physics final. I still wonder how different my life would have been had I been a scientist. Would I be the first astronaut to bump The Takeover on the moon? Could I have reanimated Chris Farley? Can I make bacon both delicious AND healthy? Probably not, but all is not lost. Occasionally, a movie like Interstellar comes along and helps me live out my scientific fantasies. My girlfriend and I decided to go see it in IMAX so we could really experience our (my) nerd fantasies, but the only IMAX is in Little Rock. Along the way, we Unilocaled places to eat and stumbled along this gem.
Café Bossa Nova has a huge menu. At most places that’s a liability, but here, it’s a blessing. Salads, appetizers, quiches, soups, deserts, and specials are all available in addition to the regular lunch and dinner menu. There’s even a brunch menu and a bakery next door! The menu is expansive, but it seems as if everything on it is prepared fresh and in house. Neither my girlfriend nor I had ever had Brazilian food, so it was quite the experience perusing the menu and letting out the occasional squeal of delight when something caught our fancy. We settled on an appetizer (which I can’t pronounce) of meat with Brazilian spices wrapped in puff pastry and served with an extremely spicy dipping sauce. Matt, our waiter, assured us that it was a house favorite. He was absolutely right; it was delicious. I’m not too ashamed to admit that we ordered another round of the appetizer immediately after finishing the first… and seriously contemplated ordering a third. The appetizers almost paled in comparison to the entrees, though. I ordered the Moqueca De Peixe which seafood cooked in coconut milk and spices served in a steaming bowl made of stone. My girl ordered the Camarao Na Abobora or shrimp cooked in butternut squash and coconut squash. Both of the entrees were incredible. We quickly cleaned out plates and hungrily stared around the dining room greedily eyeballing other patron’s food. At one point, we hatched an elaborate plan to steal other people’s food, but we we’re too cowardly to go through with it.
The restaurant is quaint and is located in a mixed use neighborhood, where it appears that a number of the homes have been converted into businesses. The ambiance inside is casual, yet still upscale enough for a date. The service is impeccable, and the waiters are extremely knowledgeable about the menu and are capable of holding back smug «are you f**king kidding me» faces when people ask if the official language of Brazil is Spanish or butcher the names of menu items. While the restaurant isn’t cheap, I believe it’s fairly priced for the quality and the novelty of the food (not that many Brazilian places in the area, which is a shame). There were a number of couples speaking languages other than English, which is definitely a rarity in the area. It’s great to have another flavorful, healthy option in a region dominated by high blood pressure and deep fried everything.

We love this little gem in Little Rock. The food is excellent! Try the Sao Picao (chicken salad with a Mista salad) or the chicken crepes! Delicious! The drinks are good too. Oh and the cheese bread!!! Yum!!!

My cousin had her bridesmaids brunch here which I am so happily part of…
Food is really good. I ordered their Panquecas de Frango ($ 17.25) Brazilian-​style chicken crepes, baked in Catupiry cheese sauce served over rice and a mista salad. The mista salad has mixed greens, Mandarin oranges, caramelized slivered almonds, drizzled with their house salad dressing.
My meal was beyond filling. It was wonderful tasting, and well put together on the plate! I loved what I saw. We had a great time. Service was top notch. Robin was such a sweetheart, and didn’t miss a beat. I think the best part of the experience was that it was not crowded. They were extra attentive to our needs.
Who would thought there was such good Brazilian food in Little Rock? Definitely worth visiting, especially for a date night.

The food is delicious but (particularly certain items) a bit overpriced given that it’s not a terribly upscale restaurant. I think my dish (mineirinho), which consists of rice, beans, and eggs, was $ 16 or $ 18. The pricing was not as bad for dishes with meat ($ 22 – 24 for large servings). The food *is* quite tasty and it’s the only Brazilian food in Little Rock, so I will definitely be back. I absolutely recommend. Try the cheese bread (it’s heavenly) and make sure to ask for their homemade Brazilian hot sauce!

I love this place. Whenever I drive through, stay in, or even think of Little Rock, I stop at this restaurant. I’ve ate here for lunch, dinner, breakfast and have always left regretting this restaurant is 7 hours away. The food is fresh, healthy, and yet still flavorful. Remains my favorite spot in Little Rock. I’ve considered getting a job in the city just to fully commit to this restaurant.

A friend brought me to Bossa Nova while I was visiting Little Rock this past weekend. Well there is only one word that I took with me after I left and that’s Salpicoa!!! Wow this plate was amazing! Fresh, tasty and so filling. It’s chicken salad on a bed of rice served with a salad that has the sweetest and freshest dressing. It’s divine!
Definitely a great place for lunch! Will have to go back for dinner next time I am in LR!

It’s hard to find true Brazilian, so this is a diamond in the rough. I had high hopes, as we had multiple recommendations and had heard awesome reviews. I think that is why I couldn’t give it a higher review, I hd such high expectations.
The two meals we tried were decent. We had the beef wrapped in bacon, which I liked — the sauce had a great wine-​flavor. Also tried the salmon cakes, which were average. I much prefer a good ol’ crab cake.
The stand outs: the cheesy-​bread, the bread pudding desert and the service. Our waiter was amazing, especially with our little girl whom he gave ample attention.
We’ll likely go back… I want to figure out what the hype is about and I’m confident another visit will get me there.

Kudos to Unilocalers for helping me find this place on my long road trip across the country! Little Rock was hardly a stopping point but as we left Oklahoma City and traveled to Memphis, this was a perfect spot to stop for dinner. Tucked in the quaint Hillcrest neighborhood, I was impressed immediately as we approached the restaurant, two ladies speaking Portuguese walked by. That’s a clear indicator of food authenticity! The setting was nice but not stuffy, the service was very friendly. The food was delicious. The bartender made an excellent strawberry caipirinha (hmmm Leblon!) with freshly muddled fruit and mint!
I had the bolos de salmao (salmon patties) and tried some of the special beef dish (Picadinho I think) that had a wonderful creamy sauce with the sweet taste of raisins. Dessert was delicious as well, so save some room for that! Muito bem!