Cafe Frida

Cafe Frida, at Columbus Ave., and their new addition at Amsterdam Ave., is an unimpressive and boring restaurant, that lacks the rich flavors and spirit of Mexican food. As for the service, it doesn't help at all to improve the ratings, and the sanitary conditions are questionable as well.

New location on Amsterdam between 97th and 98th. Great, creative, not cheesy or greasy mex food. Great drinks, great service (except the manager who was a sourpus). Would like to keep it a secret, but want it to succeed so it stays around too . . .

Food is good, but portions are small and prices are high. We orderd tacos (3 to an order) and they were tiny. We actually went to another restaurant when we left, as we were still hungry. Will not return.

Stopped in for a late lunch on Sunday with family and friends. The waiter was the only positive in this experience. The food was fair; however, it was not up to the standards of those in our party who had lived in the southwest. The tortillas were dry and did nothing to enhance the enchiladas which were served with white enriched rice. The worst part of the experience though was the drink order. With 6 people drinking margaritas, we asked if it was sold by the pitcher. We were told yes and brought a pitcher without calling the tequilla. Little did we know that we would be paying $95.00 a pitcher for what was essentially ice and maybe 6 slim drinks. When we complained, we were told this was the Upper West Side and they had to pay their bills. We negotiated a small reduction in the bill and paid but will not be back. It was not the money as much as the principle for all of us. If you enjoy Mexican food - go somewhere else. If you enjoy margaritas and expect to pay a fair price - go somewhere else. If you expect those margaritas to be made with something other than well tequilla - go somewhere else. In our party of 10 no one will be back again!

So after reading a decent number of lackluster reviews of this place my husband and I finally visited it last night after we were both struck with a serious craving for guacamole. I have to say that the food at Cafe Frida far exceeded my expectations. The queso fundido with huitalacoche (corn fungus) was amazing - far better than the one I had recently at Mesa Grill. The guacamole also comes in different levels of spiciness according to your preference and I thought that it was really good - on par with the guacamole served at Rosa Mexicana and elsewhere. Our server was also very friendly and very helpful. The table next to us even sent him around to other tables to look at what other people had ordered and report back to them before they ordered! All in all, I would definitely go back and would recommend that others give Cafe Frida a try regardless of some of the negative reviews.

Used to love this place but they've just let the food quality and service slide to the point all the good points are outweighed by the bad. Ate their last week - was impossible to have a conversation because we were seated right next to the bar and a very loud (funny but too loud) group of people had their butts in our plates practically....part of the decline is that the restaurant has gotten greedy and put too many tables in and they refuse to send people away - which means that people are waiting literally touching the tables of people who are eating. Maybe take out some tables and improve your health score on nyc.gov and I'll be back for your great drinks.

Cafe Frida had some interesting flavors that made dinner a great experience. The waiter was very friendly, did not come around too often, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The group of four in which we were, were very impressed with the quality of the food. Highly recommended!