Cafe Mozart

Urgh! My favorite café in New York is nothing but a memory :(. I prefer this place over Café Lalo any day and made it a proverbial «mission from God» to come here to have my coffee and chocolate cake whenever I’m in New York. I found this cute European café by accident by just simply walking down the street one day.
Coffee, service, desserts, and the café itself were wonderful.
Now…it’s no more *sigh*.
The café has been closed for years but I thought I’d give it a short review & props.

It is indeed closed.

I tried to meet a friend a Café Mozart for brunch this weekend, but when we showed up it was CLOSED. It looks like it’s been gutted — or was quickly shut down. Does anyone know what happened and when they closed? And if Café Mozart will reopen? There was no sign of explanation on the door — just a sign that said: «Closed.»
We waited for our friend for a while and it seemed like even neighborhood locals were surprised it was closed.

This was a nice place to hear actual pianists perform every part of an hour, and we were here for dessert (standard cheesecake, but I had a banana split!) and coffee for the others, tea for me.
The music gives it the difference, though. Depending on the pieces and pianist, could be a very different experience.

Feel like traveling to Austria but don’t have the time or the money?
You’ll find the closest thing to visiting a Viennese café at Café Mozart.
With such an extensive dessert menu hitting all the Viennese classics, ice cream sundaes and other decadent treats, there’s something to please any sweet tooth.
Also, it’s a nice, sophisticated and unhurried spot for lunch. The food gets a tad pricey. It’s not Café Zabarsky at the Neue Galerie, but it is good enough for the West siders who frequent the restaurant.
There’s live piano music, too and assorted international papers to browse while enjoying your coffee and dessert.

*Very loud — couldn’t hear the other two people sitting at my table
*Inattentive and Slow Service — I had to ask for a glass of water twice before I got it (not cool!!) Took the waiter forever to get us our change…
*Atmosphere — nothing special or creative about it
*Chocolate cake — good but I’ve had better and for cheaper
My $ 0.02 — just don’t get all the hype around this place…

I came here with my sisters and mom on a trip to NYC, forgot exactly what time but sometime in the late evening. We are true chocoholics and were excited about their display case full of desserts. The host guy said their dishwasher was broken so they had a wait because it was making them slow. OK, no biggie. Waited 10 minutes or so and got seated, no problem there.
Problem one… we tried to order dessert wines, but they only had one out of the five of six on the menu left… so three of us had that, which was good, but come on, don’t you have cases of this stuff back there?
Problem two… while our waiter was extraordinarily cute, he was not very attentive and had way too many tables. We were often left hanging.
Problem three… the BIG DEAL… we got three desserts. One was pretty good, some mocha thing, and the other two were OK. As we were cracking into one of the OK ones, two interfaces of chocolate mouse-​like stuff came apart to reveal a GIANT PIECE OF MOLD. Seriously. It was so gross.
The guy comped the one dessert that was messed up. Depending on who you are that might or might not be enough. For me, it’s not enough to make me feel that they are really sorry about this mistake. Whatever, never going back to this place again ever.
The ambiance and everything is nice but the thought of how old that cake must have been to make the silver dollar sized mold is scary.

My friend took me here a few years ago. I have nothing against this place, for it’s cute and the people are sweet– both the servers and the customers. I don’t like places where they sing the birthday song 10 times a night, but at Café Mozart I find it adorable.
The main course was decent, but the dessert was unforgettably good!

I came here for tea today with a girlfriend after church and was delighted! A german/​austrian café! How cute. It also helped that my friend was raised in Germany and assured me their cakes are authentic and pretty good. We shared a Black Forest and each had our pot of Earl Grey tea.
I found this café to be quaint and quite romantic, with a very European-​feel. It does get busy though but the ambience is rather inviting. I love small little cafes like these. The couple behind us was having such an aromatic meal, I’ve decided that I will be back for brunch or lunch or something…
Danke!

