RIP Favor cafe, "Brasa Viva Brazil" coming soon

Out: soul food. In: South American fare.

​From the cleared-out looks of things, the low-profile soul food spot at Lake and Bryant, Favor Cafe, has fried its last piece of chicken. Even though #913 is prime real estate, the space has struggled to sustain restaurants--it also housed the notorious, ill-fated Restaurant Miami (actually, a lot more than location took that place down...).

But according to a sign in the window, a new operator is planning to take over. And when I read the words, "BRASA VIVA BRAZIL COMING SOON" I practically started salivating.

​Brasa? Did I read that right? Was it possible that Brasa was coming to Uptown? My heart nearly skipped a beat. Would some of the best takeout in the Cities be dropping into one of its densest neighborhoods?

It seemed a little too good to be true and, unfortunately, it was. Suspecting that the scrawl wasn't quite Brasa chef-owner Alex Roberts's style, I put in a call just to check and learned that, no, he wasn't involved. Since brasa is the Spanish word for an ember or hot coal, it's likely, Roberts said, that the word was intended to convey a cooking style used in South America for dishes such as pollo a la brasa. (In fact, the true name may simply be Viva Brazil.)

So no Brasa yet, but we're still bullish on Brazilian food and will let you know when we learn more about the new eatery's plans.