Azul Bistro

Great spot for groups since it can get pretty loud. Very reasonably priced with fun atmosphere. Would recommend getting a bunch of things (empanadas /​mixed grill meats) to share. It gets really smoky when everyone’s steaks start coming out so definitely wear casual attire. Love going here in the winter time when it’s freezing cold outside but toasty and lively inside. Fun, unpretentious spot with friendly service.

I always enjoy Azul, love the room and the almost floor to ceiling windows where you can watch the locals from the LES go by. We had Tilapia with mixed baby potatoes and Spinach salad, Skirt Steak and Fries. Everything was delicious, cooked just right. The service was impeccable, and staff very knowledgeable about their menu and wine offerings. It was just what I was craving and they did not disappoint. We also really enjoyed the crape dessert, Panqueques Con Dulce de leche. The red wine was smooth with a great finish. I don’t know what it was as my friend did the wine ordering. I recommend Azul wholeheartedly. I don’t know what to think about the couple of not so good reviews, perhaps the regular chef on hiatus?

If you’re so drunk you’re swallowing your own vomit, this is the place for you! In addition to lots of alcohol, they will also sell you crappy «Argentine» and imitation «tapas» at overinflated prices. But the mediocre food doesn’t matter – this place is primarily for shrieking frat boys who are so wasted they wouldn’t know whether they’re eating blood sausage or human turds.
If you want to experience actual food, and not a drunken whiteboy wilding, go somewhere else. The good news is that the LES is full of excellent restaurants. If you had your heart set on tapas, you might start with A Casa Fox on Orchard between Houston and Stanton – incredible food, great waitstaff, and customers who know how to drink without puking.

My better half got to spend a nice Sunday wandering the heart of the Lower East Side. Being that all the well known brunch spots were taken, we veered into the wilderness to a cute, quaint hole in the wall gem… or so we thought. It was 2:30p, and the place was empty. We thought, excellent — restaurant is all ours.
First off, the bread was not fresh. The butter was not even good. Being hopeful, we thought perhaps our entrees would be better. I love me benedict eggs and hollandaise sauce. The hollandaise did not taste good. The eggs needed more seasoning. The french fries were not that great but it was the best part of the plate! Did I also mention, we tried their tuna tartare appetizer that was filled with lemon/​lime juice. I’ve had better tartare elsewhere. My better half and I like to try places and cost is not an issue if there’s flavor involved. I felt so bad he left more than what we wanted to pay for this meal which was $ 1. It was so bland, and we didn’t even finish our plates. I am a very eco-​green person and I think waste not but it was not edible.
Lastly, the place gets 1 star from me because an hour later, I had a stomachache. When I get a stomachache, I know the food is not fresh. We had so much hope and wanted to like this place but when the bathroom calls — you are not getting a good rating from me.

Rip off alert! We had an online coupon for a pre-​paid 3 course dinner for 2 for $ 100. At the end of the meal, we were hit with a $ 40 «surcharge»!!! We only paid it because we had a show to catch. In addition, although the entrees were good, both the appetizers and the dessert smelled funny, like they had been microwaved in plastic wrap before serving.
Save your money – this place is overpriced – and buy a couple of Lean Cuisines instead!

Wandered around the Lower East Side with a friend and saw 3 restaurants we wanted to try… but then couldn’t find them, so we ended up here.
Pros: Grilled Provolone — tasty; Organic tomato salad had a great combination of heirloom-​style tomatoes.
Cons: Creepy waiter. Ceviche that had some kind of ground fish (allegedly salmon) and more red peppers than anything. Spinach fritters that were rubbery.
My friend and I had a great time hanging out and drinking and listening to the entire Cure’s Greatest Hits CD, but overall the food was meh.

I was in Buenos Aires two months ago, so I experienced Argentinean (Argentine?) cuisine firsthand.
And, so far, I can’t say I am impressed by Azul’s attempt at replicating my experience.
First off, empanadas should be baked. Perhaps somewhere in Argentina they fry ‘em (I’m unaware of this), but why bother with a regional specialty when a truly authentic experience would be to have a baked empanada? Another complaint is that there were 4 choices of fillings, but only two were truly authentic; the other two seemed like a chef decided to run amok and attempt haute cuisine. Lastly, it really bugs me that they tried to make an empanada a deluxe item when it’s simply a Blue Collar food experience akin to a slice of pizza.
Chorizo was good, but I’ve had better. I will give them kudos for this because I feel this kind of chorizo is quite hard to find in the city.
Sweetbreads were «okay.» They were not spectacular and, again, it seems the chef decided to run amok and create something fancy when I just wanted mollejas from the parilla.
We ordered the sirloin for two, which was overpriced but expected for this type of cuisine. However, instead of a nice cut, it was sliced sirloin on the parilla — not expected, and not how I had it in Argentina. Perhaps intestine, flank, and ribs were served this way when I was in Buenos Aires, but not a nice cut of meat. While tasty, it was a disappointment.
My favorite part of the meal? The salad. It was stellar, but this kind of restaurant begs to have steak being its highlights.
Lastly, the service was iffy. I was treated well, but I didn’t feel like I was #1, which doesn’t take much.
For once, it would be nice to find an authentic restaurant that replicates the Buenos Aires experience. Instead, we’re getting restaurants that fake the fanciness when it doesn’t need to be fancy — just pure.

