Raíces Argentinas — Restaurant in New York

Had dinner with the family tonight (wife and I, plus two kids). Really wanted to try it as my wife grew up in Argentina (Cordoba) and having been married 20 years, we really enjoy a good asado.

The employees are very nice, as everyone mentions on here. The food, at least what we ordered, was OK. It wasn’t bad - but it could have been better. We ordered the parrilla for 2, which had a lot of meat (3-4 adults could split it for sure, plus some apps), but some of the cuts were quite fatty/greasy. It wasn’t grass-fed, which I understand would be cost-prohibitive, but maybe add 1-2 grass-fed options to the menu similar to how El Guachito (Queens) does which would elevate things a bit and make the steak naturally more lean. Or, just select your cuts (esp. short ribs) a bit better (maybe it was an off Friday night).

The gnocchi — sorry, skip it. It’s named gnocchi de “nonna”, like mom or grandma’s recipe — but it definitely tasted and had the texture like it was boxed / factory made. Quite dense. My daughter who loves pasta only ate half - and she was hungry. Good or great fresh gnocchi should be soft like a pillow, so if that’s not possible in-house — then speak to Pasta Louise or similar and ask them to supply. But the chef really needs to try good gnocchi to reset the bar before serving this one. Or just remove it from the menu.

Empanadas were OK. Kids liked the cheese one. We tried both beef, and they were OK. Empanadas range so wildly it’s tough to really judge as it can be personal (I think Nuchas makes some of the best in NYC) — however they were baked vs fried so that’s a win here. The main one uses ground beef, and the Malbec one seemed like a slowed cooked short rib filling. Neither were bad, but also not something I would go back just to pickup as takeout (which I was hoping they would be). If I want to get really picky — hand cut the beef for your empanadas vs buying ground beef and that would make them 2X better.

Water glasses were left unfilled for probably 20-30 minutes a couple times. Asked for dulce de leche with the flan — they didn’t add it. Flan was still good. Lava cake was good. So while the waitress was nice, assign someone to handle the basics (like refilling water) and write down the order if you can’t remember it. Again, very pleasant, but definitely room to improve. Especially when spending $300+ for 4 (including two little kids, and one drink each), there are some things you just gotta nail.

Overall, maybe I would come back to try a burger, fries and beer at the bar with a friend — but unfortunately, not for the steak. Again, not bad, just a bit middle of the road in terms of quality for where I believe an Argentine steakhouse should be. And we live just 5’ away…so it...

I'm conflicted about this review. The service was friendly and everyone was lovely. The ambience was romantic yet appropriate for family settings as well. There was live music which was a wonderful surprise.

The biggest issue was the food, the steaks specifically. We ordered the Malbec empanadas (they were great), picanha, and short ribs.

Short ribs were recommended either medium rare or medium well. I went with medium since I'm pregnant. These came with two flanken ribs. One came out medium rare and the other much closer to rare. A server noticed while walking by and asked if I needed it sent back for more cooking. I agreed and it came back medium.

Picanha was ordered at medium rare but came out rare to almost blue. The fat cap was extremely chewy and inedible because of the doneness. My husband tried to eat as much of it was possible but we had to send this back because it was just too undercooked to be edible. (This is the first time we've ever sent food back.) Unfortunately it came back overcooked and completely shrunken. He didn't eat the rest.

Both steaks also...

We luckily found Raices when looking for a new place in the neighborhood 10 months ago and never left. On our first visit we shared the Parradilla for two and pitcher of red sangria, and knew we had to return. Since then we’ve been for lunch, dinner, date nights, birthdays, and family events which have all been an amazing time due to their exceptional service and ability to make you feel at home.

What’s even funner is that they host multiple events throughout the year that include wine tasting and curated asado menus from Argentinian chefs which is truly an experience.

Recommendations include everything, but favorites are the calamari, camarones al ajillo, seafood fra diavolo, milanesa (of any kind), churrasco, bife, and every dessert will have you wanting to try the next! Regarding drinks any flavor of sangria is a must have, as well as their mojitos, and rosemary...