El Jefe Sports Cantina — Restaurant in New York

This establishment had a few pros, but just not the place for me. For some of the cons, I can’t really fault the place because it is just not my theme. Other cons, it is 100% their fault. The one silver lining here is that they had my drink of choice on tap (Angry Orchard). That is fine, but this is unfortunately where the positives end. I am not much of a drinker, my main focus is on the food which is why this was a let down. I really was unimpressed with the plates that came out. Firstly, the taco portions were just awful. I have worked at restaurants, I know what they are doing. I predicted they would have terrible 3 taco portions, and I was more than right because they only served 2 tacos! No sides, and they laid the tortilla flat to make it look like more food when it was not. Nice try, I have seen this many times but no, not fooled here just because a paper thin tortilla covers more plate space does not mean I am going to be fooled into thinking it is more food. The coconut shrimp came with the tails on as well, that is annoying to me, but that is just my preference. Everyone was in agreement the taco portions were a joke. The third strike was the lobster mac n cheese. Never in my entire life have I seen lobster mac come with the lobster on the shell. TAKE THAT MEAT OFF AND SERVE IT NORMALLY! Lobster Mac is served with chunks of the meat within the mac, we do not want to battle our food on the plate. This was the most minimal effort I have ever seen put in bar food. The sliders were the 4th strike; also very bad and the buns were soggy. When you are serving food that is three bites, at least toast the bun or give me something on the side. My sliders were so soggy they did not even stay together which was just Icing on the cake. The fifth strike was the Chips and Guac; Seriously? They gave us next to no chips with the guacamole. Chips are dirt cheap to make and I know this from restaurant experience. They could have given us more chips that would have at least taken up some stomach space and earned them another star but nope. For the 6th strike, they had no form of diet soda at all..... This is a bar.. I am not entirely sure if they would have let me bring in my own. I was thirsty and wanted a diet drink; all they had to offer was water and club soda which is unacceptable. This is an example of a small thing completely ruining an experience; even if the food was good, I can’t enjoy good food if I can’t hydrate myself and I do not enjoy drinking water. I would have settled for any diet soda, but Diet Coke is one of the most popular drinks anywhere in the world. It would be cool to offer that in addition to all these fancy drinks. I even asked if they had any Splenda at all, and they did not, which means I was thirsty. So as per the reasons above, I was very displeased and would suggest they redo the menu and maybe go back to the drawing board. Shell in lobster mac, Soggy sliders, No chips, worst portion of tacos I have ever seen in my life, no diet soda options? Just because some of the food was on the happy hour menu does not mean they can just skimp that much! I am not going to fault the establishment on being too loud, because that is just typically not my scene. Thank goodness I had good company and that they had Angry Orchard on tap but this...

SCAMMERS. I am really disappointed with the service at this establishment. I lived in this neighborhood for more than 15 years and have seen establishments come and go. My father has business relationships with many of the restaurant owners in the area and so I knew the spots to check out or avoid. When El Jefe first opened up it was THE place to party. It became so popular they hired more security and staff to manage the venue. The owner acquired the spot next door, Tu-Kan.

I had some friends visiting who wanted to party like we do here at Washington Heights. Of course, I had a few spots I was intending to show them and El Jefe was the first. I frequent passing by and always see people having a great time.

We were getting checked by their security guards at the front, it was a few minutes before 10:00PM. There were two staff members next to the door to enter. I was the first to approach and the lady said that we just missed the time where a cover charge of $20 was NOT required. I looked at the time and saw it was 9:59PM. I remember vividly because I then asked at what time the cover charge comes into effect. She REFUSED to tell me and said that it started and the fee is $20 to enter.

Three things came to mind, the cover charge for a fact started at 10:00PM - we arrived at least 5 minutes before 10:00PM because we were getting checked by THEIR security (the staff members at the door were in full visibility) - we were getting scammed.

I would not have minded paying the cover charge if (1) I knew I was late (2) The establishment was lively with people -we were the first big group to arrive.

Im not taking away from the party scene at El Jefe because it's still fun. This is so you are aware of this SCAMMING culture amongst the staff that you may fall into. Be extra...

This experience left a terrible impression. We paid $20 each to get in. We sat at an open table up front and were told we had to order food to sit there. We ordered wings and drinks to start, planning to order more. Moments later, the hostess questioned our server right in front of us, then came over and said, “No, no! One app and one drink isn’t enough to sit here!” It felt rude and unnecessary.

Trying to smooth things over, we ordered more— another appetizer and additional drinks. But things only got worse. While using the restroom upstairs, our server followed us and asked how we planned to pay. We asked if they accepted Apple Pay—they didn’t—so we asked about an ATM. When we came back down, security was waiting for us like we were trying to skip a $50 tab. We were embarrassed and confused.

Then came the most bizarre part: the manager refused Apple Pay and Zelle and said there were no electronic options. Who doesn’t accept Apple Pay in 2025 they need to update their card terminals. But after a kind man saw what was happening and paid $70 in cash for our tab, the story suddenly changed. Our server told us we were all set—but as we were leaving, the manager stopped us and insisted we now Zelle him personally, even though the bill had already been paid. So first Zelle wasn’t allowed—and then suddenly he wanted it sent directly to his own Zelle account? Completely unprofessional and shady. We sent it just to not cause any more problems.

This place is a mess. The staff was rude, the management was sketchy, and the whole interaction was uncomfortable. I wouldn’t recommend this...