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Since 2006 (if not earlier), this hole-in-the-wall café has served the Brazilian expatriate community through juices (sucos - e.g., cajá, cajú), savory pastries (salgados), and desserts (sobremesa). The non-expat patrons seem to come here to get their açai bowl freak on, which means somebody is reading all those spam e-mails. Inside this tight space there are three café tables with stools and authentic Brazilian Portuguese speakers and soccer (futebol) on Brazilian TV. There's a single, tiny sidewalk café table in front. Using a rather dingy-looking two-group La Pavoni, they pull "cafe expresso" (sic) shots with a pale, thin crema. The staff is rather clueless about the origins of their coffee beans other than that they're "Brazilian." The shots are ridiculously tall - to the rim of the cup - so it's surprising there's much of a body at all given its watery nature. Flavorwise, it is muted and diluted mild spice. Stick to the cafezinho (Brazilian coffee) instead, but even that isn't very good. Which is too bad, because there's a lot here to like: from the Brazilian expatriate vibe to the coxinhas. Just not the coffee.
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