La Chacra Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

We LOVE this place. The chicken is by far, much better than Pio Pio. Their service is fast, wait staff are polite. It's a cozy place. Definitely worth a try! Edit: 10/21/17 - It disappoints me to write this review since we are regulars at this restaurant. However, tonight's dinner experience was a letdown.

As soon as we arrived, we realized why La Chacra has been closed for a minute. It turns out that they have gone through a brief renovation. The restaurant was packed, which meant the neighborhood has finally found our gem. Along with the new look, we also noticed they had new staff. There was a 20 minute wait, which ended being 45. We were seated in a small corner big enough for 4. Unfortunately, we had 6 people, but we made it work.

Our usual go-to order is the "Combo La Chacra" Which includes: Whole Chicken, Salad, Salchipapa, Maduros, Rice & Beans - all for $26.00. (Very good deal since the portions are generous.)

The wait for the food ended being around 25-30 minutes which is significantly longer than the usual wait time. But remember, it was a busy night. We understand.

The food tasted just as great tonight, as the many other nights that we dined in. The chicken was a little bit on the salty side Maybe it was over seasoned, but the the meat was still tender and juicy. We finished eating, and asked to pack our leftovers. We had a plateful of plantains, and fries and a ton of chicken left.

As the bill came, we noticed the total was more than the usual amount spent. After reviewing the receipt, we noticed we were charged for the "Super Combo" Which included TWO chickens, instead of one.

Here is a complete rundown of what the waitress told us, and their actions thereafter.

The waitress informed us that it was her mistake that they included an extra chicken in our order. But since it was included in our order.. she implied, it must be charged. Since we asked to have our leftovers to go, we agreed to pay for the extra order of chicken. She stated that we should've known it was 2 chicken, because there were 4 chicken wings on the plate. (not sure if we should've taken offense to her "lesson"?) She would speak to her manager for a resolution. The waitress came back soon after, and gave us an amended receipt. After we paid, we waited for our leftovers, but it turns out that they actually threw away our leftovers.

Basically, my point is that it was not our mistake that they gave us the wrong order. The waitress herself, admitted she made the mistake. Why sneak the charge on to our bill to cover their mistake, and hope that we don't notice? The proper way was to let us know they gave us the bigger combo.

I'm not sure if La Chacra is under new management, but we miss the old staff and their service! It saddens me to write this review about our local spot. We recommend them to our close friends and family. I would like to note that we were very patient and cordial about the whole situation. I'm leaving my 5 star rating because I hope tonight is just a wrinkle. The food is...

I have been coming to this location between the Fall of 2020 and yesterday, about 5 to 7 times total. I have been on dates and brought family here, and spent good money everytime.

Yesterday afternoon however, I should have turned around and left when I came in and smelled plumbing throughout the establishment. I went with my sister and nephew and except for one other table at the front, was seated right by the kitchen window, where we waited a solid five minutes for our waitress, who didn't even look at us until she gathered all her utensils to provide to the table. I ordered an appetizer and my sister and I respectively ordered 1/4 chicken with fries. I skipped on the salad.

The appetizer, fried calamari was great so long as you use the mayo based sauce you're given. It was a little greasy but freshly fried, so there's that. Ask for lime and that should suffice for the lack of flavor. So, that's the one star, which should be HALF.

My entree, a chicken leg/thigh (dark meat) was pink but I thought nothing of it because sometimes chicken appears that way but is still cooked. NEVERMIND, THE LEG WAS RUBBERY AS H*LL! Not to mention the chicken itself was saltier than usual, but whatever, I doused it with the green sauce and ate, as I was hungry EXCEPT THE LEG. My sister's breast was also undercooked, and I apologized on the restaurant's behalf because this has never happened here before.

By then, I desperately wanted the check and to leave and our waitress kept herself busy by walking around the front and ignoring us. I asked the barback for the check and another server brought it to us. IT WASN'T EVEN BUSY, LIKE WE WE NEVER ASKED HOW EVERYTHING WAS TO SAY YHE LEAST.

I did not tip, as the service was very poor and lacking. Oh, and I worked in hospitality for 11 years in NYC as well and come from a family that owns their own small business, so PLEASE, know that I know and VALUE good service when I see and receive it.

My only regret is I didn't snap a pic of my PINK AND RUBBERY CHICKEN that was also SALTY, but I just wanted to...

Update - I called and placed an order directly with the restaurant. I explained my bad experience to the gentleman who handled the call. He was very apologetic and ensured we were taken care of! Our chicken was as fresh as if they plucked the feathers out back themselves, the maduros nice and soft, and my favorite, the green sauce, was so fresh and creamy... like i said I will continue to order from here but now I know to call directly and not use a 3rd party service. :)

So, in the 10+ years we've lived nearby, we have ordered from here numerous times. We've dined in a handful of times too, bringing friends and family. I can't say that we've ever had a bad dine in experience, however on a few occasions ordering delivery service whether directly from the restaurant or via uber eats, the food wasn't at its best quality but edible and I did not feel need to post a complaint. Tonight though, I had to. We ordered a whole rotisserie chicken, a beef chaufa and a small platano maduros. The chicken was burnt and dry, probably left over from the weekend. Not even the first yummy green sauce could save it tonight. Same for the maduros or as I called them, simply duro. They were hard, dry & not sweet at all as if they too, were sitting under a heat lamp for days. My husband and I were out all day and in no mood to cook anything after spending $48 plus tip on a usually delicious meal. The chaufa was their only saving grace tonight and that is only because the chicken and maduros were THAT BAD. Also. We paid cash to the delivery person. Why was there a 3.99% "credit card service fee" added to the bill before tax? is this new? I've never seen that before. Then again, I've never insisted on taking my receipt before either. I will likely order again in hopes this is a one time occurrence. But come on la...