Sofrito

I recently celebrated a birthday party at Sofrito's, and yes the food was good. No doubt about it. However, that's about it. First of all, this was a surprise party and I spent 2 months planning it, When I arrived with my husband, the birthday boy, the hostess completely blew the surprise by saying my name and party of 14! I was mad, and the surprise was blown! Then she told me that I was the first in my party to arrive, and that we had to go sit in the lounge, when my entire party was actually seated in the back eating appetizer's already. They were completely unorganized! Our table wasn't even big enough for all of us. We had to squeeze in until the table next to us left. The meal was completely rushed. They practically took the fork out of my mouth while I was eating my salad. When we got desert, the forgot to ask us who wanted coffee, which was part of our pre-fixed menu. When I brought it to their attention, they lied to me and told me that they actually had asked my party and that nobody wanted any, totally untrue. They just forgot to ask. By the time we were going to get our coffee they informed me that our 2HR TIME LIMIT WAS UP! WHAT! WE HAVE A TIME LIMIT! I SPENT ALMOST $1000, AND HAVE TO EXPECT 14 PEOPLE TO EAT 5 COURSES IN 2 HOURS! WE HAD TO DRINK OUR COFFEE IN THE LOUNGE! My recommendation is to never have a party there, it is rushed, unorganized, and very disappointing!

I would like to say that this is a wonderful place to introduce your Puerto Rican heritage to friends and loved ones. The food is great and feels like your eating on the island. I went with my husband, we ordered an appetizer, a main course with desset and the bill was like sixty dollars.

After much talk of going to Sofrito (having frequented other restaurants by the owner), finally went on a Wednesday night recently. We did not have a reservation, as our decision to go there was off the cuff. The decor was nice and the restaurant was more spacious than I imagined. We had no problem being seated (arrival time was approx. 6:15pm). Had the paella and it was excellent and plentiful. Also had a pitcher of sangria, which I found to be more expensive than other restaurants. The place seemed to fill up right before our eyes and several birthday celebrations were in effect (evidenced by the waiters singing "Cumpleanos Feliz"). Unlike what I've read in other reviews, we found our service to be excellent when it came to placing our order, asking how our food was, etc. What we didn't care for was the waiter telling (not asking) us to sit in the lounge area to finish our drinks once he had collected our bill money (and 25% tip). I realize the place filled up, but I've had to wait for others in the past in order to be seated and am sure sitting at our table for another 5 or 10 minutes would not have disrupted the flow of patrons. Nevertheless, we decided to leave instantly because we were annoyed. Have to say an otherwise perfect experience was ruined by the staff's lack of patience. He may as well have placed an egg timer on our table and told us to leave when the bell rang. I recommend visiting Sofrito ... just don't get too comfortable.

The ambiance was beautiful. However, I arrived and waited for two hours to be seated. From the beginning, the hostess kept on mentioning that she could not give me an estimated waiting time for seating, which led to my girlfriends and me waiting 2 hours to be seated. We also engaged in a conversation with a couple who had reservations and they waited 45 minutes to be seated. To better explain it, we arrived at 8:00pm and by 11:00pm, we had our food served. In addition, the food is great and the music (salsa) was excellent. The drinks were exquisite and I highly recommend the "Sofrito Mojito". The drink prices were decent, considering it is a restaurant and NYC. The service was mediocre, including the hostess' lack of communication to the waiting customers regarding their waiting time. Excluding the hostesses, the service was satisfactory.

My husband and I visited Sofrito yesterday and had a great time. It is about time that a "Puerto Rican" restaurant gets the proper credit it deserves instead of calling it "nuevo latino cusine." The food was very good and the live music along with the array of excellent dancers was more than enough to make one shake in your seats all night long. The sound system was a bit loud during the band breaks but other than that the atmosphere was very nice. We are definately telling people about this place!

I went to eat in Sofritos last weekend with 2 girlfriends. I must say I was more than impressed. I was a little dumbfounded when I read a few reviews slamming the service. I'm wondering if these people were at the same restaurant I was at. The service was remarkable and the food was simply amazing. So much so that I brought my daughter there yesterday 7/24 for her 6th birthday because she is a very picky eater and I knew she'd be pleased with the food @ Sofrito's. Needless to say, she was ranting & raving to everyone in our family about how good the food is. I can't wait to go back.

I'd like to say Sofrito is a wonderful restraunt to have dinner but the service is not very good. I've been there several times and have had the misfortune of having the same waiter and his service was unacceptable! The lanuage barriers plus the slow response mad the dinner a bit hard to bear. Once the food arrived you where in total heaven.