Puerto Viejo

tight squeeze for the large group that we had for NYE but they were more than accommodating and the food was fantastic!
A very home-​y feel to the place, the people and the food which I think is what really got me to like the place.
And while it did take a while for us to get seated and for the food to come out, I did not mind it at all with the atmosphere (and of the course the ridiculously large crowd we brought in.)
Would love to try this place again with a smaller group one day!

$ 1 Empanada’s and $ 5 Sangria’s…best $ 20 dollars I spent, and I left mighty tipsy. Great décor, super sweet staff. Its a great spot for a couple or a couple girlfriends going to happy hour after work.

Delicious food with a friendly staff.
The picadera appetizer platter ($ 18) has a good variety and will feed 4 people. Lots of delicious fried food, beef, sausage, and other goodies. We shared a bunch of dishes and I liked the pernil the most. But try to get it with yellow rice instead of the yuca that it comes with. The mains range from $ 9-​$ 14, so very budget friendly. The oxtail and fried chicken with the bone were misses for me though. I also had an Arnold Palmer which was very sweet. I had to add water to it and it was still super sweet. Not particularly a bad thing, just took me by surprise. We also didn’t like the maduro and yuca fries sides.
A few other minor cons — the restaurant is a bit small, if it’s cold, there will be a gust of cold air when the door opens, they don’t seat incomplete parties, and it’s cash only.
But definitely worth a visit for the appetizer platter and pernil with yellow rice!

Amazing! Food was delicious and the service & ambience were superb.
Happy hour $ 1 empanadas are so good!
Will recommend this place to anyone I know that is traveling to NY!

Their food is amazing and the fact that it’s a small family owned business makes me like it even more… Now that I’m writing this review I’m wondering should I be going there to dine tonight

Liked it so much I went twice IN ONE NIGHT.
I have a friend that frequents this spot pretty often and she finally talked me into stopping in because I was in Brooklyn one night. She described it as a small family owned Dominican restaurant that only takes cash. I pretty much had painted a mental picture in my head of what this spot would be like.
The outside had this rustic but warm décor that was inviting. It is not a large establishment and not a place I would bring large groups of people unexpectedly. The bar seats about 5 or 6 people comfortably. The décor inside was absolutely amazing and I was informed by the staff it is all pretty much original.

I ordered the red sangria since it was on happy hour for only $ 5 bucks and I ordered Pollo a la Parrilla. To start they brought out some fried plantain chips that had this amazing garlic butter dipping sauce. The sauce was a great compliment to the chips. The sandwich was seasoned perfectly and the watercress was a great addition to the sandwich. The sangria was great and tasted very fresh and not watered down like some establishments.
Pureto Viejo completely over exceeded my expectations and the staff was extremely helpful and kind and I WILL BE RETURNING SOON.

Beautiful little Carribean restaurant in Crown Heights. Upscale/​industrial/​vintage décor, wonderful staff… like a family. We enjoyed the Mofongo, Empanadas, and Cod Cakes. Again, it’s a tiny place, so check with them before you carry a large group over there… cash only when we went.
Can’t wait to visit the revitalizing neighborhood of Crown Heights and Puerto Viejo again!

So I had high expectations for this place.
Reviews and pics looked
So we tried Moro and pernil. (lunch special)
3 empanada, beef, cheese and chicken.
Also had a white sangria.
Moro de guandules was burned ! I hate that smokey flavor burnt rice has. I truly don’t understand how the cooks let this come out from the kitchen.
Cheese empanada was fine.
Chicken was actually better then expected.
Beef empanada was horrible, had a very weird after taste. Too much Dominican oregano maybe.
Sangria was mediocre at best.
Had very few fruit pieces in it, which is what I look forward to most.
The lady at the bar was really nice.
One day I’ll give their dinner dishes a try and see if that could change my opinion.

I came here and shared the Picadera. The crispy pork and Dominican sausage were my favorite, but everything was cooked perfectly. It was definitely a treat. To drink, I had the sangria, which was made how I like it (fruity, but not too sweet and without fizz). Cozy atmosphere and friendly, attentive staff.

This is a small restaurant serving up some of the best Dominican food. They start you off with some free plantain chips with a garlic dip. The chips were just perfect.
I had:
Bacalaitos ($ 5), which is salt cod fritters drizzled with a homemade sauce. There were two pieces. It’s slightly chewy, but you can taste the cod and the sauce compliments well with the fritters.
Pollo Guisado ($ 10), which is chicken stew served with white rice and red beans. I felt the chicken could’ve been more flavorful. It just taste like chicken with some light seasoning, but it was still good and hearty. The rice and beans were great.
Yuca Frita ($ 3), which is fried yuca. Yuca tastes similar to potatoes, so if you like French fries, definitely order this. For the price the portion is pretty good.
Maduros ($ 3), which is sweet plantains. Plantains are similar to a banana, this is a must order for me, because I love sweet plantains. Although it’s sweet, it goes well with the savory items we ordered.
Flan ($ 5), which is like a pudding custard type of dessert. They have coconut or the traditional flavor. We went with the traditional flavor. It was very tasty and perfect to end the meal.
The food was wonderful and the price is amazingly inexpensive for dinner. BTW, it is CASH ONLY.

