El Pote Español Restaurant

Terrible place. As a spanish person I would not recommend this place to anyone. The food is not nice and not like we do it in Spain. Expensive for what you get. Very disappointing!

I have been eating at El Pote for almost 20 years. The food is terrific, though not necessarily creative. I’d say it’s absolutely solid Spanish food, which you should try and certainly become a regular at if you live close by. If it tells you anything about the quality and professionalism of the owners, pretty much the same waitstaff has been working there since for as long I can remember. My only real complaint.. . the frozen butter that they serve with the bread. You can’t spread frozen butter!

Good food and good prices. But not great, my pulpo a la gallega was overcooked and the flan tres leeches was ok… I think this could be considered better if you are not Spanish or very familiar with real Spanish food.

love, love, love this place. Best pulpo and calamares, great wine list, top notch service. a definite neighborhood gem!

Nice, quaint little place. Walked in at 7p on a Mon and was eating within two minutes. Big A plus! They serve their bread warm, but their butter cold. Which doesn’t help if you like warm, buttered bread. Their sangrias get the job done– had a nice buzz with only half a glass. Ordered the Paella Valencia– very delicious! Will definitely be back again, especially when it’s around the corner.

Wonderful spanish food. A touch pricey, but nothing crazy for NYC. Loved to Arroz con Pollo. I will be back to try that omlette.

I love El Pote. They have such homie, comfort food — it’s one of the rare places that I find myself actually using my bread to soak up every last morsel of food on my plate (the bread is made in house and is quite fresh).
I’d highly recommend their soups (especially their seafood soups), as well as the stuffed mushroom appetizers.
Their dessert (flan) is phenomenal as well.
I’ve routinely met people in El Pote who say that they eat there 4 times a week (for years). I can definitely see why.

The service at this restaurant was excellent, and ambiance was very cozy. The food was excellent and delicious, and you can tell by how packed the restaurant was. We tried squid ink pasta and chicken breast al Chef’s wine sauce and mushrooms; they were both great. I would definitely eat here again and I would recommend that you eat here if you were ever in the New York area.

Great place. The reviews were spot on. The waiter service was very professional. A special hidden gem. In fact I am going to go there again tonight.

This place is a super Old School Spaniard restaurant, from the décor to the food to the waiters and I thought it was great. The restaurant has been open since 1977 and serves up traditional Castilian fare. The place does seem like it’s in a odd location since it is on 2^nd avenue surrounded by other restaurant that seem more current. But I guess when a restaurant serves a quality product, it well stand the test of time.
The food:
Tortilla Espanola– Spanish omelette. There is a belief in Spain, that this dish that is the indicator of how the rest of the meal will turn out. I enjoyed their tortilla, the eggs were nice and fluffy and the potatoes were tender but not too soft.
Caracoles– Snails in butter sauce. I liked these, it was kinda simple but the flavors all went well together. I say this was a safe dish.
Paella Marinera– Spanish rice, seafood & lobster. The seafood on this was great, it had some shrimp, clams, mussels and lobster. The seafood was cooked nicely and the texture of the rice was good.
Arroz de Bacalao– Of course, a seasoned sunny side up egg makes everything better but the rice was cooked well and the little pieces of Bacalao added a nice salty flavor.
Zarzuela de Mariscos– Seafood Combination in Red Sauce. It was shrimp, clams, mussels, scallop and lobster. The sauce had a nice seafood depth of flavor and the seafood was cooked well.

Authentic Spanish food. When we went here for Dinner, there was a mariachi group singing which made the experience a whole lot better. Great paella and bread. When you walk into this place — you could tell they cared about the restaurant. Food is in par with the great service. I recommend this place if anyone is craving Spanish.

Great for lunch. Good Paella. Nice volume and you would have leftover for next day.

Favorite Spanish place! Very homey but yet great atmosphere. Not so trendy but some of the people who come here have been coming here for years. Food is great and portion size is great. Good price. Entrée comes with salad. Great Sangria. Favorite dishes are mussels, paella, pork cheek.

This is isn’t molecular gastronomy or little-​bitty tapas. This is what a neighborhood restaurant looks like in Valencia or Madrid. The décor is festive and has been there about as long as the waiters in old-​fashioned red jackets. It hasn’t changed in 20 years and doesn’t have to. The food is good, the service is attentive, and if your toddler wants to wander around, like I saw one night, no one gives him the evil eye.
The menu is traditional and hearty. Paella is a good bed, as is the seafood. I love the homemade potato chips that come to the table still hot. The sangria is pretty good and the pitcher pretty large. It’s not a scene-​y place. It’s a neighborhood restaurant.