I had a wonderful brunch experience at Café Mozart with their Viennese omelette. Chicken apple sausage, red onions, chives, tomatoes and Swiss cheese with home fries and mixed green salad… Very hearty and satisfying! The accompanying salad had an amazing light dressing on it (Caesar, I believe).
I followed that up with a forest fruit tart. A short pastry base filled with pastry cream, topped with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries and snow-​covered with powdered sugar. One word: YUM!
Great place for a group of people. Unlike most places during Sunday brunch, this restaurant was relatively quiet, so it was good for conversation. Our group of 6 was seated immediately at 1:30pm on a Sunday, and service was relatively fast.

I had only heard about Café Mozart as a dessert place — I actually had no idea they served real food! But clearly from these reviews, it seems like dessert is the only way to go. I came by after the Ballet last night for a hot chocolate and a slice of cake (Death by Chocolate) with friends, and both were very good — although they were out of our first choice (Peanut Butter).
It seems like a place out of a New York of twenty or thirty years ago (i.e., Woody Allen’s UWS) or Vienna of the 18^th Century, when live music in restaurants was common (there’s a piano and bass playing jazzy arrangements of things like New York, New York), and people would linger over coffee and cake to discuss works of art. It’s nice to see it’s still around. Also, they’ve got a Unilocal sticker. ‘Nuff said.

Café Mozart is very homey feeling, very much a café where you can get lost in conversation or a book. I tried their salmon & Avocado salad, which was okay. My friend tried their duck leg salad and that was much tastier. We sat there for a while just chatting and catching up, and didn’t feel rushed by the staff even though we were there for quite some time. She did, however, drop off the check as soon as she noticed we were done eating, so this might be a different story if the place was more crowded when we went. Knocked off half a star for this.
The other ½ star was because the scaffolding in front of it sucks and ruins a little bit of the ambience …

Just Awful!
After watching a grade «b» movie at the South Asian Film Festival, we headed to Café Mozart hoping for some kind of reprieve. Unfortunately we were quite disappointed.
First, the three of us were seated next to this table of 20 women who were extremely loud– we couldn’t even hear the waiter! I asked for a ‘steamer’ — a cup of steamed milk with flavoring, minus the espresso (I just can’t have coffee that late at night). The waiter refused. I persisted explaining that it really wasn’ that difficult and that in fact, we were omitting one ingredient… he finally agreed but insisted that he would charge the same price. No big deal in my book! One of my friends ordered the french onion soup and the other the espresso black and white cake. After taking our order, our waiter informed us that there was a $ 7.50 per person minimum and that we should have been told this at the door. Thankfully he said not to worry about it and put our order in.
20 minutes later, we were still sitting there.
Finally I received as steaming cup of milk which I hoped was nicely flavored as I had requested. No such luck! It really was just that — hot milk. Just as I was getting ready to return it, the waiter brought the correct order, informing me that what I had was just milk…(no, really?)The French Onion soup arrived… no complaints there. Interestingly enough the one order that should have been the easiest, (the cake) came about after 35 minutes of waiting… and not only was it exhausting to be waiting, the cake was NOT worth waiting for. It’s texture was extremely dry, and the espresso flavoring in the frosting was bitter.
Needless to say we will NOT be going back.

Café Mozart — we were made for eachother!
Until recently, I had only gone to Café Mozart for coffee and dessert… AMAZING dessert might I add! However, a few weeks back, after taking in a movie at the nearby Loews theatres, we decided this place was convenient and we’d give it a try for dinner. I am so glad we did — I had the best chicken schnitzel I’ve had since I was over in Austria & Germany many years ago! It brought back memories of the delicious schnitzel my Oma (grandma) used to make for me. They have a solid selection of good wines that are not overpriced. We enjoyed a wonderful bottle of Reisling with our meals.
The décor here is a mix of mostly antique furniture and bistro tables — which gives it a charming European café feeling to it. They have live jazz nightly, which is very enjoyable during dinner or even if you just come here for dessert & coffee.
Ah yes, back to dessert! Lord have mercy, where to begin? Upon entering the café, you’ll notice the display case along the left hand side that runs half the length of the room, filled with pastries and cakes that are too die for! Some of these cakes take me back to the homemade goodies my Oma used to bake because they are German/​Austrian recipes and I’ve never seen them in any other restaurant here in NYC. Some of the desserts can honestly be too much for one person (they are not stingy on the portions here!) and some can be a bit too sweet, but overall, if you are in the mood for great dessert, you will definitely find something here to enjoy off the endless dessert menu :-)

