Lechonera El Barrio

I totally agree, good food (although far from being Spanish food, Caribbean would be the correct name for it). The service is horrible, very rude women in a bad mood and always yelling. The volume of the merengue and bachata it’s unbearable. Pick up your food and run or even better send someone you don’t like to pick it up. Can’t call for delivery because they hang up on you. But I’m glad because it’s so greasy that my waistline would disappear.

Came in wanting to eat a good plate of spanish food. Walked in with my family and sat down. No one came to take our order for awhile and there was no menu. Finally found someone to take our order. The food was great. But the service was not. After finishing our meal no one came over the entire time we were eating to check if we needed anything else or to bring us the check. Had to literally get up and go to the front to the register, tell them what we ate and then pay.

If you are in need of your Boricua grandma cooking, you need to come here! The food was amazingly delicious. Yuca con bacalo y cebolla, to die for. Plus they have maví juice! The plate sizes huge, the prices, very low. I had a huge meal with drinks and dessert and spent less than $ 10.

My go to for spanish food in the area. The prices are super cheap, and you always leave with tasty food. I love getting the whole chicken, meal for days. Honestly the portions are so large it’s always meal for days.

Pure garbage, rude, horrible.
Tienen unas malcriadas sin educacion trabajando ahi. La comida es horrible. Cuando primero abrieron eran buenos, ahora es una porqueria.

I really wanted to love this place. When we first walked in, everything appeared very promising. Nice and clean, good smells, crowded, you get the picture. But we sat down and the service was not that great. Indifferent waitresses, long waits for stuff. I’d write that off if the food delivered but it didn’t. We got the Grilled Chicken breast w/​rice and beans and the Pernil. I was so in the mood for the pork that it was really a let down when it arrived dry and flavorless. I’ve had waaay better. I had to put salt on it and that’s the first time that has ever happened to me with pernil. The rice and beans were good (red beans). The chicken was also a little dry. The prices are very reasonable for lunch but I wouldn’t go back because I can get much better food of this type on SI. Another weird thing was the waitress never brought us a check — she just walked over and said, «It’s $ 14.» No biggie but it caught me off guard. Maybe it was an off day for them.

Everything took forever to get done. The women behind the counters are the cooks and servers and even if you are the only ones in the place they still take like 30 minutes just to make a simple omelet and coffee. The food somehow came luke warm and it tasted old. No thank you. It only got two stars because the place and wall art looked nice and distracted me from the food.

Great Spanish food in East Harlem. Lechonera replaced Sandys for me. Sandy’s got new management, and new cooks, therefore the food went downhill. Flavorful, tender, authentic pernil, fluffy arroz con gandules, amazing pasteles, great roast chicken. All other cuchifritos in the neighborhoods food is way too salty, or something is just off about the flavor. Very highly recommended.

I ordered breakfast from here once… a vegetable omelette with cheese and a side order of their fried cheese. The woman took forever to make it and it was extremely dry and was a waste of money.
I have also ordered dinner from here several times… their baked chicken is good.
The only thing I dislike about the place is… their food is inconsistent with taste. Sometimes it’s good… sometimes it’s not. Sometimes they deliver the food fresh… other times it taste old! :(
But compared to the other Spanish restaurants close by to this area… this is the best one.

I’d probably give this place 3.5 stars if I could, but rounding up seems fair. The portions are huge and the price is very reasonable (lunch deals average $ 6-​$ 7) and you get a lot of rice and beans. The amount of meat you get can be inconsistent depending on who serves you and service is so-​so (especially for us gringos). That said, I really enjoy both their goat and oxtail.

Good PR food. From CA visiting NY — on the search for Guavate style lechon. This place has good food with friendly staff.

Love, love, love this spot!
Ventured to Lechonera for the first time today and what a great find! The restaurant is small and was practically empty when we arrived. Service was super friendly from the gate — guess we lucked up. My companion is a regular so that may have had something to do with it however I doubt it.
We had:
Baked salmon, white rice and red beans
½ rotisserie (white meat) with steamed yucca and red onions
The salmon was so tender and well seasoned. Melts in your mouth. I didn’t try the rice or beans but they smelled amazing.
The chicken was some of the best I’ve had thus far. Moist, flavorful — so juicy. I had asked our waitress for gravy and she knowingly offered me garlic sauce instead. Sooooo good.
I also had the passion fruit drink which was a frozen slushy. Not what I was expecting but good. Not syrupy or overly sweet/​overpowering. Nice sized cup for $ 2.
Everything in the display looked delicious.
Clearly a neighborhood favorite. I’m definitely a fan.

Really good roast pork like mom makes. You get alot food enough for two people and not expensive. amazing.

