Joe's Place

Food was great, the people were even better. Wonderful, friendly neighborhood place. We loved it. The desserts were over the top and my pernil had the exact flavor it should, crispier would have been nice, but it was just fine. Portions were so big, I took half home.

Joe Torres---What happened to your Place? Just over 2 years ago when we went, all the food we ordered was good. So good that we kept saying that we had to go back again sometime. Well...we finally got back there and brought our daughter with us. She, like us, was happy to have some PR food, you know, good old comida criolla. We started with the pastelillos con queso---and it was a good start. They were served piping hot, the crust was thin and flaky, the cheese portion was generous. We oohhed and aahhed over each bite since each bite brought back memories of eating pastelillos back on The Island. It all started to go downhill after the pastelillos. Once again, I ordered Arroz con gandules y cerda. The arroz con gandules was properly prepared, the rice was moist with plenty of gandules (pigeon peas). However, the chunks of pork were overcooked and dried out. I ended up leaving most of the pork behind. Our daughter got chicharrones de pollo sin huesos (sin huesos=without bones). It came to the table looking like your basic chicken strips. Most of the pieces were either overcooked and all were bland. My husband got bistec encebollada, his go-to dish at PR restaurants. He said that the flavor was spot-on but by now you can guess it --- the beef was overcooked. We got a side of platanos maduros. Do I have to say it? Well... I guess I must --- they, too, were overcooked, and obviously so as they were brown instead of golden yellow. My daughter pointed this out to the server, he took them back to the kitchen. When he returned, he said that the kitchen was out of platanos maduros and would we like some tostones? We declined because overcooked tostones...well...they're pretty bad when that happens. At least, we weren't charged for the platanos maduros. The other saving grace was the rice and beans. My husband and daughter each got a side of it as part of their meals. The red beans were prepared guisado style (stewed) and the flavor and presentation were both spot on. The white rice was properly done. What a disappointment, Joe Torres! Your website name drops when it comes to celebs who have dined here. I ask you---would your kitchen serve overcooked platanos maduros to Marc Anthony? We had to apologize to our daughter. After all, we built up the dining experience here and she was looking forward to it. Without prompting, my husband said that I have to update my Yelp review. That said, we do agree that we all liked the pastelillos con queso. For some reason, most PR restaurants in NYC don't offer them on their menus---so, thanks for that at least, Joe Torres. In closing, we don't think that we'll schlep up to The Bronx again to eat here---and that's really a shame.

Food is to die for. I've been going to this place for years! Great staff, great food, low key place.

Great Food, Good Atmosphere, I got my food fairly Quickly and It Looked very presentable and tasted Even Better. The drinks could use some work Though. I ordered a Hennessey Colada and it was weak and cogniac was used to make it, but it definitely wasn't Hennessey