Canela Cafe

After tonight’s dinner, I have to stick with my previous 4 stars. This place is simply pleasant. All my previous comments still hold.
Took my cousin, her husband and her seven year old daughter for a bite, tonight. Once again, I ordered the chef’s choice. The owner was cooking tonight. It was great, again.
One needs to remember that tapas style food tends to be oily and salty… so you drink more. There’s a method to the madness and it’s all part of the experience.
The sangria was much better than last time. Skimpy on the fruit, but that’s the way I like it.
As a side note, I was amazed at my seven year old niece who LOVED the morcilla (blood sausage) knowing full well what it was. She’s got a very well developed palate. Her mama done good.

— disclosure —
— I know one of the chefs, but will give an unbiased review —
I have been to some of the best Tapas restaurants in Barcelona a few times, so I was interested to see how the Tapas here would be with it incorporating Latin Amerian flavors.
I went to Canela with friends who wanted to try the place since they know one of the chefs (who I have met a couple of times).
There were four of us and we shared a pitcher of Sangria. It was tasty; however, there were a few tiny pieces of fruit in each empty glass when first brought to the table. The pitcher itself did not have any fruit in it at all… shouldn’t there be a good amount of fruit that has been soaking in the wine for a while for all the flavors to mingle and meld?
First up were Churrasco and Garbanzo Fritos. Both were excellent… the beef was perfectly cooked… and the garbanzos, well, I could have eaten a bowlful!
Next was Jamon Serrano Rellenos — sweet plantains and white cheese wrapped in jamon. The combination of sweet and salty was delicious!
I’m not a huge seafood fan, but I will try things. We had the Croquetas de Bacalao. They were quite good and did not have a fishy taste at all. We also had Tostones Rellenos de Gambas. I generally don’t like whole shrimp — more of a texure thing — but these were tiny little shrimp and it complimented the sofrito and plantain cups very well.
We had Berenjena Caprese — baked eggplant with tomatoes and cheese. It was delicious, but not a standout. Along with that was the Picadita Argentina… a mixed Argenine grill. Everything on it was great (chicken, beef, sausage)…but the blood sausage — NASTY (but the others liked it). The calamari was also ordered. It was one dish I did not sample, but everyone else said that it was way overcooked and not very good.
For dessert, we shared the Balcarce, a meringue cake filled with peaches and duche de leche. It was good, but it would have been better had there been more peaches! I think there may have been a couple of slivers…
I’ve read the other reviews about the service, so I will address that. Maybe some of the otgher reviewers don’t realize the concept of tapas; tapas are served at a good pace, which means, not quickly and not at the same time. It’s what tapas is all about. You have a nice leisurely meal… take a break… maybe order more. The staff were very pleasant and friendly. However, and to be fair, they were extremely slow to clear used plates from the table. We actually had to stack used plates at the end of the table and flag someone down to take them away. People left a table next to us right after our arrival. That table did not get cleared for quite some time… and then not completely. New diners were eventually seated there, with half-​eaten bread and used butter still on the table.
I will go back… I am anxious to try some other items…

Tostones rellenos are delish here, as are the sandwiches and coffee. Is the service slow? Yes. So what. Don’t come here if you’re in a hurry, but come if you want a mellow executive lunch. Lol.

I definitely wasn’t impressed with this place. The food was bordering on terrible. Our tostones were stale and the bechamel sauce on our shrimp was not very good. In addition, the service was very, very slow, which would have been understandable had we not been the only ones in the restaurant. I heard some good things but even considering that, I would not give this place another shot. There are too many great restaurants on the boulevard.

I wasn’t really all that impressed by this place. We got there with a big group and were sat in a dark and damp section of the restaurant. There was even a mop with dirty water leaning against a wall where we were.
Regardless, I remember ordering the fried garbanzo beans appetizers and the ham croquettas which were quite tasty, but really nothing out of this world. The sangria was ok as well.
I did get the feeling that we were rushed to leave since the place was closing midway through our dinner so it was impossible to just savor the food and enjoy the company we were with while someone was constantly watching and hovering over us.
The food is ok but they could use a refresher course in customer service.

