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Last Update: Apr 7th, 2017
Buenos aires closed

Buenos Aires Cafe

2364 N Federal Hwy
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33305
954 900-3361
Overall Rating
2.2
Food
Service
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
08/09/2015

Details

Hours: Sun-Thu 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8am-1am
Attire: Casual
Parking: Private Lot
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Wine and Beer
Outside Dining: Yes

Pros

Nicer Decor than Previous DBA Cafe
Decent Food Execution

Cons

Overpriced Breakfast
Boring Menu
Amateurish Service

Critic's Review

Buenos Aires Cafe has closed. It was up for sale for some delusional amount; I suspect they took something less and someone will open here shortly.

Apparently the Yelp Advertising didn't work.

Review 8/9/15

Buenos Aires Cafe

I hadn't eaten breakfast by 11:30am on Sunday, so I got the idea of going out to eat. This place serves breakfast daily, so I figured they did the brunch thing, although their menu says they only serve until 11:30 and there's no mention of brunch. I gave them a call to verify I could get breakfast; they serve it until 3pm on Sunday.

So I hopped into the BMW and took a drive on a 90 degree, sunny day. As I approached the place, their sidewalk sign caught my eye. Smoothies? Chicken? Not exactly a great way to draw people in for Brunch.

Buenos Aires Cafe Specials

They've expanded the outside space here; I don't see any permits for any of these new restaurants, so maybe you don't need one in a strip mall? DBA only had a couple of tables.

Buenos Aires Cafe

It hasn't been blistering hot this summer, but 90 is still too hot to eat outside without some sort of cooling. Plus I wanted to see what they did with the inside.

No hostess; 2 people in the place at 12:50pm. I just sat down and waited for someone to come over. The place seems less like a bad bar than it did back in the DBA days; they haven't changed too much but the changes they made make the place feel more like a real restaurant.

Buenos Aires Cafe Interior

As I sat down a server asked if I wanted something to drink; knowing that I was having breakfast I ordered American Coffee. She seemed surprised by this, and pushed a beverage menu in front of me as if I'd made a mistake. "I want coffee, please".

She asked if I wanted water; "Yes Please", and she brought me a glass of water with no ice. I figured they had it chilled, but I asked for ice anyway. I tasted it and it was room temperature warm. Instead of bringing ice, she brought me another glass with ice in it.

The coffee is Illy, and it's good stuff. Finally some good coffee in a restaurant. And they only charge $2 for it. Places like Pronto charge $3, which is quite a gouge.

Buenos Aires Cafe Coffee

The coffee was delivered without a spoon. The rollup is secured with green twine; they probably want to re-think that idea as it's not very attractive. I had to wait a while to flag down my server to ask for a spoon.

I order the Huevos Rancheros, mainly because it was the only thing remotely south of the border on the menu. I don't usually order this dish, because I don't want the tortillas and some places just dump a ladle of salsa on top, and that's not what I want for breakfast. The menu description:

HUEVOS RANCHEROS Eggs with tortillas, black beans, tomato, & house made chili

No mention of salsa, and the chili sounded interesting. Some places make a ranchero sauce with chorizo; I was thinking they'd have a nice spicy chili with tomatoes and black beans. Worth a try.

What I thought was interesting was that my server; the one who delivered warm water and coffee with no spoon, was "observing" another server as if she was training him. I was wondering who trained her? I noticed that people who came in just after me had water with no ice, and someone who came in later got water with ice. Maybe they learned something today?

Overall the place seems nicer than before. It's still too bright during the day; they nee some shaded. I hate sitting in windows restaurants on sunny days.

Bac tables

The eggs came out in 7 minutes. Usually rancheros are sunny side up, but I ordered them over easy.

Buenos Aires Cafe Huevos Rancheros

The dish was well constructed; Usually Huevos Rancheros are more wobbly. There are a lot of different ways people make these. Some use refried beans; avocado is the new (and very wrong) thing. Some just dump salsa on it. Some make a nice spicy tomato sauce. As I dissected this, I couldn't find the sauce. There were 2 tortillas, black beans with some tomatoes, 2 eggs and a red drizzle. My server came over and I asked 'Isn't this supposed to have Chili"?. She smiled and took the plate without an explanation.

I was thinking about this dish. What's the food cost on this, under $1? Eggs are 15 cents, a bag of beans is $1. Tortillas? 50 cents in small quantities? No potatoes. Nice markup at $12.

A few minutes later she came back with a bowl of chili. She explained to me that the red drizzle was the chili, but looking at the menu she understood why I might expect otherwise. What I don't get is that they don't have Chili on the menu or as a side, so where did this come from? Did the chef whip this up in 2 minutes?

Buenos Aires Cafe Chile

At least I had some food. I tasted the chili; not very good. Too sweet. Not Spicy. I dumped some onto the plate and tried to imagine what I was originally hoping for.

BAC Huevos Rancheros with Chile

Nothing worthwhile going on here in terms of flavor. I got another cup of coffee, read my phone and ate the food. I got my check and paid the bill.

A very uninteresting Brunch in Fort Lauderdale.

Conclusion

What we have here is a Miami proprietor who opened a place in Fort Lauderdale without understanding the market at all. What's surprising is that the owners run an Argentinean market in Aventura, but the menu here is boringly American. Breakfast without any chance of getting Chorizo, skirt steak or chimichurri? They're advertising chicken breast and salmon for lunch on a Sunday at brunch time? They're not used to operating in a space with a lot more restaurant seats than people interested in eating out.

They originally put the menu up without prices; I can see why. I can't see coming here for a $14 salad. There's no concept here to draw me in from a multitude of other choices.

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Administrator
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Still trying to sell their furniture and pots and pans for $185K. Your business is worth nothing. Just sayin'
Administrator
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Price down to $185K. Tick, Tock
Administrator
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Looks like they're bailing out. Trying to get $250K for a location thats seen nothing but failed businesses for 5 years. Hoping to find a sucker.
Administrator
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There are some signs that this place is in trouble.

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