Cafe Harlem (CLOSED)

We recently tried harlem after driving by it a million times...the sign in the window said best bbg chicken..winner of the gary maddox bbg contest..hmmm bbg chicken think i'll give it a try...nope only for lunch.....nice atmosphere service was good(only people in cafe) shrimp scampi was okay as was the fried chicken even though it was dark meat...sea food gumbo had excellent flavor despite having a mystery item in it.....menu is very limited only 10 entrees ...i would return because it was resonablly price ..... just would like to see a few more menu options or maybe some specials

My family and i recently went to eat at the Cafe Harlem. It was 12 of us and we had a wonderful time. My mother still talks about the food and the desserts. We had many things including the ribs, baked and fried chicken, baked salmon, fried flounder, and steak. Everyone the our party was full and happy when we left. My aunt talks about the home made desserts and how the cake remind her of my grandmother's cakes. The food was reasonablly priced and the place was clean, with the great smell of food and spices. However, there was only one waitress and she had other tables, but our wait was no longer than we have waited at other restaurants. I highly recommend the cafe.

Tried to order a meal @ 8pm and was told that they were closing. Posted closing hours are 9pm Mon - Thurs.

My son decided to throw his sister a surprise birthday party at Harlem Cafe. Due to great miscommunication, this event did not run as smoothly as it should. First there was no mention that a deposit would be required ,much less how much. After making deposit it was unclear what pricing for children and at what age. All three co-owners said something different. Since our guest was paying for themselved it was very disturbing when one of the owners told us a week before party that the party would have to be paid in full before event. Finally one of the owners said the guest would have to pay before they would be seated when they arrive!. On the day of the event I was dismayed and humiliated to find a sign posted on front door saying cash only even though every other time including 2 days before event they were accepting credit/debit cards !! I had to tell my guest to walk a half block in the pouring rain to use a mac machine. In spite of this the food and music was actually quite good and we did wind up having an enjoyable time but I would not recommend this place to anyone for catering an event. Perhaps better communication could have prevented this . This was definetly an unforgettable affair - but for all the wrong reasons.

My friends had been raving about this place for some time now. We arrived on Saturday night and the place was colorful, clean, and empty. We were the only customers in the restaurant until about 10:00 pm when another small party showed up. Even though the place was empty, service was slow and not all that attentive. Our server was pushing the special; a crab-stuffed fish. We waited quite a while for our food to arrive. The presentation was uninspired; pedestrian at best. I tried my friend's gumbo, only to find it lukewarm and too salty. My blackened salmon was also too salty, too dry and undersized. My side order of collard greens tasted as though it came right out of a can. My wife's pasta was fine, but the shrimp were overcooked and tough. The crab-stuffed fish was salty as well. We ordered dessert and coffee. We finished up the coffee (and were not offered refills) long before dessert arrived. When dessert finally made it's way to our table, we had to get up and "borrow" silverware from other tables because our server disappeared before providing us with dessert forks. My peach cobbler resembled the scrapings from the bottom of a pie plate, again, an uninspired presentation. To add insult to injury, the BYOB restaurant charged us $5 per bottle to uncork our own three bottles of wine; in short, they charged us $15 to drink our own wine! After a disappointment such as this, I probably won't be back.

This is a wonderful local restaurant. It's brightly colored interior and lighting make it a pleasant place to dine. Terrific Southern inspired foods like ribs, peach cobbler and baked chicken. The seafood gumbo is full of a variety of seafood with just a little spice to give it pizzazz.