Chacra- pisco bar Peruvian Cuisine — Restaurant in New Haven

I had high hopes when my husband made reservations at Chacra Pisco Bar for Valentine's Day. However, the experience got off to a rocky start when the person seating us barely acknowledged us. I just gave my name and he stared at his tablet in silence before I prompted that we were likely first on the list. In a standoffish tone he replied "I know" and led us to a cramped table in the very back, right by the bathroom and high traffic bar area. Once we got our actual waiter, the service greatly improved. He warmly presented us the Valentine's Day menu and let us know we could also order from the regular menu. The drinks from the cocktail-savvy bartender were excellent - her virgin Mojitos and Moscow Mules were perfectly balanced. The food was hit or miss. The empanadas with the creamy dipping sauce were sublime. My husband loved his lomo saltado. My salmon la haucaina was unfortunately overly salty, so I could only manage a small bite. However, the side of quinoa, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes was fantastic. Dessert is where things totally fell apart. The flan tasted so off that I immediately spit it out. My tres leches cake could have doubled as a hockey puck - when I tapped it with my spoon, it made a hard thud against the plate. It was dry and flavorless inside. I had to chase my first bite with water. We informed our apologetic waiter about the tres leches. He went to the same person who sat us about our concern, and he brushed it off. he asked for a suggestion from another coworker, and she suggested to offer us another dessert. Unfortunately, with our experience with both desserts we just named that it was just feedback and we were OK with the check. I am still happy that they at least tried to make that right buy us. So in summary - inconsistent service, drinks and empanadas were excellent, some dishes shone while others disappointed, and desserts were downright inedible. I wanted to love Chacra for Valentine's Day but the uneven execution means I likely...

We were back at Chacra's because now they have a patio, and it was a nice day. Unfortunately, we left disappointed. The waiter that served the water was absolutely rude, and it took some time to take our drinks and appetizer orders (the patio wasn't full). The first drinks were on point perfdct balance of heat and pisco. The pulpo was good but was different from the first visit there, the calamari frozen pre cut rings, the ceviche for $30 not worth, I would have expected a bigger portion. You can see the 1 year ago pictures to today's. Second round of drink not what we order, apologies accepted, thinking the dining room inside was busy so bartender was busy, but no it was empty and everyone on their phones ... no wonder they made the wrong drink. It's annoying because we were hoping to be good or better than the last time. It's not worth the price anymore. 8/31/24

Small place but big flavor. Everything was on point. Pulpo was so soft and delicious, I love ceviche, and I try to eat it every time it is on the menu. Their ceviche mixto is way up there compared to others very tasty Now, if you come to this place for Pisco like me, you are in the right place. If you like Pisco sour, you should try all the others mix. I had a Piscojito very good , and Pisco Sour Lavander was so good if you like Lavander. Rice pudding or Arroz con leche is amazing they put raisins so sweet...

If you want authentic Peruvian food, this is not the place for it. To start, the place is small and cramped. Next the service is slow. And last the food is terrible. They charge premium prices for bland food.

The Parihuela I 100% DONT RECOMMEND! This soup is one I have been getting for a while at other Peruvian restaurants. This one here is flavored water not broth with seafood mixed in. The shrimp are tiny like the kind that you get from frozen section. Crab had no meat and it was filled with cheap calamari rings. 32 dollars for a bowl of nothing. I had gotten one for me and one for my mother. She hated it, and of course it was on Mother’s Day.

The lomo saltado is a shame to say the least. The steak is not flavorful. You can tell the difference to other places. In other places, the steak has the flavor throughout the meat. Here, the meat only had seasoning on top. There was no yellow sauce or spicy sauce. These are staples when you order lomo saltado.

The appetizer of calamari was not worth the money either. It tasted like frozen calamari rings with breading. In other places they serve calamari with the tentacles. This one had nothing but chewy rings.

Overall, I do not recommend this place at all. 156 dollar bill, I wish we had gone somewhere else. Please read this before...