Found this restaurant because of the review of the day, otherwise I don’t think I would have ever known it was there, it’s on a pretty secluded area, we drove there from Park Slope and found parking right away, we were actually surprised that this nice restaurant was actually on the block it was on. The hostess was nice and gave us several options on where to sit, the tables are very small! Actually the place is very small, and since we knew we were going to pig out, we needed a bigger table, so we opted to sit at the high table in the middle, with hopes no one sat next to us, which thankfully they didn’t. The waitress (Cynthia) came right away and took out drink orders, we decided to get some white sangrias which were very good. For appetizer we had the sampler platter, which was sausage (I loved them!) fried cheese (also very good) my husbands favorite (fried chicken) beef, and tostones. We also ordered the bacalaitos, which were good, but way to chewy, but the flavor was delicious, we weren’t able to finish them because I felt like I was never going to be able to swallow them. For entrée I ordered the churassco, yellow rice & red beans, everything was good. My husband got the pork chops, I tasted them & they were very good. As full as we were I still ordered a flan to share, they had regular & coconut, we went with the regular, and wasn’t disappointed. The service was great, and so was the food, thanks to review of the day (yesterday) if it wasn’t for that I would have never discovered this hidden treasure.

Very good Cuban sandwich. This place used to be a rice and beans pernil slinging no frills Spanish restaurant. It’s now the same thing a little dolled up and sucking up that hipster money. Hey why not? Still good to go for Spanish meals.

Amazing and authentic Dominican food!
This place is family owned and has been open for decades.
The menu has a great variety of chicken, pork and oxtail dishes, empanadas, rice and beans, plantain, and delicious desserts. I’ve been here twice and I’ve tried the sampler with Dominican fried cheese, sausage, chicharrones, roasted chicken and pernil (roast pork), rice and beans. They offer a nice sangria during the week and happy hour. Of course, you can always wash all of this down with an ice cold beer.
Great menu and atmosphere, with live music some nights. It’s about a 10 min walk from the Eastern Parkway subway.
Puerto Viejo is cash only!

Oxtail — more bone than tail — and the chicken — from the freezer to the microwave! Another pretentious «bistro» that believes they’re actually selling Latin food? Question mark because I still can’t believe it. And the hype around this place is ridic!!!
Their oxtail is literally — LITERALLY, six bones with barely any bit of meat on it and straight up tomato sauce from THE CAN !! 16 $$$!!! WTF! Lol
Did anybody see that pic of that sad little piece of fish with the fake ass fine dining sauce around it? That pic reflects everything that’s wrong with this place.

A few months ago I made the mistake of letting my best friend taste my sister’s cooking and he hasn’t stopped bugging me about pastelon since. But my sister lives in the suburbs now so I knew I had to find something to tide him over, otherwise I would have to buy a lifetime supply of duct tape to shut him up. ‘Cause it’s not like I don’t have enough little sister inferiority complex problems ya know?!
It took some time and serious research (one does not mess around when it comes to pastelon). I settled on Puerto Viejo because like I said, good food can not be kept under wraps, and certain island foods can not be kept secret. One of those things: PASTELES!
THEY HAVE PASTELES! IN THE LEAF! It’s a regular menu item! Pastelon AND pasteles!
Everybody knows, no one makes pasteles like your great-​grandmother does. Luckily, someone’s great-​grandmother is in the back ’cause this one was awwwwesome. I had the chicken one and was so giddy when it came out, that just like when I was a kid I made a mess while opening it. I remembered why my mom always insisted on opening mine as a kid; I was always so excited I would forget to put a napkin down and would inevitably spill water or grease all over myself as I opened it. Yup… some things never change! Don’t care… it was just like I remember my great-grandmother’s and I was in heaven. Now every day can be Navidades! Happy day! Happy day!
The pastelon was juicy and sweet. I like mine a little sweeter, but this is the age old debate about pastelon so one can not be harsh about these things. My friend was satisfied and felt it was an adequate replacement for my sister’s, so I will now get some peace!
We also ordered the mofongo. I don’t even like mofongo and I liked this one. Ironically, my friend liked the mofongo more than the pastelon! He’s so fickle! But then again, it was all so delicious how can you blame him for loving great food.
I hear the churrasco is awesome, and as a churrasco fiend I will most certainly be back to try it along with the sangria that was also recommended. Sounds like a perfect happy hour to me!
The service was really great too, and the food being so fantastic and reminiscent of happy days spent in my great-grandmother’s kitchen high in the mountains of PR, not only will I be back, I’m bringing a lot of friends too!

