Paladar

This place is pretty cool. What made us come in was the colorful neon sign outside that said «FUN!»…I mean, they were upfront so we went in. We were looking for a cool bar but this was more of an open, light restaurant. The waitress wouldn’t give us a table unless we were going to eat, even though we told her we were going to sit and drink. She then said we could sit at the bar but every seat was taken and there were about 5 of us. So after being super hesitant she said we can take a table but if someone walks in and wants to eat, we need to peace out. We saved her the hassle and peaced out beforehand. Thanks anyways, Paladar!
Note: They do have $ 5 margaritas so that’s a plus…

*3.5*
What do you do when the Aerosmith suddenly gets turned way up, and all voices besides Steven Tyler’s disappear? If you’re at Paladar, you have a few choices. 1. Wrinkle your nose and look around to see what everyone else is doing. 2. Eat more chips. 3. Just keep drinking.
What do you do when the sweetness of your cocktail gets turned way up? If you’re at Paladar, you have a few choices. 1. Wrinkle your nose and look around to see what everyone else is doing. 2. Eat more chips. 3. Just keep drinking.
(Mild) rants:
— The chip dips have apparently changed, and not for the better. Not that you get a whole of any of them. Why such meager servings?
— A vapid server.
— Was the A/​C on? If so, close the doors. If not, get a fan going. Or something. It’s hot in there, and I’m just sitting and eating, not cooking or pouring drinks. Felt sorry for the staff.
Redeeming factors:
— That amazing watercress salad with huge avocado slices, grapefruit, jicama, and mmm… all things good and refreshing.
— Drinks as low as $ 4.50 at happy hour. (Even if the cocktails are crazy sweet.)
— The promise of trying the sopes with black beans and cotiija cheese next time. And just having a beer.

Paladar?
What happened to you?
Maybe you were having an off night. I don’t know… but you left me… well, wilting.
As cara a. said, turn on the a/​c and close the doors. Yikes, I was sweating and I hadn’t even tried the super hot sauce yet, nor was I soused.
The mojitos I raved about were «off.» Waaaay too sweet and not minty enough. And, where oh where were the two bean dips that used to come with the chips? Boooo. Again, I agree with cara: why the minuscule portions of salsas? The fried plantains were still delicious as was the watercress salad with avocado and grapefruit with vinaigrette (light, refreshing).
I still like you Paladar, and will be back because the happy hour prices cannot be beat… but let’s bring back the white and black bean dips.
Pretty please?

I stumbled upon this place when trying to decide between various mexican places off Rivington.
The $ 5 summer margarita deal was what got me in the door but afterward it was the food that kept me in. I will definitely go back — and I recommend all others who reviewed it negatively do so, too. It was DELICIOUS…
The most perfect guacamole — with slices of smoky guava in it – was a great way to start the meal. I ordered the Pernil Burrito and it was perfect. My boyfriend had the vegetable empanada and the mahi mahi tacos.
I was so satisfied. Mmmm.

I love it when things play out right.
It was here that I came across a cubano more akin to a hamburger. Imagine that! After a brief moment of déjà vu I proceeded to do what I do best, I dug in!
This was the juiciest cubano I’ve had so far. It wasn’t the most filling, however I did enjoy that this cubano comes served up with a side salad. I even enjoyed the salad; yes me! Imagine that!
And so, there I sat by my lonely self, with my lonely cubano (that comes with side salad & tangy vinaigrette dressing), and my ice cold Negra Modelo. That was my dinner. Or, so I thought.
What does it is say about a place, where you’re getting ready to go at your food, and in pops, not one, but two Unilocal Elites?
They were none other than our very own, Lisa A., and Brian H. (*ahem* stalkers *ahem*)

Went here for my 25^th birthday with a group of ~15 after much searching. They have a large room in the back that is great for large groups — you aren’t separated from the rest of the restaurant, so you don’t feel cut off from the main area. If you have over 8 people though, they force you to get a fixed menu of 3 appetizers and 3 main dishes, which they serve family style at $ 30/​person including tax/​tip with drinks and dessert extra. You have to call ahead to let the chef know what you are ordering so they can have it ready soon after your party has arrived. Our tabs easily went way north of the $ 30 as we spent a few hours going through plenty of drinks.
Service: Service was prompt, and drinks were constantly replenished. My only gripe was that they needed us to finalize how many people were coming while were at the restaurant, and not everyone had arrived. We ended up having a few more people show up, but I don’t believe they brought out any extra food. That being said, the food they brought was –just– enough for us all and considering we had a long night ahead of us, was probably a blessing in disguise because…
The Fo