Love this place. One of the best Paella in the city.
Also have to try the mussels! Very small place so be ready for tight sitting, almost family style atmosphere. Wine selection is also very good. And to top it off they make a excellent espresso!

Ate dinner here after reading the reviews. Very professional service and kind of old school in a good way. Great food. I highly recommend the artichoke hearts too — fantastic. Would return here for a good meal.

I thought I discovered all the secret hole-​in-​the-​wall places in midtown, and surely I was mistaken.
A pleasure to stumble upon this intimate Spanish restaurant nestled in Murray Hill. Go for the lunch specials, and save some room for dessert. Trust me

Awesome paella valencia! They load it with seafood, chicken and lamb. Comes with salad and bread. Came to $ 25 for carryout. They lost a point b/​c when I got back to my hotel and opened the bag, there were no utensils, napkins, or butter for the bread. It was kind of a pain since I had to order utensils from room service, which took another 30 minutes… then my food was cooled down.

Went for dinner tonight, (Monday night), location is not much from the outside but the inside seems looks like a classic restaurant out of 1950s Spain. The white sangria is great, the food not too bad. I ordered the Pollo y langosta and it wouldn’t have hurt to have a bit more flavor. Overall might visit again if im crazing classic Spanish food.

Very pleasing dinner. Good sangria and paella. Menu is limited but this did the trick. Cozy space and friendly staff. Will come back.

Live not too far from here and only hear good things. The outside isn’t the most inviting… you’d expect a dark small place… but once you walk inside you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Tried the pulpo estilo feria (octopus in olive oil and paprika), manchengo cheese, arroz con pollo, and camarones en salsa verde. All very tasty. I’d like to try some of the other dishes that looked really good as well. It isn’t the cheapest place in the neighborhood, but the food is tasty, service was good and had a fun ambiance. Will be back.

One of the best espagnol restaurant I have been to.
The best was the stuffed lobster, the paelia and the shrimps in green sauce.
The restaurant is pretty quiet so it makes it perfect for a date or a catch up diner with friends, where you can actually speak to each other.

Good eating at this unassuming Tudor City old timer. We came in on a whim, though I had marked this place as a cozy neighborhood joint. It did not disappoint. The outside storefront gives little clue as to what’s inside. There, the room turned out to be smaller than I expected, and transported me immediately to the New York of Woody Allen’s Manhattan classics.
The waiters were old hands, the tablecloths were white, and the portions were gargantuan. I had the Valencia Paella (it had been literally years since I last had this hearty dish). it was full of tasty seafood and sausage. Soon I was full like an Iberian peasant after a long day in the fields. Except I took almost half of it home for lunch the next day.
There’s also a nice wine list of Spanish and New World wines. Everything is pretty old school. If you want to get away from hip New York for an evening and stuff yourself with Spanish soul food, this is as good a place as any.

Had dinner with my girlfriends last night. The seafood paella was excellente… we also tried the octopus in olive oil and paprika, didn’t really enjoy it much, if you never tried it, its really soft. I thought it would be like the calamari, but the two 1 lb broiled lobsters were deliciouso… If you visit, at least order one for the table. An added bonus was the homemade potato chips.

If you are looking for real spanish food in nyc, this is the best place by far! I’m originally from Spain and believe me, this is the best spanish restaurant I’ve had so far in the US.
I’ve been living in nyc for over two years now, and had given up on finding a good spanish restaurant. All other places in the city I’ve been to are overly expensive, with small portions, and taste just good but not great. So you cannot even believe how happy I was when the other day I finally found a good spanish place I can go to whenever I miss home! Seriously, I was so happy, I had given up already on finding a good spanish restaurant here, which was surprising given how good nyc is for dinning out.
El Pote is delicious, taste really similar than what you find in Spain, and the portions are very generous, similar to how they are in Spain. Also, the price is really afordable for nyc standards, which I really appreciate as a student :).
I went the other day and tried: Paella Valenciana, Paella de Marisco, squid (calamares en su tinta), and scallops (caracoles). Everything was delicious, but the Paella Valenciana and the Squid were specially amazing! It’s a must to order them at least once if you go.
I’ll definitely be coming back many more times and update the review with everything I try!

