Latin Cafe

We used to love going to Do?a Emilia's to enjoy their Mojitos and the wonderful ajiaco (a Colombian 3-potato soup; I am from Colombia and their Ajiaco was the closest I've ever found in the U.S. to the real thing). We went back last week to find it had been ""rebranded"" as Latin Cafe. The ambiance went from a nice restaurant to a glorified Taco Bell: tex-mex food, paper tablecloths, blinking neon, lousy service and worst of all: No ajiaco! How about a nice 10 Cane Mojito? ""Sorry, we don't got that anymore."" I will never be going back. Do?a Emilia's consistently ranked in my top-10 for best restaurants in Austin. I truly believe we've lost the only authentic Latin American restaurant in town. Pros: None that I can see Cons: Ruined the best Latin restaurant in town more

I went there for my luch break the other day and I really enjoyed the food, the blackened salmon was outstanding. Then I went back for dinner and drinks with my girl, and the food was delicious and their drinks even better, the mojitos were the best I have ever had in my life and the caipirinhas were really tasty! The server was checking on us every five minutes making sure that we were ok. I am definitely going back again. more

2 weeks ago my girlfriend and I went to Latin cafe because it was an hour wait down the street. We had never seen it before and were a little skeptical. But the food and service was great. I have worked in restaurants my entire life and know that this can be deceiving. Sometimes you win the lotto at a terrible place. Well I have gone back 4 times since then. 1 time with my girl and 3 times by myself for lunch and this place is a winner. I already feel like a regular the staff remembers you and make you feel at home. I highly recommend the beef skewers on the appetizer menu they are my favorite. LATIN POWER!!!! Pros: great atmosphere more

Dona Emilia's changed its name to the Latin Cafe. Same prices. Taco Bell quality. Actually, that's insulting to Taco Bell. This was some of the worst food I've ever had in my 10 years living in Austin. We used to really like Dona Emilia's. But don't be fooled this place is NOT Dona Emilia's! The shrimp I had tasted like it was frozen 15 minutes earlier. It was tough and served on a bed of rice that for some reason had a quart of cream poured all over it. The calamari was served with catchup. Not kidding, catchup. The service was lousy. Oh and the valet guy just disappeared at the end and we had to go get the manager to get our keys. You couldn't pay us to eat here again. more

We went to Dona Emilia's for the Mother's Day Brunch...and were a very disappointed. Perhaps we went in with expectations too high. There were five of us and we unanimously agreed -- The buffet was just 'ok' for the price paid, $22 each. Not much variety, and the chefs cooking omelets could not speak English. The most disturbing thing was when we found out an 18% gratuity had been added to our bill for a BUFFET, are you kidding!!! The server ended up making an enormous tip for essentially dropping the drinks at our table - AFTER we had to ask the manager to be waited on after being seated for about 10 minutes and not being waited on. It?s not that we would not have included a tip, but to have an enormous one added for a party of 5 for a Buffet is outrageous. It is very unfortunate that we have no plans to be a repeat customer of this restaurant. Pros: Ambience -- sitting outside on the patio. Cons: Food, Service, Cleanliness of the Restraunt more

i dont care what it costs or tastes like but if there's good live latin music it is great. don emilia's gets the idea. if your located in the live music capital of the state having live music ""duhh"" is important. keep up the good work and happyhour. also maybe in the future the live music will play longer into the night. more

Great food, fabulous buffets! My husband and I own a bar, and one of our bartenders suggested Dona Emilia's last Easter as a last-minute brunch idea. We normally do a big family Easter, but this time it was just my husband, son, and myself. We were seated immediately, which was surprising on Easter with no reservations. There was a ""short list"" of well-priced selections, not a buffet, and I had the BEST omelete I've ever had at a restaurant, while my husband enjoyed a South American style steak & eggs rancheros that he thought was excellent. Our six-year-old son enjoyed his meal, too, and we all loved the atmosphere. The bottomless mimosas (passion fruit and blackberry) are delicious and a great value. The prices were very low compared to other Easter venues, so we returned on Mother's Day for their brunch. Calling an hour ahead got us reservations and immediate seating when we arrived, and their buffet was FABULOUS. The ceviche is the best I've had in Austin. We've been back several times for brunch and dinner and have always had great food and service at a reasonable price. Being in the hospitality business ourselves, we like to give business to those bars and restaurants whose service people frequent our place (Barton Springs Saloon - have to include a plug here), and we appreciate good value and service. Dona Emilia's is one of our favorite places, especially for special occasions. Next Easter we are reserving the upstairs room for the entire family. We recommend this place to everyone! The food is unique and delicious, the atmosphere is cool and refreshing, and the service is wonderful. Pros: Great food, service, atmosphere & value Cons: limited downtown parking requires using their valet service more

The food they are making that will cost you an average of $3 to make they charge at least $20. I had a plain piece of beef with egg and bacon which is also called ""bandeja paisa"" and it was horrible the meat was dry, the eggs where cold the only thing I couldn't complain about was the bacon (for obvious reasons). If you are trying to find good colombian and latin american food this is really not the place to go. I would give to solutions to the problem try to make it yourself and get your ingredients from fiesta or if you really dont want to cook either move up or down the continent by getting some of the amazing brazilian barcecues that can be found in austin or some gourmet mexican food that also can be found around town. I am still waiting for a latin american restaurant in austin that will be able to give me the comfort food that I miss. Pros: Really good Flan which I forgot to mention. Cons: Everything else more

