Restaurants
Film Row
Current
Downtown
no



Address:726 W. Sheridan
Phone:(405) 412-8129
Hours:8A - 3P M to F
Development: Hart Building
Status: Oct. 20th opening
Links:
Official Website
Menu
Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/JamesandNielslatincafe)
Yelp
Urban Spoon


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/james.jpg


Information & Latest News
From the operators of La Brasa.
Taking space formerly occupied by Chopt.
Gallery

Interesting salads, cerviche, street tacos...

This is something different that I hope will do well.

Nice... I had noticed some activity going on over there.

I was hoping something interesting would be going in there because it's walking distance from my office and this interests me.

Same here BBQ

I'll be hitting this place up for breakfast tacos soon!

Looks to be a reasonable reason to turn east on Sheridan instead of west come Friday morn.

Well darn.... Their FB page shows two opening and closing times.... Sure hope they go with the 7 AM opening and not the 8 AM. I don't understand restaurants that serve breakfast M-F and open at 8 AM when most of us are at work already.

Well darn.... Their FB page shows two opening and closing times.... Sure hope they go with the 7 AM opening and not the 8 AM. I don't understand restaurants that serve breakfast M-F and open at 8 AM when most of us are at work already.

That's what I thought when I saw the 8 am. I hope they also keep consistent hours so people can rely upon them to be open

My morning ended up a bust so I came back to Norman without stopping in. I did briefly stick my head in at Jeepnokc's new digs, but he was out and about himself.

The photos try mightily, but in my opinion do not truly do your place justice good sir. Very, very impressed, and sorry I missed you.

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Pollo a la Brasa with plaintain chips and jasmine rice.

The chicken was a little difficult to eat in the small basket with plastic utensils but otherwise it was just as good as what I get at La Brasa.

A few minor hiccups for opening day but they appeared to be doing well overall. I plan on walking over there and trying more of the menu all week since the weather is so nice.

Oooh, that looks good.

You had me at plantain chips.

You had me at plantain chips.

These were good but I love the fried plantains they serve at La Brasa.... Gooey, carmelized, slightly sweet, pieces of goodness!

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Had the street tacos. (1 chicken, 1 steak). The feta cheese inside was a nice taste addition. A little pricy at $3 each when getting more than one (think 3 for $9.00). I asked about opening hours and they said 8 am. I inquired about whether they had thought that most people get to work at 8 and they acted like that they hadn't thought of that and may look at changing it.

Two tables outside so nice to have outside seating. Tables inside were clean and wiped but we had to wipe down the outside ones. Food came out fairly quickly. It is a nice addition to the hood and will go back.

I inquired about whether they had thought that most people get to work at 8 and they acted like that they hadn't thought of that and may look at changing it.

Oddly their FB page had the hours listed as 7-2. Which seems like better hours to me. I would probably walk over there 2-3 times a week for breakfast if they opened before 8.

Oddly their FB page had the hours listed as 7-2. Which seems like better hours to me. I would probably walk over there 2-3 times a week for breakfast if they opened before 8.

I saw your earlier post which is why I asked. I agree with you that my staff would be more likely to stop in the morning on way in if it opened just a little earlier like 730. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to miss that extra half hour to hour when you already have a limited window. I will give them some props for getting out early and delivering menus to the local businesses.

Got back over there today to try some more of the menu.

The Cubano was a pretty good sandwich. Not your typical Cubano but a nice take on it and it was served with plantain chips.

Also got a Peruvian Chicken Taco. The taco was good but for almost $3 I don't think I would get it again. I can go to Hugo's Taquiza's and get a taco, just as good, for $1 on Tuesdays.

I saw your earlier post which is why I asked. I agree with you that my staff would be more likely to stop in the morning on way in if it opened just a little earlier like 730. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to miss that extra half hour to hour when you already have a limited window. I will give them some props for getting out early and delivering menus to the local businesses.
I could see this going both ways, I own a Film Row business too, and most Film Row businesses are creatives that work in the cloud (obviously CMR is not and is the biggest employer down there). Most Film Row creatives come to work 9-10am or later, so not sure how much "Film Row" business other than CMR and maybe a very small handful of people come down there before 8am (and by handful outside of CMR, I'm talking can count on one maybe two hands), certainly not enough to sustain business, but I hope over time, people on the way into the CBD will learn about the place and help sustain it.

Just ate here for lunch. Hype has been crazy on this place, and I've heard it's as good as its' sister restaurant La Brasa. I ordered steak and chicken street tacos and a Lemonada Con Menta. The Lemonada drink was insanely good, highly recommend. It's like a fresh mojito but better, minus the alcohol. The chicken taco was just okay in my opinion, needed a little something more, but I noticed they also forgot the tomatoes and their "famous" Inca sauce. They forgot the same on my steak taco too, but the flavor was awesome. I'll definitely give it another try on the chicken, but request the sauce to see if that intensifies the flavor, although it was better quality than average Tyson meat chicken, as it seemed to be more of a pulled rotisserie style chicken, just the flavor was on the bland side. Portion sizes were a little small for the price in this market, not ridiculous, but on the high side considering nearby local alternatives and their portion sizes (Urban Taco, Fuzzy's and Big Truck). This place definitely has food and management competency to make it, but with the slightly high prices, I'm a little concerned about long term viability, since Film Row is still getting it's roots, especially with being able to support more than one restaurant. Having options nearby is nice though!