Excellent food, Horrible service. Took off a star because of that. Was looking for an early lunch after going to Mount Sinai & found this place through Unilocal.The food tastes like ‘healthy’ Latin food! Fresh, flavorful, not greasy at all.
Unfortunately I feel if you’re a regular or a Spanish speaker, you will get served (or possibly not– keep reading). I feel there’s little incentive for the Four/​Five workers to be nice since they seem to have a steady stream of phone orders & the in-​house lunch crowd.
You place your order at the counter, eat, then pay. There was a group of 8 construction workers right when I entered, I thought great! Fast friendly service, they all got a mix of meat, rice, beans, a lil yucca, stew, spaghetti (yes, next to their RICE & pepper steak) in top speed. They finish & male worker with the threaded eyebrows barely acknowledges me (& I’m pretty sure he’s fluent in both languages). I semi-​assertively my order for the Lechon Asada, yellow rice, beans, & ask if I can have a piece of yucca. But can I have it in a to-​go tim because I probably won’t finish it. «Sure no problem!» He tells me to take a seat.
Waitress brings me (white) rice with the beans (not in a cup), & pernil with a giant chunk of skin covering it. Not in a tin. I figure, maybe this is a sign not to eat colored rice– but I rarely eat colored rice:/ I eat anyway & it’s all pretty tasty, pork perfectly cooked, not too salty, the bean juice tastes like it’s been simmered for hours. Oh– waitress brings me a water– do I tip her?
I’m done eating & want to wrap up just the rice & pernil. The waitress has sat down to snack & chat with some electricians, with her back towards me. Figure I’d just go up to the counter & it’d be faster. There’s THREE people working on a phone order. Looks up but tells me one second. They all are involved & walk to the back & up front again. Lady come in and waits, she complains to me that they’re so slow. Older man comes in & asks me why I haven’t asked them for a container. I said I did twice. I feel another person behind me. Finally young guy asks the lady what she wants, totally ignoring me. Counter woman asks whose next & was about to serve the older man until he’s like, Pack her food! I point to the pernil/​rice part & say only this, not the beans.
She’s shoving everything into little container (I carefully had segregated the drippy beans). I go to meet her at the register to pay but decided to open my package right there. Am not going home with bean soaked rice cuz I didn’t ask for it! I tell her in Spanish that I only wanted the rice & pernil. Think she misunderstands me & makes a face, goes off to get beans. I leave $ 6 on the table & go to the garbage & dump out the beans part. What a sour ending! The food was very good though unfortunately. The place is Very Clean, that’s a plus at least.

Honestly, i endure the terrible service here because of the good food. I give 1 out of 5 stars for service, the food deserves a solid 5 in all fairness…
Flat out the service sucks! I wait 15 minutes to order food, then another 15 for one of their 10 servers to schlep around to prepare my food. This is a small restaurant so 10 servers should be enough to get people in and out but I feel like the girls just hang out behind the counter.
Anyway, if they stepped up the service I would be much happier.

Delicious pork (specifically pernil). The rice and red beans are worth the trip alone. Chiccharons are extremely generous and juicy. I’m going to try the cuban sandwich soon. The service is a little slow, but good things take time. The roast chicken is great for the price too, juicy, and tasty.

The food is excellent here. They never disappoint me at all. Now look here, I am going to educate you a bit. When you go to any Dominican restaurant, you must drink either Country Club or Red Rock (my fave is red). Next, for some people, you must eat your meal before going to the gym, because your booty will grow grande. Now if you are a lady, you are allowed to go for seconds.
Please, do not act like a gringo here. Keep it simple, rice-​beans-​chicken, move forward. Cannot speak SPANISH, just speak normal English or just point to your desire selection.
Everything is good here! Trust me!
After you finish your meal, use the bathroom. Yes, sit and hold onto the bathroom sink and clear your whatever. Day dream about that meal. Wash your hands. Walk with your partner a least 10 to 15 blocks romantically. If she or he complains, tell them you are just following instructions. What we doing is preventing the atis. That is when we tend to get sleepy. Yup, girls you will love the meal and these tips. Now, the booty comment is just a joke, but if you ate 5 plates and rear have no growth, is ok. We love you anyway. 5 stars; that includes great customer service.

I’m not sure if it set a record for most sneering, reluctant service of all time, but it did set one for least interesting salad of all time, with a 98.4% Iceberg Quotient. Those few cucumber slices were all that stood in the way of pure iceberg doom. And, yes, I’ll take some of the blame for requesting salad here.
I can’t give it the lowest rating as the pork was garlicky and cheap (it would have gone well with the rice and beans I ordered but didn’t receive.)

Oh Wow, just WOW +_+
It was my first time trying Puerto Rican food and I was WoWed! I was so craving for some yummy but cheap Spanish food and Midtown sucks in that department. Made a trip to the Spanish Harlem and ended up having lunch at this place. I had the $ 6 Lunch Special of Pernil (Roast Pork), Yellow Rice, Bean Soup, and two slices of Cheese (Cheese was extra $ 0.75/each). The meat portions were generous and specials come with a HUGE bed of yellow rice.
The food was definitely delicious! The pork was definitely finger lickin’ good and I liked the fact that the ladies that work there bring the food out to you and take away your finished plate too. They speak limited English but are really friendly and there to assist you. For the $ 8 I paid, it was a definitely a steal! Will return in the near future!

Many locals coming here. There was too much work for the ladies here to get your order in fast. We mistakenly decided to sit down for table service, but learned that it would’ve been a LOT faster to wait in the cafeteria-​style line, get food, sit and chow down, and get up and go.
We got the oxtail stew with yellow rice, $ 10 (they gave us white rice but it would’ve taken forever to report the mistake and get it switched, so we sucked it up. It came with beans anyway. The meat was tender and the stew gravy is so savory), mofongo with roast pork, $ 6 (it was rather dry, and not riddled with as much lechon asada as I’d hoped. The gravy was the same as the one in the oxtail stew), and a papaya milkshake, $ 3 (very creamy). We asked for water, assuming they’d give us the iced tap in the pitchers right next to our table, but they gave us bottled instead.
Rather than argue for what we wanted, we accepted whatever we got because we just wanted to finish fast and leave. The food was nice and hearty. If only service were more efficient, I wouldn’t mind making the trek there again.