I Travel to Austin once a month sometimes twice, everytime i Eat at Dona Emilias, The food is Great, Being born and Raised in Colombia i look for the typical food places in the area since i know how the food should taste, Dona Emilia's is the only restaurant in the area that comes close to home cooking from my grandma the one that really fills you up. Only thing that everytime the Typical dish i Order is the Bandeja Paisa and it just keeps getting smaller and smaller. that's the only dissapointing thing. The Ajiaco always has a different taste so there is no expectancy of the same taste. food seems to be getting pricier and pricier. The wait staff is great, the Host is friendly food arrives in the spected time. Great choice i Recomend it! more

I went in to have a drink on a recent Sunday evening around 9:00. Pros: would not know of any more

We had about 15 people in our group. Their events coordinator set us up in the upstairs lounge which had great (and interesting) drink and appetizer specials available. They had two plasma tvs but our group was ""networking"". The space is large, but not private. And even though we could hear other folks talking, it looked like everyone was having lots of fun. Pros: Food, Service, Space more

I eat a lot of South American Latin cuisine and what is being served at Dona Emilia's are mostly common dishes that they are charging way too much for. Tamals should be about $6 and a Bandeja Paisa platter about $8-9. It is what farmers/ranchers eat for lunch in the Andes. Shame on this place. more

Online reservations, great, but when I called to confirm I spoke with a very unfriendly, young male host. That should have tipped me off to the level of service I should expect. Bar service took too long, waiter took even longer. Drinks during dinner took far too long and several were just plain forgotten! The menu is deceiving, it looks like a delicious assortment but it's all rather bland. The food is not fresh, it's thawed. From the ceviche to the mango salsa I was consistenly disappointed. I've been to several South American restaurants and this one is by far the least impressive. It's as if Chili's opened up a Latin chain, making it overpriced for what it is. Good for a group because of the large space, and with good company you forget so much about the mediocrity of the food itself. Pros: Spacious, Decent Parking, Good for Groups Cons: Service, Value, Flavor more

I are for the first time at Dona Emilia's about a year ago and loved the food. The Mojitos are really good as well. I bring alot of people there from out of town for lunch because in my opinion its the best South American Restaurant Ive ever been to. Pros: Great Food!, Very nice Bartenders! Cons: loud outside dining more

First, I must say the food is amazing. I have eaten there a dozen or more times. Waiter/Waitress service is very good. But the very very young and immature individuals that work at the front desk have a poor attitude. They lack people skills! Yesterday, I walked in at 6pm and asked for a table for 5 and the response I received was laughing. The hostess continued to laugh when I asked was that a yes or no. She laughed back a flat no. I was horrified. I then said there are empty tables of four - could we make one for five. She shot back absolutely not. Bottomline - customers should never be treated that way. My friends were repulsed. Instead we decided to wait 1 hour for table at PF Changs where at least they are civil. Pros: Great Food, Awesome Drinks, Great Parking more

1) Terrible service - Seated us next to a noisy table of 8 business men!! Why not seat them outside? This completely detracted from ambience for us and many couples around us. - Did not receive a wine menu upon being seated...even after waiting for 10 minuteshad to get one from hostess stand myself. - Our waiter didnt come by until 10-15 minutes later (not even to say I'll be right with you!) - Waiter didnt know menu and inexperienced overall seemed very understaffed - Runners were very hasty in delivering food! Not concerned w/ presentation at all - fried ice cream was delivered toppled over on its side. 2) Food was mediocre at best (salad was the best part) - Crab cakes were brought out cold - Shrimp was not fresh - Fried ice cream was not Amy's Mexican Vanilla nor did it come w/ strawberries as advertised more

Guys, if you are looking for a great casual place to eat typical South American food, from soups to seafood, this is the place to go. I took a bunch of execs. to this restaurant and they all loved it. Service is great and fast, so no matter if it is a quick business lunch or a long romantic dinner this is the place you want to go. Good luck! Pros: Great Service, Good Food, Excellent Environment Cons: Valet Parking more

As a native of Brazil I know South American when I taste it. The food is not bad but it isn't great either. Valet service was rude and would not let me park unless I gave him 4 dollars right away which I didn't have in change. The prices are steep for the kind of food you get. I have got 4 gift certificates for Dona Emilia's, used one and will give the others away as I don't plan on being back. Pros: Lighting, Environment Cons: $4 valet, unauthentic food, very small portions more

Went with my wife and 4 year old before dinner on a Saturday. Food was out of this world. Appetizers were a bit pricy, but entrees were value priced and the sides are a great value. Had the steak & egg platter, lots of sides included. Really flavorful. Wife had the tamal and loved it. Empanadas were perfect. Servers a tad slow, sangria was bland, mojitos more than made up for it. The chairs are too low, but can't wait to go back. Pros: Prices for sides, Selection more

I just had my first experience eating meat and potato empanadas. I'm hispanic and all I've ever known is pumpkin filled empanadas. Wow! I'm totally hooked on their meat and potato empanadas, the meat is seasoned perfectly and the outer crust appears to be a cornmeal based crust - out of this world! I had the spinach salad with salmon. I'm very picky about my salmon and I'll have to say the salmon was grilled to perfection. Seasoned just right - even the coffee was good! Pros: Menu offers a variety Cons: Don't like the chairs more