Full Disclosure: This review is based on a visit in 2011. Last weekend, while I was brainstorming NYC brunch options in LES, I recalled a great experience that definitely deserved a positive Unilocal review.
In LES & tired of waiting for a Sunday brunch table for a group of 6 at nearby locations, we decided to venture into Azul Bistro after reading a sign stating $ 9 Unlimited Mimosas… I don’t think they were ready for professional day drinkers from the West Coast.
The food: Most of our group played it safe with Omelettes to start off the festivities but by Mimosa #4, we kept ordering Empanadas. I recommend sticking with the Breakfast options (limited, I know) but their Empanadas weren’t much to brag about. Great service throughout, the Argentine waitress even started making jokes about my Spanish pronunciation of certain words. We had a great brunch with an endless supply of Mimosas. I’ll try to venture back soon.

Tasteless and tough/​chewy. For $ 68 I expect a decent piece of meat. Don’t recommend this place… Sorry…
Update: Garlic overdose… am still reeking of the stuff. We sent the dish back because it tasted bad. They added more garlic and onion and cooked it more. This means it came back tougher and drier. Bad cover up… sorry guys. You really shouldn’t be treating customers that way.

Where do you try if you love steak and you need a change from the big Steakhouse feel? Head down to the LES and hit up Azul.
The atmosphere is fun and vibrant, without being at all pretentious. Service was good. We were a table of 11 with kids and special requests and they kept their patience and got everything to us quickly and smoothly.
The food is quite tasty and large portions. The organic tomato salad is also really fresh and tasty to start with. The sirloin for two comes out sizzling on a hot iron grill. It’s nicely seasoned and accompanied with large helpings of mashed potatoes or fries — the fries are the way to go on this one folks. My Uncle says Azul’s Skirt Steak is one of his favorite’s in the city, «just one step under Luger’s without the hassle of going to Brooklyn.»

This place sadly missed the mark for me. Came in on Friday for dinner at around 10 was seated quickly. I was originally excited because I had this place bookmarked and it was out of my comfort zone.
The service was great and the atmosphere was romantic, dark and cozy, some features were the exposed brick and the newspaper clippings on the ceiling. I thought the clippings cheapened the look of the place.
What was ordered: A bottle of Chardonnay ($ 32), grilled salmon ($ 24) & boar dish ($ 30). The Chardonnay & company were more enjoyable than my meal. Okay, so the salmon; is it possible for it to be TOO fishy? I guess so when you grilled salmon isn’t cooked all the way through. We didn’t realize that till most of it was eaten. The boar dish, tasted more like a brisket to me. Just didn’t like it. but they didn’t screw up the potatoes and the sauce that was used was amazing — it was sweet and plum flavored.
Basically if it wasn’t for the wine, service or that sauce. this place was getting a one star. Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes for this type of restaurant but flavor was missing. I would not return, Esperanto on Ave C, blows this place out of the water if you want some good South American food.

What to get here — the empanadas. Beef salteña style, fontina & gruyère, or chicken & peppers… they’re all good! We should have ordered more of these. All 7 of us at dinner agreed the empanadas were the best part of our meal. For the rest of dinner, we shared a couple platters of the mixed grill which included a variety of meat cuts plus their blood sausage (which I wasn’t a fan of). The salad it comes with is pretty tasteless. The empanadas would get 4 stars, but everything else gets 2. Service was rushed as well.

Blood sausage… until I had it here I would never have said it was something that made my taste buds sing… but there you have it. The mixed grill for two (Parrillada) is a carnivore’s delight. On good nights it comes with tender steak, mid-​rare lamb chops, blood sausage, and sweet breads. On lesser nights they give you dried out chicken, chorizo, and rubbery beef. Hence the three stars.
The people they have on the grill are just so inconsistent that I can’t give them the glowing review that I’m prone to give. It’s not every day you can find a mouthwatering ribeye for under $ 30 in NY. Made from happy Argentinian grass-​fed cows no less. Give it a try on a less busy night (i.e. avoid the Friday/​Saturday crowds) and maybe they’ll take the time to lovingly prepare your meat, just the way you like it.

