Ho'Brah — Restaurant in New York

Surfer-themed joint that's a nice addition to the growing influx of variety in Bay Ridge. I entered the less than half-filled restaurant and asked for a table for two. Noticing that my dinner companion hadn't arrived yet, the host asked if I knew her ETA. I told him I didn't, and was then made to sit at the bar. I was a little irked by this considering there were more than enough empty tables for me to sit at. I waited about ten minutes for my friend.

I had the Tostones that usually comes with Americano beef, but can be substituted with a different protein. Since it comes in a band of 4, we opted for two with the beef and two with the Sunset Pork. The Sunset was a delicious, "chipotle-orange-pineapple pulled pork, california cole slaw, pickled red onion, chipotle crema. I didn't get to try the beef as our server didn't mention which was which and I ended up having two of the pork tostones.

The guac and chips came with a nice heap of guacamole and a trio of colors for the chips. I was asked if I wanted salsa and though I told my waitress not to include it, she still gave me the salsa on the basket. No worries, I still ate it.

Consuela's pork empanadas were also tasty, and had just enough filling to balance out the starch. However, it could've done with a little more pork inside. The true star was the green sauce(salsa verde?) that accompanied it. When I ran out of guacamole, I finished the chips on account of this stellar, semi-sweet, semi-spicy sauce.

We then topped off the evening with a tartufo dessert. It has a chocolate outer crust, with coconut shavings, and filled with both coconut and mango ice cream. It's like an Italian version of the Japanese fried tempura ice cream: a nice combination of outer crispiness with the soft, yet intact ice cream.

After 2.5 hours had passed, and we had paid the bill, but were still in conversation, one of the managers decided it was time for us to go. He asked to move us to the bar. When I said, "we'll just go," he said that he didn't mean to make us leave. Well, isn't that what was being insinuated? I could understand that there were people waiting; let's keep it REAL, and just say...

TLDR: Expectations from prior visit unmet, decent food, inconsistent service.

The restaurant is pretty small, only maybe 10 tables or so. There is a bar. The restaurant was warmly lit and the decor was nice but it was very very loud.

We ordered the Wikea Brisket Quesadilla, Elote Fries, and Tropical Shrimp Bowl. They all came out pretty fast, but we were served chips for starters. The last time I'd visited I had gotten salsa and guacamole with the chips, but this time it was only salsa. Which is fine, because maybe avocado prices have gone up? until I realized that they were serving some tables the guacamole along with the chips and salsa. So it seemed like they were picking and choosing who to give just salsa and who to give guacamole and salsa. Seemed like some of the regulars got the guacamole. Weird. Also, we ended up being charged for a refill on the salsa (2 bucks for that tiny cup?) but our server did not tell us about this. Not great.

The elote fries were topped high and tasted very good. The fries themselves were a bit soggy but what do you expect. Very filling and relatively cheap. The wikea brisket quesadilla was really good. The brisket was smoky and salty and the cheese was creamy and stretchy. Came with a side of sour cream and salsa. The shrimp bowl was disappointing. It was really mostly white rice and shredded cabbage with a few dices of mango and only four pieces of shrimp. If you're charging $18 for the bowl give some more shrimp.

The service was inconsistent. Our table's server was devoid of any emotion and was almost cold. But the other staff seemed in high spirits. Another server was very friendly and accommodating when I asked for hot water, even asking if I wanted lemon slices. The staff were for the most part gathered around the bar talking to each other and it was hard to get their attention at times.

Overall, disappointing experience and unmet expectations. The food was decent but stick to the classics (i.e. don't get the shrimp bowl). Why so weird with the guacamole? Was super happy after last time's visit but now I'm not sure I...

I went there with my baby and my husband the restaurant was empty with just one couple occupying a table. I asked the man I believe manager (he’s a heavy set tall light skinned guy) for a table and he starts to make faces because I have a stroller, I explained my son is asleep and I cannot close the stroller and he made us feel super uncomfortable, but we decided to sit anyways. After we sat down about 5 minutes passed a family of 4 comes in sits behind us and a couple comes and sits across from us. As soon as they get seated he them about the specials. He offers them water and he gives them chips and dip not once did he do any of that for us. I had to stop him while he was walking past us so I can ask about the specials he just told the family behind us about. After a while, I had to ask for the chips and dip and they never offered us water. We never got water our whole time we were there. My son woke up, so I closed my stroller and brought it to the car. They never offered us a highchair, even though they saw us struggling with him. I had to ask for one. Overall, I would say the service is bad. I do understand the restaurant is small and there’s really no space for a stroller, but there should be a sign on the door saying so and you shouldn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable if they do come in with a stroller. I won’t be returning, even though I’ve been going there for years and ordering delivery for years because I really do like their food, but unfortunately, I will not be returning because I refuse to give my money to businesses who treat their customers this way....