Lucky for me I came across this place on a Friday night while looking for a quick, delicious bite to eat.
Though the place was busy, the host greeted and seated me quickly. The drink and food menus both offer lots of lots of choices. (Food, think ceviches, sandwiches, full plates.)
I tried the guava BBQ sauce pork ribs with apple slaw, along with a rum and horchata drink. Both were great (not necessarily together though, but I really wanted to try the horchata cocktail!).
The food and speedy service, plus one very awesome waitress, made my experience here a great one. I’ll definitely be back — either for drinks at the front bar area or to have a another awesome meal.

I got taken here for my 28^th (gulp) birthday dinner with a bunch of my friends and for a Monday, we had a hoppin night! We just missed the Happy Hour which is from 6pm– 8pm and serves up seriously slashed drinks and apps, but that’s OK (because I wasn’t footing the bill, heh). They were very accommodating with our group settling us into a long table and serving us extra chips and salsa as we mowed through our baskets in record time.
We decided to get items to share and chose from a variety of the tacos, ceviche, empanandas and because Katherine wanted to say it, the duck arepas, among several other dishes. We definitely over-​ordered as the items are MUCH bigger than described on the menu (not that we were complaining). We also chose heavily from the assorted cocktail menu which serves up your standard singles or pitchers of sangria, mojitos and margaritas, but also throws a few kickers in there for a good measure. I had a spicy pineapple tequila beverage who’s name escapes me, but it was fresh and had a lovely kick to it — not sweet at all!
I would absolutely come here again to split a pitcher and some apps with a pal at the bar during Happy Hour, or suggest it in a heartbeat for another celebration that required a big group. They took care of us, didn’t rush us out the door and the food and drinks were tasty to boot.

Walked in on a weeknight for dinner and really had no idea that I was going to eat, drink and be merry without a major price tag. The caipirinhas were excellent and the service was quite attentive (it wasn’t very busy though). I ordered shrimp ceviche and carne asada tacos and this was the perfect amount of food. My friend ordered from the prix-​fixe menu for just under $ 20 and got three courses, all of which were consumed almost immediately and resulted in clean plates.
The atmosphere is really nice and low-​key. It was one of those meals where they bring the check and you think it’s going to be a lot more… and it’s not. A solid 4-​star experience!

We stopped in for a quick meal on the way to Bowery Ballroom for a concert. We were on a no-​drinking diet (I know, lame) so we skipped the mojito’s. They looked amazing though. I am extremely picky when it comes to Cuban food (I grew up in Miami), but I gave it a try.
Paladar has a Prix fixe menu for dinner that includes massive family style dishes for $ 19.95. I was impressed with their cevice. It was very close to the Peruvian style (which, to me, is the only way to eat it). We couldn’t decide on the main dish, so we got the two that appealed to us and shared. I didn’t want to share mine when it came out though.
I ordered the Pollo a La Parrilla which is lime & chipotle marinated chicken served with red chimichurri, fingerling potato & roasted poblano chile salad. It was so delicious, I almost finished the entire thing on my own. My friend ordered the fish of the day which had been seared with garlic and lime. It was paired with potatoes (not very tasty, and cold).
For dessert we ordered a flan– which was the perfect consistency, but the caramel sauce it sat in was flavorless. The other dessert we ordered was made of pan seared banana slices that were floating in a caramel sauce (which should have been the same one the flan sat on). I ended up dipping my flan bites in that sauce. The banana dish came with crème fresh and a scoop of homemade almond ice cream. Overall, it won out of the two desserts.

The food here was surprisingly amazing. And I’m certain it wasn’t just because of my late night buzz. I didn’t actually order anything, but I tried almost everything that our table ordered. I was impressed.
I did order a Caipirinha and a Mango Mojito. The Caipirinha was good. The Mojito was excellent!
The reason this place gets four stars only is because of the inconsistent service. Some of our food came as expected, while other dishes and drinks were slow or were forgotten completely.

