Spanish Pavillion Restaurant — Restaurant in Harrison

I went to Spanish Pavilion last night Friday-9pm with 3 others friends. It was our first time there. We ordered apps fried calamari-Good (4 out of 4), baked clams w bacon(4 out of 4), (2) LI Iced teas (2 out of 4), a half a pitcher of sangria(2 out of 4), seafood paelle(the rice had a good flavor and the clams,oysters good, shrimp, calamari-in paella onlynot so good), churrasco (steak), pork chops, and a burger about $225.00 total more or less. The kitchen closes at 10pm. IDK if it was because they were closing or what? The apps were good 3 out of 4 enjoyed them. Main course 1 out of 4 were happy. The meats were seasoned well enough but were slightly over cooked. The burger was welled enjoyed. The paella was not up to par, it was bland and mushy but from the pics on Google I guess that's how they make it. I did inform them that it wasnt good and they took it off the bill and that was fine but they kept checking thier watches to see how much longer we were gonna be. If your kitchen closes at 10pm don't seat ppl at 9pm and then quietly rush them out. We could have gone to another restaurant that didn't close on Friday nights at 10pm. I doubt we will be returning there but if you go choose wisely. I understand being at work and having ppl walk in last minute and having to wait for them but in the food industry you can word things differently like as soon as ppl come sure I'll seat you just so you know the paella takes 40 mins to make ( made fresh per customer-that makes ppl think oh really ok) and if that's what you were interested in trying its best if we put that in along with the apps. We were told about the kitchen closing but if you want to go home then tell ppl as soon as they walk in. We felt rushed the whole time spent there, there was watch looking, table gazing but cash was seen and expected. I really don't like giving mom and pop business any kind of bad reviews because I know we are all competing with big business but there is always room for improvements. They had some pluses (the 2 appetizers) I guess it's up to...

Be aware of stale seafood. My wife got very sick after having dinner with friends there.

I left a more detail review on Yelp, but the owner contacted Yelp and have it removed because it is not first person account of what happened. Yelp has gotten so much worse now that they're kowtowing to the business so you can't post honest review there any more. So they removed my review on yelp based on something as ridiculous as I'm not the one that's eating there, but my wife was. I'm writing the review because she's so sick after dinner there. It's obvious the owner has contacted Yelp and order Yelp to remove my review there based on the ground that I'm not the one eating there, but I think I have the right to speak and this is as first hand as it gets, because I got to take care of my wife after she's puking her guts out after dinner at the place.

Anyway, here it goes. Spanish Pavilion is this nice looking seafood restaurant in Newark. My wife who works around that area has been there multiple times since for some reason her boss loves to go there, maybe because that's the closest sort of up scale restaurant near work. Every time she's back from dinner, she would complain about the seafood that was served, they are not fresh and they don't taste good. Not sure if it's a problem with operation or a problem with just the source material.

The last time she was there, having dinner with a large party of people. After she got home, she's puking a lot, to the point of totally taking her out. I don't think that's a co-incident because a friend who was at the same dinner, also was puking a lot. It is like the food is not clean because symptoms are consistent of stomach virus. At first I thought they just get stale material for seafood, but now I think handling of seafood is not well either.

Needless to say, she's afraid to go to the Spanish Pavilion. I told her next time your boss invite you, just say no and say you have to take care...

I was visiting for business and arrived before I was able to check into my hotel as it was full. I was told I could grab a drink down the street at the Spanish Pavillion. I do love food from Spain so I wandered on down. When I first entered, it was quiet (early in the day mid week) one bar tender made me feel at home, served me a well made espresso and gave me the wifi so I could work. I proceeded to order some sardinas fritas and a couple expenadas with some good Spanish beers. 4 hours later after Carlos took over and after meeting some fantastic regulars (and one old grumpy one with poor education and too much to say, typical in covid era). I had felt as though I was around the corner from my own home. As there is not much else within walking distance that fit that profile, I returned for dinner that night and the next day. Both times I spend hours there having wonderful conversations with Carlos and the bar rail guests. I had rack of lamb app, which was wonderful as well as a shrimp paella. Which was really just shrimp and rice. It was a little salty for my taste but was still yummy. They sent me off with a satisfied belly, the taste of good Spanish beer, food for thought and a decaf espresso to put me to bed. My first of many visits to New Jersey and I have nothing but good things to say about a small but successful family owned business that treats its employees Iike family and they pass that along to you, treating you as family. Graçias Spanish Pavillion and see you innthe new...