The seafood paella was good! There were a lot of seafood. I gave it 4 stars because it was a bit salty but I will be back for more.

Great service and ambiance. I felt like there were always two waiters willing to help whenever I was looking for something.
I had the paella. The flavor was rich, portion was huge, and there was plenty of seafood but where is the burned rice from the bottom of the pan? This was not served from the typical paella style pan/​skillet but more like a pan that was baked in the oven.
$ 34 for paella, white wine, and salad, tax included.

Great place to have a food-​gasm. The paella is excellent and I am always torn between the escargot and the squid in its own ink as an appetizer.
Such a hidden gem, walked past it a million times, but so glad I tried it. Really authentic, right down to the old men at the bar watching soccer.

Went here during a business trip based on good Unilocal reviews. Wow, this place fell down in so many areas. I got the steamed pulpo, which was really delicious, and the seafood paella, which was unremarkable. In addition, the atmosphere is pretty poor. I think they’re trying to be a «nice place,» but exclusively lighting your restaurant with ceiling fan lights doesn’t convey that, nor does letting the CD stop, leaving a silent restaurant.
I think this place has potential, but I won’t be going back.

4.5
Every Sunday while growing up in the homeland my mum never served a paella with socarrat*. We are Spanish, from Spain. Would you think her cooking is not authentic?
Seriously …
To judge a near-​perfect dish if you go by a check-​list may not be fair in many occasions. For instance, the paella served at El Pote Español has no trace of socarrat on it; however, it is one of the most Spain-​evoking dishes I have taste in the city. I do still recommend the ones at Socarrat restaurants, but in my opinion those has gotten into a dynamic where efficacy and popularity overcome the essence of cooking. On the other hand, El Pote Español uses fresh ingredients, abundant seafood and importantly all cook together to bring each flavor into the dish.
Tradition stays in an establishment that has been around for over 30 years. And so it reflects the décor. If you check-​list digs fancy similar to many of these presumably best tapas restaurants with big names behind, then you may not be happy either. And I said presumably taking the entire sense of the word. El Pote Español however, keeps the home cooking character that for those coming from the homeland is recognized from the moment you step in. The smell. people’s character, even the set up of the space. The service is really friendly, very classy and not tight up by any means.
Surprisingly?, tapas is not their featured menu. Given that Spanish cuisine is not only tapas but based on full dishes their menu may be a-​non-​so frequent approach as we are used to in NYC. On a personal note, I think the tapas concept developed in the city give perhaps the wrong impression of Spanish cuisine. It is certainly fun but it does not make sense whatsoever.
I do agree and know that not everything is perfect. For instance, some of the desserts belongs to Latin American cuisine. I can imagine the influence from the staff working over the years. Also, I ordered once (and last time) the Seafood Salad. Skip it. While the amount of scallops, lobster, shrimps and so on could serve 2 people at least, it failed greatly on execution and seasoning. I would also avoid the serrano ham or cheese plate. For that kind, Pata Negra is really the place to go.
This being said, Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), Pulpo a Feira (Galician style octopus) Tortilla (Spanish style omelette) and sopa de lentejas (lentil soup) are a must. Absolutely outstanding are the paellas. One order should be shared among two people at least. My favorite dish? Arroz con bacalao (rice with Cod).
While El Pote don’t follow NYC Spanish restaurants style, there is not doubt that it is certainly among the best Spanish Cooking Pot (= El Pote Español).
*layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the paellera (pan to cook paella) once the rice is cook.

The restaurant looks like a quaint, little place from the outside, but once you step inside, it’s a pretty loud and busy place! The paella valencia is soo good and comes with plenty of seafood and meat in it. The shrimp and escargot tapas are very good too, with plenty of garlic sauce good for dipping your bread in. Servers were very friendly and the place is pretty casual.

I liked the cute, old style ambiance of this little place and the waiters working there (dressed old school– so cute) were SO nice!
Only had the Valencia paella. Maybe because it was almost the end of their (cheaper) lunch special time, near 3:00, it came out right away and tasted old– as it had been sitting around a while. It was no more special/​better than a paella I could have made at home for much less and it had too much oil. I’m also not big on mussels/​clams, so my mistake for ordering that… I just wish there were more chicken (that was good!), sausage or shrimp. Oh well. Something different to try for lunch, at least!