Cafe Ronda

Wandering around the neighborhood… my better half says «This place looks nice, lets stop for a drink».
BAM!
Awesome experience.
We sat at the bar. There was a guy who had a little too much and was doing that annoying «lets talk to strangers when they can’t understand my slurring act» which always makes everyone uncomfortable. Guillermo (sorry if I spelled it wrong) was the bartender. He quickly and politely diffused the attempt, got us two glasses of a nice Grenacha blend, and boldly stated that the tapas were some of the best in the city.
(from what we could understand he got drunk somewhere else, not at Ronda, and the whole scenario was handled with discretion and he left shortly after)
He went to bartender score 1000 just for saving us from the awkward «try to ignore the drunk guy» game, but he got 200 more points for being spot on about the food. (is there even some kind of bartender point scale? where is this even coming from?)
The food is nothing crazy, nothing fancy, just really good food. Papas Bravas were just like in Barcelona, the roasted cauliflower can’t be missed, the pane con tomate was refreshing.
Guillermo turned out to be one of the most interesting and friendly people we have met in a long time, and what was supposed to be a quick glass of wine turned into a few hours of good wine, good food, and good conversation.
What is more authentic Spanish than that?

Very cute and warm environment!
I came before a movie date for tapas and we loved the scallops! The hummus and empanadas were delicious too, but I could eat those scallops for days.
The service was lovely and the sweet waitress had a fun time trying to tetris fit all of our tapas on our little table.
Overall a wonderful time and would recommend!

Café Rhonda has a great vibe. It’s pretty dark inside and semi-​loud, but it’s great for a big group gathering. They have a lot of good dishes to share. The paella is delicious and extremely filling. It’s great to share but I have never actually been able to finish it in one sitting.
The sangria is great and also easy to share. And so yummy. We really just go crazy over everything we order. I can’t actually remember what dishes we ordered, but literally everything we got we wanted more of. It’s a fun, festive kind of place that I always enjoy going back to when I’m in the area.

I’m a bar gal. While I don’t mind getting a table, I prefer the «get in and get out method,» because you’re able to order from the menu without ever waiting for a table. And (don’t tell anyone), you get the best service. :)
Café Ronda did not disappoint. Tapas are probably one of the sexiest types of foods out there… bite-​size morsels of food covered with sabor and heat. Yes.
We ordered an array of food: from the Entrana a la Brasa con Romesco (grilled skirt-​steak with an almond-​pinenut-​dry chile romesco) — kiss me. The Brazas — spiced rough-​cut potatoes with a delicious aioli, to a salad to the grilled octopus. Heaven.
The bartender was lovely… kept pouring us glass after glass of vino. Just the way I like it. Get me drunk and full and I’m the happiest woman in the world.

Came here with colleagues after work for happy hour. I was dismally disappointed by the initial service. No one took my order, gave me a napkin or place setting, or anything. Basics. Don’t get me wrong. I know large groups can be difficult, but it didn’t seem like the gentlemen here had a lot of experience or care with customers.
What really saved the day were the drinks and tapas. I had white sangria, and we shared many great tapas plates.

Great wine bar and great tapas plates. Stopped by while waiting for a marathoner to hit a checkpoint. Crowded, but found a nice spot at the bar where we were recommended some lovely tempranillo when asking for something spicy and full bodied to warm us from the east coast chill. A vegetarian companion selected the mushroom croquettes for noshing, and then become convinced they were filled with some highly addictive substance. Light, crispy, mushroomy, and we had to order more… And more. I am usually the one that demands something die for my meal, but this vegetarian small plate really satisfied my walked all the way from Harlem appetite. Judging by the crowdedness, would suggest reservations, but finding a spot at the bar was no thang. Come for the croquettes, stay for the wine.

This was a random pick which is rare for me as I usually research everything, especially when im spending $ 100 on a meal. waiters were middle of the line between attentive and neglectful. we had
veal lamb meatballs:
sauted mushrooms:
manchego and marcona almonds with fig:
wilted spinach:
roasted cauliflower
every item I would give 3 stars, not bad, not great, but a-​ok
service –meh
COLD coffee that was supposed to be hot — not OK!
red sangria– yum, but weak

This charming restaurant is on a busy street, but even sitting outside, the cozy tables and food draw you into your own little world. I came for a tapas dinner with a friend and was amazed at how our waiters managed to continuously rearrange the dishes on our tiny table to accommodate everything.
First, the bravas, which are essentially spicy and cheesy roasted potatoes. Incredible. The potatoes are cubed with little toothpicks and if you’re like me, then you agree that food tastes better when speared with a little toothpick.
We also had the espinicas (spinach) salad, which was huge — I took leftovers. Could have used a little more goat cheese but was delicious nonetheless. The empanadas are amazing (I had the cheese kale one) as are the kale and black bean croquettes, which came with a fiery jalapeño tapenade. Finally, we shared one of the shrimp tapas. Can’t remember which ones exactly, but the shrimp were tiny and extremely flavorful.
The outdoor seating is lovely. Go before it’s too cold!

