El Justine — Restaurant in New York

Set at the very « spiritual » heart of the Bronx, going to El Justine will make you feel like being part of a 70’s B-list blockbuster. Reaching the restaurant requires a stroll on Jerome street, right under the tram’s rail, as sparks are shooting off when trains pass over in a tremendous chaos. Don’t mind the very noticeable smell of magic tobaco from unofficial vendors laying their merch on improvised displays or the locals firing up unapologetically a Bob Marley as you make your way. Once you finally reach El Justine, the interior feels like an oasis, giving a well deserve break to patrons that dared brave the experience of Jerome street. Food is home made, honest and tastefull. A choice of daily soups and several Dominican dishes are available. You can either order take out (and run out of the neighborhood !) or sit comfortably in the dining room, enjoying the action outside through the large windows. Jokes apart, the place deserves several stars for its authenticity, great service, good food and great prices. If you wanna say you visited New York, go to the Bronx ! Then...

First time in Bronx and this was a place with great reviews, so we stopped by to try Dominican food. We were pretty disappointed with the food. Mine tasted like it had just been reheated in the mricrowave (parts of the carne with salsa were still cold). We asked for orchata which we’re told they had, and ended up with “jugo de ajonjolí”, which is not the same! The tostones were also cold and lacking salt/flavor.

Service was sub par. We told the staff we were new and asked for recommendations and she was not interested in helping out, simply pointed us back to the menu.

One of the bathrooms was so unkept it was not usable.

Overall we paid $62 for a family of 4, and sad to know this was our first experience of Dominican food and service. We hope we have better luck at another place...

If i could give less than a star to this place i would. I found a cockroach in my pastel en hoja i asked for the manager to see what i could do and he wasnt there and the workers were just staring at me and no one would call him or anything. I was so upset that the workers were just staring at me doing nothing while i was yelling. They ended up giving me my money back which was $2. That's all i got and a sorry. For finding a whole coakroach in my food. I threw up and was disgusted for the rest of the night. Do not go here. This place is dirty. The bathroom is dirty the tables are dirty the workers are not helpful or experienced the manager is never there, etc....