abc cocina — Restaurant in New York

First time dining at ABC Cocina, and the first impression started off a little shaky. My friend and I had a 530pm reservation and walked in and stepped to the side because the host was taking care of a couple of people who had just arrived before we did. So, while we were waiting for her to finish, a three people group came up on the other side to wait as well. So after she finished taking care of the people before us, she turned to the three group party and asked how can she helped them. Now, this is when my mind begins to wonder. I know she saw us come in and step to side, waiting. The other group wasn't even there when we arrived. Graciously, the older white lady in the group said to her (host), I believe they were here before us waiting. I let her know we had reservations, and while she checked, I turned to the lady and said, "Thank you." Now, in that moment, we looked at each other, and both understood without saying a word. What had just happened. So as she takes us to our table, she sits us next to two gentlemen in the right-hand corner. So now, I'm thinking all these tables are free, why sit us here. Maybe the seating is based on the number of people from reservations. Also, the seat was shaky as well as the table. I let my waitress know, and she took the seat away and fixed the table. Now, from this point on, everything was excellent. The servers here were amazing, attentive, polite, and friendly. We had at least 5 to 6 servers back and forth at our table, making sure everything was ok with food, water, and drinks. My rankings from what we had beef tacos#1. It was the best tasting beef I ever had in a taco, amazing. #2 calamari, perfectly seasoned crispy skin outside and tender inside with the tasty pickled onions and sauce. #3 chicken tacos perfectly seasoned crispy skin outside, tender inside and flavorful. I would like maybe something else added in taco, like the beef one. #4 the mushrooms, never had these types of mushrooms before. Great flavor and nice texture with the cheese added and their hot sauce on the the table put this dish over the top. #5 Spring pea empanada was different but tasted good, hot, and cheesy. #6 guacamole was fresh and tasted good. I never had guacamole made this way before, and chips were crisp. #7 Heart of Palm Salad was good and fresh. Just could have been a little more on the plate. I had one fresh beet juice, and we also had a few basil margaritas. Overall, the food, drinks, servers, and the two gentlemen we sat next to made our experience...

My fiancé and I came in on Mother's Day around 1pm for brunch without reservation. To our surprise, there was a table available and we were seated immediately. However, It took quite some time for our server to come over with the menu. And when he did, he didn't seemed too interested in us. He hurriedly explained the menu and scrambled away.

Although our server suggested ordering 5-7 plates for the two of us (which I thought sounded a bit ridiculous), we decided on one small, one large, and one masa/rice plate.

Small - fluke - we counted 7-8 fresh sashimi pieces swimming their chili lime sauce - light and refreshing - perfect way to start a meal!

Large - tuna burger - tuna was blend and the jalapeño aioli was one dimensional - straight salty. Thank goodness for the habanero sauce at the table. The sesame bun was perfectly toasted tho!

Rice - arroz con pollo - their signature dish - large enough to serve 3-4 people, thank goodness we stopped at 3 plates because we were stuffed! This was definitely the best dish- the chicken was tender and juicy, the rice was creamy and perfectly seasoned. With a squeeze of lemon and splash of habanero sauce, it was money! Definitely well worth the price!

I didn't recall our server ever come back to check on us. They did have other servers/busboys come back refilling water. Not sure if we were supposed to get a bread basket too but we did notice every table around us received one.

Overall 3.5 stars but with meh service = deserves...

What a dream! First of all, the vibe of this place is GORGEOUS! Underwater theme with seashells coming out of the walls and amazing light fixtures everywhere. Wouldn't expect anything less from an ABC restaurant! We came here on a Wednesday night without a reservation but they seated us by the time we finished our first drink at the bar. Which brings me to my next highlight of the evening. The MARGARITAS! We tried the Classic, Mango and Passion Fruit. Our favorite was the smokey passion fruit marg and the mango came in close second. The mango margarita is served in a martini glass with a chili dipped, dried mango chunk on a skewer. Fancy! Once we got to our table (they don't allow food at the side seating around the bar, only at the bar or at tables.) we ordered the guacamole, the gooy ham and cheese fritters and the griddled fish tacos. ALL were AMAZING and wonderful and made my girlfriend and I do a little dance with each bite. We went with the non-fried version for the fish tacos which were delicious with pieces of pickled ginger and cabbage on top! Nice twist! We were told the chef recommends the crunchy/fried option for the dish so we will have to try that next time. I honestly can't imagine the tacos tasting any better though. For dessert we tried fritters dipped in mexican chocolate and the flan. We were beside ourselves with how delicious everything was. Definitely going back!...