OH YEAH! Great place to take friends and just chat it up… we had a great time there on a Friday night. The place was sufficiently packed, but not with too many people which was great. I was there with two ladies, and we shared the following:
— Bottle of wine (nice, short and to the point selection)
— Sweetbreads (really good, comes in a set of 3. Well seasoned, great texture)
— Ceviche (authentic as they brought it with a yam, very Peruvian. Not much, though. Maybe 5 chunks of Salmon and 5 shrimp… excellent sauce).
— Skirt Steak (authentic, hit the spot, delicious diced potatoes on the side)
— Rib Eye Steak (fantastic cut of meat, nice and juicy, with a really nicely paired Chimichurri sauce… mmm… ask for more, though, as it might not be enough).
— Side of Carrots and Beets (also very good, of course such goes well with meat).
My only gripe would be the bread, which tears strangely but whatever… I didn’t come for carbs, I came for MEAT and it hit the spot for around $ 50 pp including wine so really not bad.
I’m going back, fo’ sho’.

Our waitress was very nice and helpful, and the food was decent, but nothing too special.
The thing that got me was how dirty their utensils and cups were. I got wine there, but there was dust (and who know what else) floating around in my cup. It really disgusted me, and made me wonder how clean other things in their restaurant were (i.e. the food).
Overall, just «ok,» but personally I would not go back, espeically with all the other restaurants int he city.

Came to Azul Bistro to celebrate a birthday with friends for brunch. The unlimited mimosas definitely aided in great times had by all. The food was ok considering the fare. Some interesting dishes were not available (Wild Boar, Bachalao) but the steak was juicy and the empanadas were delicious. I would definitely recommend this place for a low key get together with friends on a lovely weekend afternoon.
The brunch menu was simple and fairly placed together. I loved their myriad of appetizers — the octopus was awesome — the ceviche was yum — the king crab panna cotta was something to skip based on our tables opinion but everything else was fresh (grilled veggies, green salad, heirloom tomato) and prepared to order.
I wouldn’t travel too far for this place on a consistent basis but it is recommended for a nice visit on the lower east side.

I came here for a birthday dinner and was all but totally disappointed. The service was off point and the food mediocre. The entraña that was served was not really entraña (wrong cut of meat) and the mojellas were sub par. The one highlight was the chocolate mousse, which was brilliant.
As an Argentine living in NYC, I would not go again. For a better Argentine experience in NY go to Buenos Aires in the East Village.

You got to come here for their 9 $ bottomless mimosa brunch! 1−2 – 3…and before I knew it… I was on like 8 until I realized we’ve been sitting here for almost 3 hours swinging life away with fresh empanadas made to order.
Brunch was the standard affair with an Argentine flair and fair prices.
Their Dulce de Leche is to die for… couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend 3 hours with your true love… food and alcohol!

Restaurant week $ 35 prix fixe 3 courses.
This would be one of those restaurants where I would argue that the $ 35 restaurant week promo may be a rip off.
Potato Soup– bland and watery
Goat cheese and corn Ravioli — unique taste, but not exactly delicious
Dessert: flan, chocolate mousse — standard and uninteresting
I won’t be back

I went here with a group of seven on a Saturday night. The place was crowded but the staff was friendly and attentive. We ordered a dozen assorted empanadas that were delicious and the atmosphere was cozy but not too crowded. Unfortunately, the experience went downhill as soon as the main courses were being delivered. My wife and I ordered sirloin and, even though this is a simple steak to cook, it wasn’t delivered to our table until at least fifteen minutes after our friends’ entrees. After the third time our waitress told us it would be «just two or three more minutes» we asked why there was such a delay. Her response was that the kitchen was slow because there were «eighteen tables all at once». I can see things being slower on a busy night (even though those tables didn’t sneak into the restaurant on their own) but it’s no reason for our table’s order to be so out of joint.
The second problem was that our steak was terribly undercooked. We ordered medium and it came out just a touch over rare. Strike two. So we sent it back and asked them to cook it more. Fifteen minutes later we finally got our steak back… and they had obviously dropped it on the broiler for just long enough to brown the outside a little more as the middle of the steak was still rare. It was also obvious that the waitress didn’t take the care to look at the food before she brought it to the table. Strike three.
After sending the steak back again it returned to our table as an overcooked mess, now bereft of any real flavor and too tough to eat. The manager came over and glanced at the steak but didn’t say a word to us. They then brought a couple free desserts and attempted to bill us for the steak. We objected and the waitress «went to check with the manager» (come on, were we buying a used car here?) and came back with a bill that did not include the steak. Strikes four, five, six.
It’s a shame that the kitchen showed so little care and our waitress — who was otherwise very pleasant — wasn’t attentive enough to our food. Other guests at the table really enjoyed their meals. Azul should have been a ⁴⁄₅ star experience. Unfortunately, I can’t give it more than two.