Their sign was going up as I was on my way home last night.

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Any vegetarian or vegan options?

Any vegetarian or vegan options?

They have a Veggie Wrap. Menu is posted at the top of this article.

Anyone know what's going on with James and Niel's? they haven't been open since Christmas.

Anyone know what's going on with James and Niel's? they haven't been open since Christmas.

Wow, interesting.

I just called their number and there is no answer.

Hopefully, they are just taking a post-holidays break. I know La Brasa is still open and operating.

I know that James posted on their FB page back around November that he had been forced out of the business.... It was like two days after their sign went up on the building.

I know that James posted on their FB page back around November that he had been forced out of the business.... It was like two days after their sign went up on the building.

Yeah, it's now known as just Niel's Latin Cafe.

This all sounds ominous. No posts on Twitter or Facebook in a while.

I was in there at lunch a month or so ago. Pretty good food. Dead. Absolutely no customers except my party, and we were there 45 minutes during prime lunch hours.

This may be turning into one of those "cursed" restaurant locations. Which is odd because Joey's survives and they are on the same block.

Anyone know what's going on with James and Niel's? they haven't been open since Christmas.


Wow, interesting.

I just called their number and there is no answer.

Hopefully, they are just taking a post-holidays break. I know La Brasa is still open and operating.


I know that James posted on their FB page back around November that he had been forced out of the business.... It was like two days after their sign went up on the building.


Yeah, it's now known as just Niel's Latin Cafe.

This all sounds ominous. No posts on Twitter or Facebook in a while.


I was in there at lunch a month or so ago. Pretty good food. Dead. Absolutely no customers except my party, and we were there 45 minutes during prime lunch hours.

This may be turning into one of those "cursed" restaurant locations. Which is odd because Joey's survives and they are on the same block.

Here's what I know, I thought I posted this quite awhile back. There were originally 3 partners in this operation, one of which is James Vu, the money behind the popular La Brasa and to a lesser extent, James & Niel's Latin Cafe, they also have another popular Latin restaurant here in the metro, but the name escapes me (I want to say Zarate's) but can't remember if that is correct or not. Anyhow from what I've heard from reputable sources, James got into a disagreement with the other two partners, and literally overnight cut ties with Niel and the other partner; thus the bulk of funding for this place was cut off. He also gave them just a few days to change the name to Niel's Latin Cafe and drop the James off, as well as set up a new Facebook and other social media profiles. I want to say this happened back in mid to late November.

Since we office very close, myself and several colleagues attempted to go there for lunch Monday and again today, but the doors were locked. The lights were on as were the TV's which have their digital menu. The place looked like it normally does, minus no people or food out. Not sure if they know it will be a very slow week due to the holidays and wicked cold weather, or they ran out of credit with vendors or what? I'd really hate to see this operation go under as the food is excellent; I think they have a good shot of making the long-haul if someone can supply them capital during this critical upstart period while the district works through growing pains. Otherwise, that really only leaves Joey's Pizza as the only viable lunch spot, as The Paramount has an odd food menu, and most of us that work in the district don't like their food. I'd really like to see Chip Fudge the district Godfather, primary land owner and owner of their building which includes CMR main offices, which is the bulk of employees in the district take a financial stake in the restaurant, as I mentioned before, they have a good shot of making the long-haul.

For Lease sign went up on their space last week. Furniture has not been removed.

Yep... I noticed it for the first time Friday afternoon.

Hopefully someone else goes in there soon with something good. It was handy to walk a block to grab some tasty lunch.

that's sad... the food was pretty good the one time that i went. however, i felt that they didn't exactly have their game together. i wanted to try their roasted chicken but just wanted one piece to go with the tacos that i had ordered. when asking how much one piece would cost, they looked at me like i was speaking greek or something. -M

That's got to be one of the shortest restaurant runs in history.

Especially disappointing given the somewhat unique food concept.

I've been seeing some activity in this building recently. Not sure if it's the former tenants clearing their stuff out or someone new getting ready to re-open.

Sure hope it is the latter.

Noticed the signage on this building has been changed to - Caeii's Sweets, Eats, & More

Caeli's (pronounced "Chaylee's") opened today. I had the meatball sub, which was okay. Here's the menu:
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I don't know how to fix the image rotation, btw.

That's got to be one of the shortest restaurant runs in history.

Especially disappointing given the somewhat unique food concept.

Yeah, it was. The argument they got in was due to James' partner taking food from La Brasa, which he was a chef at, and using it for their cafe.