A friend took me here when i told him I wanted to try Spanish food. I was pretty impressed by the quality and also garnishing. We had a full course meal starting with empanadas, shrimp ceviche, some beef stir fry, octopus, drinks and of course dessert. The dessert was so elegant. Two sweet roll of crepes, with a scoop of ice cream on the side and strawberries. The dim candlelit atmosphere was very nice as well.

Love it here — great for sitting at the bar and having a quick lunch or for happy hour with friends! The food is GREAT! I aways order the skirt steak and it just gets better! The sangria is good too. The staff is very friendly as well. you can’t go wrong here!

Returned for evening tapas, and everything was just as good as it was a year ago.
Red sangria was delicious, just like last time.
We had the World Cup special dishes (can’t remember any of them), all kinds of empanadas, mushrooms, two orders of meatballs, chorizo, two orders of patatas bravas, shrimp, and croquettes. All were really good except for the croquettes — and honestly, I can’t tell you what kind of croquettes that were, because they were so blah. The meatballs were my favorite… though, I think the meatballs are my favorite in most cases!
Service was still on the slow side (but not frustratingly slow), so that hasn’t changed since last year. But with good food and good company, I’ll forgive the slightly pokey service.

A good tapas bar with an excellent location — both in neighborhood and street location. I enjoyed my trip here, but am not sure that my experience can be generalized as it was during the Colombia/​Uruguay match and all of the servers had on Colombia jerseys.
AMBIANCE
This a perfect place, when the weather is good, for a nice meal on the sidewalk. The view and people watching were great. There’s a lot of foot traffic, but not to much to bother. The space inside seemed small-​ish so the street-​side seating is the way to go.
SERVICE
Really, really slow. The hostess was awesome and made up for so much. But service stopped until halftime. So I am not sure if that is unique to this day. But I had a similar experience as the other reviewers, save the phenomenal hostess who made things move smoothly.
FOOD
We ordered beef empanadas and were very impressed. Inside is a stewed beef, with olives, that is different than the ground beef I expected. The outside seems homecooked, and they came piping hot. We also had a Brazilian special of shrimp inside a coconut. That was tasty, but a little small for an entre portion. Also, the coconut rice was just regular white rice. Nothing special. The mussels, though tasty, were overcooked.
We also had a desert of a caramel-​filled crêpe. That was pretty tasty as well.
If I had anything to recommend it would be the empanadas, the rest are decent but can be found other places.
VALUE
The dinner menu was pricy for 4 p.m., but I enjoyed what we had. And the ambiance was well worth it.
In short, if you are looking for cool tapas bar, with some decent selections in a great area, this is a good pick.

The food here was delicious. The service was awful.
We tried multiple tapas and loved them all. Mushrooms, empanadas, calamari, and sautéed shrimp. All were very tasty. Small portion, keeping in the tapas tradition, and fairly well priced.
I asked for a refill to three different people, all said they would be right back. We had to walk inside to get them to take our money so we could go. Delicious food. Annoying service

I’ve been here at least three times since my last review. The baked eggs are tremendous. I also highly recommend the chicken skewers with a spicy green parsley marinade. INCREDIBLE. Maybe the best chicken skewers I’ve ever had.
The cauliflower side is excellent, as are the mushrooms
And the spinach salad about the best of its kind I’ve had: plentiful, flavorful baby spinach with grilled onions, mushrooms, apples and goat cheese.
The pitcher of sangria is 40 and a good deal if you’re with a lot of people.
The patio is still closed but in summer, it’s nice to sit outside.
This is casual /​upscale dining, not a tablecloth restaurant, but it has been equally excellent every visit.
Also the happy hour is nice: you get a break on wine and a few other cocktails.
One criticism: Terrible boring bread for dipping. Not worth the calories or carbs. The bread for the sandwich is okay, or perhaps it’s just that these giant and excellent sandwiches (definitely the best deal on the non-​brunch menu as you can share) make up for blah bread.

The boy and I sauntered in here on a rainy Friday night. I live close by, but never really gave this place much of a chance. It’s decently sized, dimly light, noisy enough to feel alive but quiet enough to enjoy the company you bring. It’s a sexy spot for a date.
The cocktails are pricey — around $ 13, but the food is well priced and well worth the visit. Service is laid back and friendly– they happily help you out when you need things (ie the time my roommate’s iphone drank some sangria and they gave us a bag of rice to soak it in).
As far as the food goes– I definitely recommend the fried artichokes, the gamblas ala plancha (shrimp in garlic sauce), the chicken emapanadas and the bread with tomato and garlic. We haven’t had anything yet that wasn’t tasty! I’m excited to go back to try the pulpo. I will definitely be back to do more sampling of the menu.

