Cilantro Tapas & Bar

Where do I begin Cilantro is awesome– went today for my daughters going away on a trip. The service is great. The food was amazing. Our waiter was the sweetest and it was nice seeing wall murals from my country up in the Hudson Valley. Thank you Cilantro we will soon return

CILANTRO’S is my favorite go to in the Hudson Valley. I try something different every time I go, I’m always satisfied. Though I try new items I ALWAYS take a to go order of the pernil, rice and peas and yucca. I love it. The staff is very pleasant. The owner and chef are as well. The bar is fully stocked and the ambience is great. I always recommend this tapas bar to anyone one looking for good Puerto Rican food.

One of the most mediocre meals I’ve ever had to be honest. I don’t know what the hype is about. Food took forever to come, and when it did there was zero flavor in any of the dishes we ate. I just dont get it. Maybe its the only food like this around, but its not worth the price

Cilantro is one of the first places I’d ever visited in the Hudson Valley that gave me hope that good food exists here. Too bad it’s not down the road. Cilantro has delicious tasty authentic food. Their mofongo is to die for. The salad, fresh, light. The desserts, delightful. The portions sized perfectly, even for tapas bar. It doesn’t feel like you’re eating rabbit food with Alice in Wonderland proportions. The service was kind and attentive and the mojito were also yummy. They were not the best ever, but perhaps the best in the Hudson Valley thus far. The food and ambience were on point and clearly I’m picky. The tres Leches was not my favorite. It was in need of a little more milk and needed a tidbit more sweetness. All in all, I’d definitely recommend to anyone and it’s one of those places you drive to for dinner even if it’s out of the way.

Went yesterday after reading all the reviews the food was great good Spanish food. I been up here 3 years and it’s hard to find a good Spanish food restaurant…

The food, service and drinks were stellar (ask the bartender to make you a «vacation»). Definitely coming back!

This is the first time Ever that I have NOT tipped the waiter. I always tip but could not this time. The service was abysmal.
She never came back to check and see how our meal was or even that we got our meal. She didn’t refill my husbands soda or my drink.
I had to Flag down two different ladies to get some help.
The food was tasty but definitely not worth the hour wait and awful service.
They get one star for the food. The only tip they get is: improve your customer service.

This place is insanely great. Never had such good where Everything is so tasty and beautifully fixed. Highly recommend the slow simmered pork tapas — cuts with a fork and literally melts in your mouth. The Cuban sandwich is better than anything I have eaten even in Tampa’s little Cuba.
Tastefully decorated, superior service, and worth every penny.

Wonderful flavorful food. Each dish had is own unique taste, one more delicious then the next. Terrific service. We all left looking forward to our next visit.

Fellow Unilocalers,
This place was a great find! Thanks to all the previous reviews I was able to make a definitive decision as to where the best place in town is.
This place is a hole in the wall restaurant the kind that’s really good and the kind that you want to stumble upon. The food here is fantastic! Very authentic taste and atmosphere. I ordered the skirt steak with rice and beans and a side of sweet plantains. What a delight this was to my pallet, steak was cooked perfect!
The main reason I came here was for the flan but I’m blown away by the menu too many good choices. I have traveled a lot and paid a lot for food that does not even come close to the quality here.
Cheers!

Came here for dinner on valentines day. We didnt make reservations but they were able to sit us at the bar. There were a couple of tables that remained empty the whole time we were there but whatever. Placed our orders but another couple after us got their food first, then we found out that empanada was supposed to be ours since they didnt even order it but they ate it anyway. again, whatever, just have the kitchen make another for us. the rest of our food finally came after waiting 30 mins with extra empanadas that we didnt order. waiter/​bartender told us not to worry about it. beef empanadas were good, chicken empanadas were just ok, fried rice was good but a lil salty, pernil was very salty and oily. the best part of my meal was my strawberry lemonade. just the right amount of sweetness. be careful though, next thing you know, youre tipsy. or maybe im just a lightweight? Anyways, this is probably not a place we’ll be rushing to go back to. oh and btw, we only ordered 1 serving of beef empanadas but was served 3 plates and got charged for 2 plates

My f***ing God! Not even an hour since I left and I’m already writing a review. If y’all saw my smile right now, you’d immediately trace my steps to Cilantro’s.
My last attempt to eat here was a failure cause it was packed, so I opted revenge which was scored today.
I sat at the bar and was lucky to catch happy hour after 6 o’clock which was a major plus.
The bartender served up a very proper coconut mojito which was very short lived, so my next choice was a Cilantro Martini which was done great and tasted like a lime/​lemon drop and this again was done right, so bet I’ll come here for just drinks in the future.
After reading a large menu, there was a mofongo option which I ordered that had stewed chicken and house salad.
The salad alone was unexpectedly very good and didn’t taste like the standard, and not many places make it with a spring mix.
The mofongo… I must say can turn an Athiest like me religious… Amen! It was powerful. It reminded me of my friend’s mother’s authentic Puerto Rican food, very tasteful, juicy as hell, and the mofongo was done right… Not dry but moist and the garlic sauce complimented it perfectly. If I couldn’t get fat, I’d eat this daily.
I also had the magic cake to go and mind you, I barely do desert once a year but I was already on a food high so I got it and heavily enjoyed it.
The review is long enough but I can go a few more paragraph’s about this so just go and experience what I just experienced and you won’t regret it. And the price really wasn’t bad, in comparison to the over rated spots I’ve been to, this deserved my every penny.
Salute!

