La Nueva Espana

I always enjoy going to la Nueva Espana on 2007, this spot offer some good drinks for cheap prices such as Mojitos and Margaritas for only $ 6.99 plus they taste pretty good, let’s not forget about the sangria and the nice roosted chicken with white rice and beans.

My parents like this place, it is pretty good for me, not a big fan of this type of food since my parents use to buy it every Sunday after church and the area sells tons of food like this, but if I am hungry I will devour it. It is flavorful don’t get me wrong, worth the investment if you like Dominican (Caribbean) food or haven’t ever tried it not to add the ladies are super sweet!

Just got back from another great meal at La Nueva España. Brought some relatives who were visiting from Melbourne, Australia. Everyone had a good time, enjoying the tasty food and friendly people.
I haven’t written a review in ages but noticed many reviewers piling on about the bad service, and just wanted to chime in about my positive experiences. Everyone’s experiences can differ, of course, but I have to say that in over six years of eating in and ordering takeaway the staff have always, always been friendly and respectful.
Not all the servers speak fluent English, fair enough. But guess what? I learnt a few basic Spanish phrases and the staff really appreciate the attempt to bridge the language gap. Sometimes we laugh when I say the wrong thing, but it’s all good. NYC’s diversity is one of its best features and certainly one I treasure. I don’t want to be in some boring ditch where everyone understands my frappuccino order because there’s not much else to get. Trust me, embrace the diversity now so that in five years’ time you can boast to your wine bar friends how you moved to the ‘barrio back when it was real’. Believe me, that day will come.
Sure, there’s usually a wait for the grilled chicken but I just put in a takeaway order and run an errand, and my food is ready to go in 20 – 30 minutes. The chicken tastes extra delicious when taken with a side of chill pill.
Tried the churrasco a la parrilla for the first time tonight. The skirt steak was tender and flavourful, and grilled to a perfect medium as requested. We also ordered some grilled chicken to share (gotta get the chicken!), a shrimp and lobster salad, some maduros, tostones and habichuelas (we opted for the red beans instead of black). We finished with a guava tres leches, a flan, and café con leche all around the table. Everything was delicious, as I’ve come to expect. My Aussie Posse were tickled by the waitresses dancing to the lively music.
Quite the lovely evening. No complaints, no tears. Boo yeah.

Wow the best chicken service sucks in every way. Three times I drive there and had to wait for that damm chicken the first time I didn’t know the chicken sold fast second time I called and didn’t call with enough time so I waited 20 minutes the rude girl said called 30 minutes before. I decided to give a third try I called from jersey which I figure it was going to take me 40 minutes and place the order well for my surprise there was no damm chicken that stupid rude b**** never seperated the food and told me to wait 30 minutes for the chicken I said f*** that Im not getting a $ 125 ticket cause there’s no parking I’m not going back there for a while They get one star for the chicken but get 5 stars for there stupid service

Best Dominican food ever! My family and I come here for lunch. The service is quick. The rice, beans, chicken and everything else tastes like if my grandma cooked it home made!!! Thank you.

Stopped by while waiting for a friend. Rude service and subpar food. Friend called and asked what I was was doing there. Gave me an earful about the place including:

I take out or eat at the extremely hectic counter, never a table. I always order ½ chicken with salad and a side of very well caramelized sweet plantains. The food is consistently VG. The staff is friendly, accommodating and remember my order. Generally quick, very reasonable.

The cashier lady is not friendly at all she should say hi and and bye and thank you, But the chicken is relly good. The lady’s taking orders are a little lay back service can be better. Funny conversations about not being educated and thats why you work behind the counter. no good

The service here is horrendous! They act as if though they’re doing you a favor. A paying costumer should not have to go through the attitude that some of the waitresses give. My advice would be to improve on your hospitality fast.

This is my favorite restaurant and I know that when I set my foot into this restaurant nothing will go wrong, their food is always great, their drinks are great. The customer service could improve a bit, but won’t forget the day when I was 8 months pregnant and craved for a shrimp soupy rice w/​avocado and even though they did not have any avocados ready to order, the waitress took upon herself to get the avocado for and prep it to have with my food. I LOVE this restaurant been going their for the last 20 years!