I just don’t like their sweetness level. It was too sweet for me. However from the menu and the name of café, this is the place for Europe cakes.
It is no wonder why they make everything so sweet. European cake is too sweet for me whenever I visit Europe.
The place itself is very nice. Great ambiance with piano live.

I had the vesuvius slice and it what I expected – chocolate cake, cheese cake, chocolate mousse and ganache. Yummy. It wasn’t über special but it was decent and not overly sugary. The sweetness is there because it’s a dessert but it isn’t overdone.
Unfortunately, despite the fun atmosphere and the cozy décor, the staff is very rude. They shove you around when you’re trying to order a cake to go and the servers stare you down, trying to make you leave when there are several empty tables around.

GREAT RAVIOLI!
My dining partner and I went here before our 7 pm showing of Marie Antoinette (how fitting) on the movie’s release date. The food was spectacular, but perhaps a bit small on the portions given the tab.
A very romantic, elegant atmosphere — great for dates. Also, love that it’s in the UWS where you can walk around the charming neighborhood with your beau after dinner.

I agree with one of the other reviewers, the cake I had (carrot) seemed to have a freshness issue. Definitely not the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. The other desserts around me looked much better. The dinners looked really good and I wished we had not had dinner at the nearby kosher deli which ran out of latkes earlier in the day– they reheated some for us and they were like greasy hush-​puppies. What the!!! It’s Channukah, the kosher delis should be shoveling latkes by the plateful ’til midnight!!!
Mozart had live music (an ensemble, not just piano), and a cozy atmosphere and we had a nice waiter. The dessert plates are decorated so that they look like artist paint palettes, with splashes of colored syrups in a semi-​circle next to the dessert. Pretty!

Touted as a cozy, European (Viennese) style café to grab either a bite before a Lincoln Center Performance or a leisurely Sunday brunch — sadly, Café Mozart seems to now be running purely on past accolades.
I have low expectations from Brunch — and that’s the only reason (burger/​egg dish/​salad) I show up here if I am in the vicinity on the UWS, usually to catch a matinée at my favorite cinemas in the city — the Lincoln Plaza.
Sure they have over 50 cakes and dessert items, but other than the Svegliamisu — nothing really looks appealing. And what you see is what you get. If you need sugar in your body and there’s no place nearby that can do the trick you can always rely on old faithful, Café Mozart.
My bigger issue with their desserts is freshness — I don’t think a lot of their cakes see enough turnover and so I don’t particularly relish the taste of freezer burn or the cooler than intended temperature at which they are served.
Service is average at best — and at times downright horrible! The few times that I’ve been there the wait staff has been rude to customers — they could at least pretend to be nice. By nice, I don’t mean slapping the birthday boy/​girl with a cheesy Mozart wig and singing happy birthday!
Also, I’ve often left the place feeling sorry for the piano player who no one seems to be listening to.
Café Mozart is a good concept gone awry over time — you leave wondering who’s minding the store? Do yourself a favor — go to Café Lalo instead.

A nice hangout in the UWS. The setting can be a little too classic and overwhelming, but I assume that is by design.
I find breakfast and brunch to by far be the safest choices here. I distinctly remember the apple strudel and white hot chocolate here. As you would imagine, it is easy to get on a sugar high with a visit to Mozart.
Good for birthday celebrations. Assuming you or the subject of the day doesn’t mind having their picture taken with a cheesy Mozart wig, courtesy the staff.