When I first moved to New York, I went to this magical tapas place and shared some sangria and got excited about my adventures of living in the city.
Flash forward three years, and my roommate and I found ourselves in the same tapas place we once fondly enjoyed.
It’s kind of overpriced, but still tasty. The standout of the items we ordered were the codfish croquettes.
The sangria was good, but nothing mind blowing.
Service was kind of slow for an early (think 6ish) dinner. My roommate was bombarded before I arrived, and then it was near impossible to get their attention once I arrived.
Overall, my memory was better than the real experience. This may be the only tapas option in the Lincoln Center area. If you find yourself in the area craving tapas, save that craving for another night.

Solid brunch at Ronda on a crisp, Fall Saturday morning. Nothing out of this world, but the food and service were strong, and the atmosphere classic UWS.
Ronda Eggs were delicious, loved the tomato sauce-​poached eggs-​crostini combination.
Classic Baked Eggs are VERY hot, so be careful, but also delicious.
Nothing else on the menu really stood out, but again, Ronda excels at doing the simple things well.

We were in the mood for tapas and I’d walked past this place many times, so when I saw that it was open for a reservation for 2, 30 minutes out, I booked it. We walked over and were seated outside immediately.
Our waiter could best be described as «distracted.» He approached our table with an enthusiastic «hello!» and we looked up to respond, only to realize that he was actually speaking to a passerby on the street. His greeting for us was much more subdued. My husband ordered a pitcher of sangria. A few minutes later, he re-​approached the table to ask if we’d like to order sangria or cocktails before dinner… Um, yeah. We just did. The service for the remainder of the meal was more of the same. It took him almost 10 minutes to bring the check over after we’d originally requested it. To say that this guy’s heart was not in the job would be an epic understatement.
The tapas were just ok. Yes, I’ve admittedly been spoiled by living a block away from Tia Pol for 4 years, but nothing else ever seems to come close. The bravas could have used about 3 times the amount of sauce they arrived with. The codfish croquettes were ok. Tortilla was dry and a bit boring. The guernica peppers were fine, but maybe a bit over-​cooked. Nothing really stood out except the sangria which was quite delicious.
Overall– not bad, but just not terribly impressed. I can’t imagine that we will be back. Disappointing as it just doesn’t seem that there are many tapas options in the ‘hood.

I’d say a 4.5 for the food and a 2 for the ambiance/​wait, but I’ll be generous. Waiting for breakfast at 10 am on a Saturday right after running a race in the park is not my idea of a good time, but it was my own fault for voting for the UWS over East. Somehow the options feel very limited at this time in the 60s and 70s, and you’re in heavy competition with babied families.
Eventually, when the eye candy hostess sat us down, we all enjoyed our breakfasty brunch – French toast, omelet, and my Benedict Wellington – a medium rare filet and a bed of spinach deliciously separating me from the Hollandaise-​soaked poached egg. The café con leche (this is a taperia, after all) and bloody mary were also very good.
If you can live with a wait and don’t mind the sea of babies around you, go for it.

1.) Just to warm you up:
I heard this place made great tapas, but the Unilocal review stated otherwise. It was a cold day and I wanted to be somewhere warm, trying to make a personal opinion of their food.
2.) What your eyes may see:
I went in for around 7pm. It was dim, busy because it was about full to capacity. My friends and I say at a high top table. The place had almost rustic feel to it. Cream, orange and khaki brown colors. The kitchen you can generally see from the dining area. This is seems to be an all Hispanic staff, ranging from South American to Latin Caribbean. Each position had their own outfit. The chefs wore white aprons with black pants, hostesses wore skirt and black blouse, bartenders, runners and bussers wore all black.
3.) Food:
My friends and I ordered the Paella de Mariscos ($ 34), Prawns a la plancha. Olives tapas, Octopus (pulpo), cheese and vegetable empanadas, flan and crepes. We also ordered a 2-​liter of red sangria. Besides the sangria, I liked the prawns, empanadas and paella. The empanadas were light in salt, crispy on outside and rich and creamy on inside. Paella was HUGE. Ask for a portion for 2 and you can make four adult stomachs content! For dessert we ordered flan and panqueues de Leche which were like crepes. The flan was very tiny but tasty, and the crepes which was filled with chocolate on inside and served with a scoop of ice cream, were rich and creamy.
4.) Service:
I believed the staff as a whole were great. From the host up to the manager. They were friendly, polite, quick and made sure our table was constantly kept clean. Waters weren’t refilled often, and my napkin fell and it appeared they never acknowledged it, because I never got a new one.
5.) Impressions:
I thought the food was generally good, the staff were generally good. Is this place awesome for tapas? Well I know others that definitely top this place, but if I’m ever around that area again I might stop by.