Not a bad Latin joint.
The music is mostly modern, and the décor is sparse, lit colors of Christmas-​type bulbs, a few crosses here and there, and metal-​sheet tables, but the décor is adequate. Waited 40 min to seat 8 people on a Friday night, not bad. Mix of eclectic and localized beers.
Food here isn’t bad — the appetizers if you order two, will fill you like a meal. The stuffed pork chop was good and spicy, but the fries with the cubano were a bit too salty (and spicy). The side of yucca was fried and not too exciting. Mushroom and chicken and chorizo quesadillas were good, as was the empanada, but the mussels in tequila could’ve used some work (bread was disappointing there).
The saving grace — mojito was made with a stick of fresh sugarcane. Props for that. Otherwise this place would be a two. Group of eight — gratuity included.

Friday night birthday party with a group of 14 — Paladar accommodated the large group with ample service and a prix fixe menu.
Good news is that our meal and drinks were at pace of a normal meal, and it didn’t feel as underserved as an enormous group dinner usually does. They have great drinks, like Pisco Sours and yummy mojitos. Saw some interesting cocktail combos and sangria as well.
Prix fixe meant huge family style dishes. We sampled three appetizers and three entrees, and they were all OK. Appetizers included ceviche-​like dish, and main were chicken, ribs, and fish. Not a ringing endorsement of the food, though it might have been the volume. Nothing was bad but nothing stood out as particularly spectacular. A good solid dinner, roughly $ 50 per person.

Paladar is a refreshing bar/​eatery that I’d walked past many times but never went into. I’m a skeptic about Mexican food in NYC, mostly because the bulk of it either sucks raving chipmunk ass (yes, you did read that right) or is inauthentic. The latter I can deal with, the former, well, I leave that to the other chipmunks and gardeners. On the suggestion of a friend that lives nearby who also hadn’t tried it, we decided to give it whirl, and it was well worth it.
Now that I’ve completely spoiled your appetite with my colorful metaphors, let’s talk about… FOOD.
Our choices:
Mahi Mahi Tacos (they were on special with some mango salsa on the side. Grilled and ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY. I will be having dreams about these tacos… just sayin’)
Carne Asada Tacos (lime for squeezin’, little greens and delicious tomatillo salsa)
Shrimp Ceviche (bathed in lime juice and cilantro, drop some X, take off your clothes, dance around naked and pretend you’re at Burning Man good).
The margaritas were passable, but nothing special. They came out of a machine after all.
The service was especially nice and friendly, and it wasn’t so crowded that you wanted to punch anyone in the face or do any sort of irreversible surgery on any of the other patrons. Which is good. I think.
Get on down to Paladar. My mouth is watering just thinking about those Mahi Mahi tacos even all these several days later. Yum.

Hungry, disoriented and wondering around the LES, my partner in crime and I were in dire need of nourishment.
«‘inoteca is full up, the wait at Freemans makes me want to shit piss and Stanton Social is way too rich for my blood» I lamented.
«What about this place? Hey look, it’s owned by Aaron Sanchez! That guy was totally shafted on the Next Iron Chef America»
My Blackberry was out of commission for the day (fuck you RIM) so I was unable to Unilocal this place before hand (3.5 stars is usually my cutoff) but we were pleasantly surprised.
A perfectly made caiprinha, though pricey at $ 9, set the stage for a flawlessly executed mahi mahi ceviche, a refreshing arugula salad, and one of the best cuban sandwiches i’ve ever had. At $ 13, the sandwich was a helluva deal, completed by fries with chipotle ketchup and a small side salad.
Completely stuffed and satisfied, and only $ 55 in the hole for a dinner for two, we staggered out in a food coma, vowing to come back soon.

Dos XX’s on tap! Amber or Lagger?
You know I have to say I only had one item on the menu, and a beer but the sopes were suuuper tasty and the rest of the menu looked just as good. If I’m in the neighborhood again I would definitely come back. There was a live band in the corner and a larger back room. Unfortunately the back room isn’t as cozy as the front of the house and you couldn’t really hear the live bands music from back there (that would be nice) but then again that’s just logistics. Very cute cozy little neighborhood place that made me want to move. Well done.
Date Rating: 7
Pick up Scale: 5 (couples at the bar definitely not a singles scene)
Strong suggestions: bring some friends and share you will certainly have a hard time just trying to choose one item on the menu. are so many people