This place is a local hidden gem.
Great lunch spot that is probably the best bang for your buck if you want some latin flavor. Just be sure to ask what the lunch specials are — cause the menu doesn’t list them.
Dominican style entrees that will be sure to hit the spot. You can’t go wrong.
Sandwiches were filled with juicy cuts of meats and cheese.
Great for sharing!
The slow roasted pork (pernil) severed with a crispy piece of the roasted pig skin on top was amazing. This is like your Manhattan version of Tina’s or Sofie’s, except it is owned and operated by a mom and pop. Wash it all down with a lemonade.
Worth the walk over to Grand Ave!

Hipsters for the win yet again!
BF and I had date night here this past Friday and we were both pretty impressed with how good the food is here.
We ordered the beef empanadas and the chicken empanadas, and the picada for appetizers. For entrees I ordered the oxtails and he ordered basically a lasagna type dish, can’t remember the name of it but it was ground beef and plantain layers. We both really enjoyed our food. The oxtail was nice and tender and just so yummy.
I was less impressed with the tres leche cake that we ordered for dessert. The piece was rather small for $ 5 and the cake was too dense for my liking and I didn’t really taste the condensed milk.
Other than that, there really isn’t anything that I would not order from here again.
Service was nice and personable. Seating can get a bit tight.

I love Puerto Viejo for so many reasons:
THE FOOD/​DRINKS
–Omg, the Chimi Burger. I ordered it for the first time this past weekend after a climbing sesh and inhaled it like a madwoman. It comes with tomato, onion, and a Dominican slaw on top, and yuca fries on the side. I have a mad craving for another one!
–Mofongo al Pilon. This is what I normally order here. It’s mashed green plantains mixed with either chicken, pork or veggies. It’s served as a ball with a thing of sauce. I like to destroy that ball ASAP and mix the sauce all up in the plantain mash. So delicious and filling!
–Sangria is solid: perfect combo of wine and fruit.
–Wine options are on point. Highly recommend the malbec.
THE LOCATION
–It’s in a rando corner surrounded by warehouses and car mechanics, which happens to be just a couple blocks from my apartment. It’s slim pickins in my immediate vicinity, so I LOVE that Puerto Viejo is here if I need some delicious food in a pinch without venturing out too far.
THE SERVICE
–Super chill, welcoming, friendly servers. I strolled in at like 10:45pm on Saturday night knowing that the kitchen was closing at 11pm. I fully expected them to scoff for wanting food so late, but instead I was welcomed with a smile and menu, sans warning.
THE AMBIANCE
–Dimly lit and intimate. There’s a long, narrow table in the middle with stools, surrounded by a few tables and a full bar. I haven’t taken a good look at the décor, but for some reason I get the feeling I’m in a pirate ship. On Saturday night they were playing Latin music. During the week it’s a bit more chill.
Highly recommended!

This is solely based on a pick up order. I will be back to update when I dine in.
So today is Memorial Day — and not that many places are open, so I was a little hesitant to walk all the way to Grand avenue from Franklin Avenue, especially to a spot I never tried. The walk wasn’t that bad — 15 mins at the most, and it was well worth it.
I ordered the Oxtails with yellow rice and red beans and it was really good! The only disappointment I have is that there wasn’t much mean on the ones I received. Although oxtails is known to be more on the bone side, I was still hoping for miracles.
The older lady behind the counter took care of me — she was very attentive and seemed genuinely nice. She welcomed me to the neighborhood (as I just moved here and expressed it) and made sure to inform me of their lovely happy hour times M-​F 4−7pm). I will definitely try out their Sangria. I don’t think they have their liquor license yet, so just wine and beer .
The place was nicely decorated — they have some really cool, artsy canvases on the walls. Their bathroom was clean and cute.
The downside to things are they don’t accept cards. In this day and age, cards are essential, but they have a ATM near the bathroom, so its not like you have to trek very far for cash.
will return.

Heard about this place but haven’t been until recently for lunch. Felt displaced at first with all the garages nearby but the feeling of «desertedness» adds to the charm. The décor is rustic but still modern, atmosphere vibrant. Everyone who came in were either people working nearby or locals who knew the staff. We found the service good & friendly but then again the place was half empty when we went during lunch.
Their berry sangria and the monir sorando were delicious and strong. The empanadas… I mean that’s what an empanada should look and taste like. Beef was better than the chicken, and they were so inexpensive! We had the Pernil Mofongo and Bistec Encebollado with a side of rice and sweet plantains. The garlic sauce accompany the plantains was on point. Our dishes arrived promptly and were both delicious. I preferred the bistec over the mofongo, which could have had better flavor. Good portion sizes without being gargantuesque (too bad if you are super hungry).
This place is a bargain, especially during happy hour.
Cash only.