I always drive by and decided to stop in, I’m glad I did. It’s Puerto Rican food done right! Or, well enough to trick a white guy into thinking how Puerto Rican food should be :)
I ordered the black bean soup for starters. It was amazing!!! It had big chunks of garlic, cilantro, and it came with awesome bread.
For the main dish, I had El Plato Tipico. It was shredded pork with a white starchy thing, almost like a potato. And rice topped with pickled onions. It was great! I expected it to de dry sense it didn’t come with any sauce but, the juices of the pork made it awesome.

I so seldom take the time to do reviews but last night had such a wonderful birthday dinner with my girlfriend and her sibs and my sibs. Food was great, service was great.
Just formal enough to be special but casual enough to be very comfortable. Definitely going again. I think we had 10 taps dishes all terrific.

Awesome find up here. Definitely enjoyed the ambiance, the food was great. I had maduros made to perfection. The empanadas stuffing wasn’t quite bountiful but taste really good. The filet mignon wasn’t cooked to mynliking but still very tasty with the chimi sauce. Wait staff was very pleasing. I would definitely come back next time I’m up here tho

What a Great Place. Welcoming, Beautiful open space, great staff, prices reasonable and food is delicious.
Highly recommend best in Orange County.

I did enjoy the food here at Cilantro’s; but the prices are too high. Most of the items are individual a-​la-​carte type selections so the prices are high. For example, rice and beans are like $ 6. Then you can buy your meat option, mine was like $ 12, then I wanted tostones — another $ 5, etc. Again, i enjoyed the food but the prices too high.
I went here on vacation and did enjoy myself. The owner was nice. But I later discovered another place right in Walden where I was staying. It was a much smaller place, but the food was just as good, portions bigger and the prices way more reasonable. I got everything for $ 7 (rice, beans, steak, to-​stones).

looking for a cool restaurant to try on our way home we tried this great tapas place. A lot of variety in the menu we tried empanadas, house tacos, grilled bread and garlic, pernil, and tres leches cake for dessert. Everything was delicious (pork was very tender). The whole bill was only $ 35 and food came out very fast.

Overall the food and service was good the 1 hour wait to get our food a little too long. Good native Puerto Rican food.

In case you are still wondering whether or not to go to Cilantro, here is your sign: GO! Right now! Don’t wait one more second! It is fantastic!
I first learned of Cilantro late one night when visiting a lovely ice cream and bubble tea spot a couple doors down — there was fantastic dance music and a delicious smell wafting from the restaurant, so I wandered over to look at the menu. It was close to their closing hours, but one of the handsome waitstaff spotted me perusing the menu and came outside to invite me in, assuring me that it was not too late! Unfrotunately, I was not free to come in then, but I promised to return another time with friends for supper.
Friday rolled around, and I phoned for reservations (they are not needed if you had fewer than five in your group) for 7 p.m., which we thought would be a good test of the restaurant.
We were first of our party to arrive, a few minutes early, but they seated us right away instead of making us wait for the others. While we waited, we got the chance to look at the excellent choices on all the menus. We ordered a passion fruit mojito and a margarita while we waited. There is a bar along one side of the restaurant, but it was not being extensively used during supper time except for diners’ orders. (The bar was much more populated the night I had come by closer to ten p.m., so my guess is they have achieved a nice balance between family hours and partygoer hours :)
Around us were festive groups — families out for supper, a group of women celebrating a birthday, a young couple — a very nice mix who all were enjoying the excellent music and the kind attention of the beautiful and extremely competent waitstaff.
Our friends showed up, and ordered their drinks — everyone loved the mixed drinks, and there was even a limited selection of draft beer for the beer lovers in the crowd — types that were suited to the cuisine, nothing heavy or overpowering.
We ordered exclusively off the tapas menu this trip, which meant plenty of chances to taste all the deliciousness available! Everything was fresh and spot on with flavour!
Among the dishes I remember:
Tostones with an amazing garlic dipping sauce
Cilantro’s signature pair of hummus
Zaida’s fried dumpling shrimp purses
Tacos de los casas
Beef empanadas
Chicken skewers
Meribel’s Pernil Asado
Arroz Cilantro with a side of pink beans
The Magic Cake
Coconut Flan
Their coffee goes extremely well with their desserts, by the way.
We were really allowed to take our time and enjoy ourselves, and the table was constantly refreshed by the very attentive (and did I mention, handsome and beautiful?) waitstaff. When they noticed that we had run out of the chips that came with the hummus, they brought us more in a jiffy, they kept our water topped up, the empty plates cleared, and our drinks refreshed. They also were happy to answer any questions about the place and the food, and made us feel completely pampered.
I cannot adequately describe to you the symphony of flavours that danced on my palate that night, but suffice it to say that I have plans to return VERY SOON! Everything blended so well together — there was not a bite out of place. After sampling the variety, I think you can safely order anything on their menu and be well pleased.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was that the plates were of a generous size for tapas, and the entire bill was EXTREMELY reasonable (everyone commented on how much more we thought it was going to be), especially considering all that we had to eat and drink!
On a side note, the coconut flan was specially made that night and wasn’t a regular menu item, but it was SO GOOD that I hope they consider putting it into regular rotation.
I cannot wait to return, and I hope they stay open for at least a hundred years and a day!