I’ve only been to Canela Café for lunch, but I’ve been repeatedly unimpressed by the service. Even though they post their opening hour as noon, they seem completely unprepared for anyone to show up.
Despite the spotty slow service, the food here is pretty good. They have this cool Cuban-​inspired take on a caprese salad, with the mozzarella and tomato topping a tostone. It’s very good. Also good sandwiches.
I will definitely have to give it a chance for a meal later in the day, when I’m not in a hurry to get back to the office…

I gave this a 5 for the food, though atmosphere and price are another thing.
Anything with the word tapas and that tries to promote art makes me wanna run real far real fast. I had heard this place had vege cuban options, so i gave it a chance anyway. I was not disappointed.
My partner and i got two cafes, the espresso was fresh, strong, and sharp. Quality coffee. We both got pescado sandwiches with the fish of the day snapper. The fish was quality. I was a little crisp but very most. It was not breaded and fairly light. The vegetables were crisp and tasty. I got tostones which came with a spicy mustard sauce. There was a good salad that unfortunately suffered from an excess of a unique spicy/​fruity dressing that would have been great in smaller quantity. This place is what we need. Solid cuban food, healthier options, vege and fish friendly menu.
The artwork is actually nice, and though the atmosphere caters to yuppie nouveaux little haiti residents the food is too good to overlook it.

The service here is as slow as molasses, but that’s precisely the point at this Spanish tapas joint.
Sit outside and order a carafe of sangria. Fill your belly with some croquetas, fried garbanzos, tortilla de papa, garlic shrimp and chorizo.
Salud!

My friends were visiting from Brooklyn and they wanted Cuban food. No you don’t — I insisted. So I took them to Canela because I thought it would be a happy medium. Trust me, they really didn’t want Cuban food (short of my abuelita cooking for them I wasn’t going to risk it.) They ordered a media noche and a churrasco and I had the sandwich de pescado. The vegetarian selection was huge (which is a nice change of rice and beans or tortilla espanola as options). We got the tinto de verano, because as a few us learn from our Madrid days tinto de verano is to Spainards what Sangria is to tourists (repeat after me). But we were wrong: the tinto de verano was watery, and worthless. The food on the other hand was rich and delicious. They were happy, and I was proud for one brief moment of the true shining glory of Cuban… ahem. Spanish-Cuba…ahem food with garlic. till the waiter disappeared for half-​an-​hour (the restaurant was empty-​truly!). We tried acrobatics and throwing things at the door (we were seated outside), and finally we relented to sending a member of a party in to search and retrieve our waiter. So that’s the story good food, awful tinto de verano, careless (not bad, but just let’s say casual) service, and a really bad location in the ugliest strip mall of all (that did not make me proud).

took the food to go
el chavito (can’t go wrong with that) and beef stuffed tostones (not so good)
acai juice — purple berry

Came with a group after wine tasting for a bite. We got a table outside in the front patio. The restaurant has a full bar and it’s pretty spacious inside.
We started with a carafe of sangria while browsing the huge menu. The menu is huge — they have cuban food and spanish tapas, including vegetarian options, all reasonably priced and generous portions. The tapas can feed up to 4 people. We ordered a variety of tapas and all very yummy. I really liked the tortilla de papa — potatoes & onions spanish omelet. The other potato dish we had was really good as well.
5 stars for good food, service and a very clean and pretty bathroom.

