El Patron — Restaurant in New York

UPDATE June, 2021- I've been back here several times in the past few months. Presently they are serving inside (my preference) and also out side in shanties.

As I've said in the past: "VERY, VERY, GOOD! EXCELLENT in fact.... All of my previous comments remain relevant. I simply LOVE this place & think you will too! Note that the prices on the weekday lunch menu are very reasonable, prices on the dinner menu are much higher. ☛ End of update.

VERY, VERY, GOOD! EXCELLENT in fact. I've enjoyed every dish I've ever ordered. They have a GREAT KITCHEN. It does get crowded on the weekends, so I suggest you try it on the off days. Service is good, but as might be expected, it slows down during peak periods, Waiting for seating during peak times is a fact of life. It's also a sign of a popular establishment. I'm a happy patron of El Patron. I highly recommend this eatery!

UPDATE (10/1/20): I've been here a few times while the "eat in the street" edict was in place. Dining on "Beautiful Northern Blvd" (or 194th St,) is NOT my idea of a fine dining experience, but sometimes we need to go with the flow. If I have any problem with "street dinning" it was/is certainly not the fault of the eatery. In fact, I find it far preferable to the total shut down of eateries.

But I digress, El Patron is back with "Eat Inside Dining." (Although it is limited to the executive dining room on the mezzanine level.) GREAT! El Patron is, from my perspective, just a bit BETTER with fewer people dining......it is quieter. & sometime they even have the TV's turned off, for a still quieter ambiance as an added bonus. On the other hand it's difficult to understand how they will be able to make a living with only a third of a restaurant, & no bar operating. I'm guessing that it will eventually mean higher prices.

In case you are wondering, the FOOD IS STILL WONDERFUL!☆☆☆☆☆ all the way!

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UPDATE: Dined here last week, we arrived at 5 pm on Thursday, No wait to be seated, We were given chips, salsa. water & menus as soon as we sat down. The waitperson was ready to take our order as soon as we were ready. As in the past, the food was EXCELLENT

UPDATE 3/2018: I visited El Patron again after a long absence. Their menu has been updated, they have eliminated the erroneous & misleading information & pricing from their menu, so they are no longer on my $hlʈ list, I will return to my weekly visits. As in the past, the eats were EXCELLENT. The prices have been increased, but still reasonable for an eatery of...

We went there because our cousin recommended the place...kind of small for strollers, did not have enough high chairs... but we saw the waiter (also manager) with a little attitude toward us... but we didn't pay too much mind to that... food and drinks were okay nothing out of the ordinary... but just after we paid, the runner had an accident with another client behind my cousin and all the salsa felt on my cousin's clothes... the waiter( also manager) offered just wet napkins and over and over repeated that it was an accident that they didn't caused it.... but their salsa was on top of my cousin's clothes... we were going out and now because of this we couldn't... we were waiting for them to offer the money for the cleaners at least... and no one did.. when I asked for the manager it was the same waiter... and when we explained to her she just said they didn't have to do anything about it because it was an accident.. then when I asked for the owner she went I talked to him on the phone and then she told us that to leave the clothes or come back with the receipt... are you serious. .smh. he was going to leave his pants too?? ...no way. ... when we argued back she just treated us as just taking advantage of getting something free... we wanted our clothes paid to be clean... that's all .. so because she started saying nonsense I said to take away the tip.. she got worst... lol... it is just the principle it happened in your restaurant and you dont have any courtesy towards us... and just blamed us of taking advantage... very ridiculous... my husband talked to owner and hopefully they will sent a gift card . (But why should we send a receipt?) In reality I do not want to go back ... but it's just the principle of a great service... after a week my cousin just decided not to go back... there are more places who value our business..we are not losing anything , they are for just treating us as being the same as other "Hispanics", based on them. And we didn't take the tip away but next time this happens to anyone just do that... take away their tip.. it hurts...

Three stars for food, what they lack is their service. We were a party of three awkwardly waiting by the small standing space to get seated. Fine, I've been in smaller places and made due. We were seated nearby and our waitress, Yuliana took our drink orders of two frozen mango margaritas served in Patron bottles and appetizers. We decided on the table side Guacamole and empanadas. Both were delicious, however, I know you did not have fresh avocado in your cart so please don't play it off like this wasn't prepped conveniently. Our entrees were two of the Patron Combo which has an enchilada Suiza, a pork tostada, and a taco (beef?) and a full order of Enchiladas Suiza. Every dish has beans and Mexican rice. Perfect, the food and margaritas were so good. Yuliana stopped by once and the gentlemen couldn't wait to clear our tables.

Now, for the check. The party amount stated four people and already had an 18% tip in the bill. I am not a cheap tipper. You get my order right, bring my plate hot, and make my drink strong, I will always default to 18%. Mediocre at best for everything, 15%. You actually show love and care to your customers, I give 30%. Cash. Times are tough, its the holidays, whatever. You depend on your tip. I let it slide, thought it was odd but alright. The bill was split between two cards with the exact amounts written on the back of the check. I informed the man who took the check that the amount are written with the last four digits of each card. He ends up handing it over to a guy with a fawkhawk (the hell we still doin' that?!) wearing a secret service earpiece. The bill comes back and he splits it down the middle! Far from what the amounts were supposed to be. I had the intent of putting more tip in but I guess they wanted more money the sneaky way.

I can't go back to this place until I see more recent and positive reviews....