ZERO STARS
Oxtails and rice for a lunch meeting.
Absolutely do not recommend going here. Only ONE waitress spoke English… broken English. Let me reiterate… ONE waitress. BROKEN English. Anything beyond «hello» required her to pull out the prayer beads before she responded.
Had to wait over an hour for food and then they got the order screwed up, which didn’t make any sense since I specifically went over the order with the waitress step-​by-​step since she only spoke broken English. Asked for Spanish rice. White rice is not Spanish… maybe the rice suffered an identity crisis.
Wasn’t served any water until I asked for it. The water tasted like unfiltered tap water from the Hudson River sprinkled with hints of ass flavor.
The food itself tasted forgettable. Like a one night stand someone reminds you about years later. You wasn’t wasted, you just literally forgot not only the experience but the fact they even existed.
They were cheap on the oxtails, there were literally six oxtails and they were TINY, like I was the world’s smallest person and they were trying to accommodate my size. The cast of Little People, Big World wouldn’t even get full.
The order was also missing my salad. Never got the salad. Maybe the salad was prepared by Sue Storm and as a result she got her DNA on it so it’s now an invisible salad

Worst place. The workers are so irresponsible. I ordered a meal for pick up, half chicken with rice and beans. They told me I had to wait an hour so I did, when I got there they told me that I didn’t order anything and that I had to wait hour. I am 8months pregnant and I was starving, how was I supposed to wait more to eat. With that being said they have the ultimate worse service I am never ordering from there again. And the workers were extremely rude and inconsiderate. If I can give this 0 stars I would.

Their grilled chicken is off the hook!!! The food here, in general, is pretty solid, but I prefer to take it to go than the dining experience in house. Clearly, they focus more on their food quality than on their in house dining service.

just ate here and almost called the police. these prices are out of the ballpark a plate of empty rice 350… i had a slice of avocado 400 in addition to the lettuce which cost 500… for a party of 3 it cost us 45 dollars and we drank water… a whonle chicken 14.00…i asked the owner if she was the boss she denied then began to mock me over my complaining… i would never return… and imo make it a mission to let the world know… unreal…these ppl r stealing…

Food:
Not the best, but it’s worth going to a restaurant for instead of taking the time to cook yourself. Noticed complaints from other Unilocalers about undercooked meat but I haven’t had a problem.
Service:
I speak Spanish but my girlfriend doesn’t. When she’s with my, I prefer not to speak it to other people so that she understands what’s being said. Most the staff speaks English perfectly fine. Might have to get crafty with a few words but they’re very friendly.
I will say on a couple experiences, it felt like the waitress kinda passed us off to the guy bussing the tables. Didn’t really mind as we still got good and timely service, but I made sure to hand him a separate tip for himself as I was leaving.
Value:
Not bad any time, but they have some really good Sunday — Thursday specials to check out. The steak, shrimp, and mashed potatoes are good and get you full with some change in your pocket to spare.

Please never try to plan an event here. After going there 3 weeks in advance of my event (a baptism brunch), I was assured there would be no problem accomodating us. Could not get a hold of the person «in charge» of events to finalize food and details. Kept dealing with a waitress who assured me there was no event that day and that there would not be a problem. The week before the event stilll trying to talk to the events person to settle on food prices. Three days before the waitress tells me sorry the place is booked for that day. Really professional! I got stuck trying to scramble to find another place.
And lets not talk about regular service at this place– they are rude and unprofessional. Whether is asking for a delivery or walking in to have a meal. The lady that takes payment is the worst– she may be an owner I don’t know. She’s never friendly– always looks like she sucked on a lemon. I don’t know if they think they’re just so great that they can treat customers like crap. The food is ok but not exceptional– I can get that type of food with much better, friendlier service at about 20 different restaturants within a 1 mile radius.
SKIP THIS PLACE! The food is not worth the aggrevation.

I ordered 2 churrasco entrees for delivery, the lady on the phone was very rude and not helpful with simple questions that I had. Fortunately, the food was incredible.
However, I did find it odd that the delivery guy asked to use our bathroom.

For me, this is true soul food. I’ve had the pork mofongo, steak and grilled shrimp kabob special, and Creole and garlic sauce variations of the 20 shrimp and Margarita special. All were outstanding. We get fried green plantains each time, and warm hospitality; they never rush you out.
The atmosphere is casual and non-​pretentious. Only dislikes are that the dining area can get drafty when people open the door directly behind it, and the bathrooms are accessed by keys attached to metal sticks. That’s a bit tacky and out of place.
But the value is excellent, as is the consistency.

Maaaan, that chicken tho! Lol
Nothing to complain about, when the food is good that’s all that matter.

I have to agree with my fellow Unilocalers: the service really IS terrible here. However, the food is so good at this place that I keep coming back despite the horrible service.
The grilled chicken, which is their specialty, is my favorite. It’s seasoned to perfection. Period. The side dishes are yummy as well. I usually go with the fried yuca, fried plantains (tostones) or steamed veggies. Don’t ever have the breaded shrimp though. They’re so large that it’s puzzling.
The prices are okay; there are many other cheaper places with authentic dominican food. If you can deal with a little tough love from the waitresses, then it’s worth dining here. If not, I recommend calling in your order for take out.