I wish I could give this place ZERO stars…
I did not get the chance to eat here due to the rudeness of the staff. I was very disappointed because I had read so many great reviews and was really excited to try it.
We arrived here last night, after our mini golf adventure, with really healthy appetites! The place was packed, which gave me a really good vibe.
We walked up and saw no host/​ess… So we entered the restaurant, and saw no servers. There were a couple of guys behind a counter who looked like they were busy preparing food. We asked if we could be seated and where and we were rudely told that there was only 30 minutes left but that if we sitll wanted to we could sit.
Since I was so adament and excited about trying this place, we decided to stay. Well, we spent the better part of 15 minutes waiting, and when no one so much as even LOOKED at us again, we LEFT.
I am really disappointed that they would treat a potential customer like that. It was Valentine’s Day and it was only 9:45 p.m. Some one posted a review saying that they ate there at 10:30 on a tuesday, so wtf???
Anyhow, I will not be returning to try the food. I don’t like rude people!

I arrived at 7:15pm, there were two tables with people outside and I was alone inside. I waited about five minutes to be given a table. It was not cleaned properly, it was very sticky to the touch.
I ordered a glass of white sangria ($ 5) which was delicious, with fresh fruit and definitely made in house. I then ordered shrimp in garlic sauce and tostones stuffed with chicken. Both were so greasy that I had to put the individual shrimp and tostones on a napkin to eliminate some of the fat. I know the shrimp is in a garlic butter sauce but they were drowning in butter, it was flowing over the sides of the pot it came in which made it unappetizing. The chicken filling the tostones was bland and dry. Even the waiter offered hot sauce to go with it, which is not a very good sign.
The service was just OK. The check was too much, $ 30 for 4 small tostone cups stuffed with chicken and 5 medium shrimp. That’s just overpriced for inferior food.
I have had tapas all over the spanish-​speaking world and these I definitely do not recommend. Too greasy, the shrimp was tasteless, possibly frozen, and the tostones were so bland they were like cardboard.
Thumbs down!

The sangria here is really tasty! I liked it, and I thought it was a good deal — $ 17 for half carafe. The menu said it was good for 4 cups, but I felt like I had been drinking forever! And none of that canned fruits added to this stuff. And it’s not sangria direct from the bottle — they make it on site! The white sangria was good as well — it tasted a bit stronger while the red one tasted weaker.
The presentation was nice, the service was friendly and prompt (I enjoyed conversing with the waitress as well).
As for the food, there were a lot of misses. The tostones rellenos con pollo had chicken that tasted too dried. The calamari, I thought, was bland — although some squeezes of lime helped. The gambas al ajillo was a bit too salty for my tastes. I did love the berenjas caprese (eggplants, tomatoes, feta cheese caprese) as that was my favorite tapa of the four I had.
Complementary bread is served, with herb-​seasoned butter. Prices were reasonable. Parking was easy. Anyone obsessed about clean bathrooms… it’s clean, and cute actually.
There’s artworks on the wall, some made by patrons and even a waitress! They really emphasis on giving back to the community. There’s live music on Wednesday nights and flamenco on weekends (call to confirm).
This would normally get two stars, but for the ambience, vibe, friendly service, and the sangria, i gave it an extra star.

Come here to get drunk on the Sangria, stay for the food. We came here for some paella and sangria on a lazy Saturday night, and were seated immediately (we chose to sit indoors for the AC, but outside might have been nice too.
We started with a full pitcher of sangria, which at $ 38 provided a lot of drinking value. At least two of the four of us were pretty drunk, and the others weren’t far behind. Its actually recommended that you do this because the paella took about an hour to come out.
We got one of the plantain appetizers (with prosciutto and cheese), which was excellent. The bread was also very hot, and while not standout, provided pre-​meal nourishment.
The paella itself was quite good — we got the chicken paella, which had large chunks of chicken over rice, garnished with asparagus. The rice was just right (a little greasy), and while the chicken was dry, it didn’t detract from the experience.
Overall, the service was a bit lax, which is why I’m giving it three stars (the food and drink were actually pretty good). The waiter didn’t seem to want to take our order or bring the check — we had to stand up and flag him down each time we wanted service. I think that we sat down between 9 and 10 and left at midnight.
Overall, came to about $ 30 per person for more paella than we could eat (we got a 2-​person order for three people) and a boatload of sangria.