Tabare Williamsburg — Restaurant in New York

After surfing through a few results that had mixed reviews, I landed on this spot in Williamsburg. Solid amount of stars and reviews (you can also tell a lot about a place that has a nice website, duh) intrigued me so I clicked through. Sorted through the photos of the food and they definitely had the steak I was looking for but I needed to confirm a few other things - do they require reservations? When are they serving dinner? Is this place a hole-in-the-wall (I don't mind holes-in-the-wall, just wasn't what I was looking that afternoon)? I double check their Yelp page and the site and I was glad to see that no reservations are required and dinner was starting at 5 - cocktails and empanadas were available until 5 came around. They have a nice dining room/bar area with a nice little dining area in the back, and also outdoors in the front. I wanted to be inside that day considering the high temps due to the humidity.

I finally get to the spot, and I say finally because I had to go back to 14th St Manhattan and connect from there to get to Williamsburg, 23 mins before they start to serve dinner. When I walked in I felt a very intimate yet lively latin vibe - it was dimly lit and there was good music being played at a comfortable volume. I don't like it when I'm dining out and the server and I have to compete over the music to hear each other so these guys definitely had it right. I would definitely bring a date here. I was greeted by the bartender and let him know I wanted to grab a solo seat for dinner. He asked if I had a reservation, which I thought was a little odd and led me to believe Yelp and the website wasn't up-to-date but when I replied no, he said it was no issue. He told me to grab a seat anywhere I liked so I sat at the bar and he advised me that they won't start serving dinner until 5 o'clock as I mentioned previously. After I got myself situated, I excused myself to the bathroom to wash up. I took note of the back dining area which was really nice. The bathroom was clean and it looks like they take care of it on the regular so those are more points in my book. I got back to my seat and the bartender pours me a glass of water and leaves a bottle at the table. I should've asked if they had sparkling and opted for that. The tap-water is just way too warm, but it was what it was. I didn't opt for any other drinks, considering I don't drink sodas or alcohol. Bartender handed me a menu which confused me for a bit because it seemed like it was drink menu - it was smaller than size than a normal menu. I'm browsing through and noticed at the bottom of the menu, besides their wifi network and password, they only take cash and American Express. Odd but maybe that's a NY restaurant thing? I double-checked that with the bartender and he said they have an ATM in the back in case I needed it. Turns out I had enough cash on hand and continue looking over the menu. I get to the entrees and I find the Churrasco and I let the bartender I wanted that medium. I should've asked him if they could throw an over-easy egg on top.

About 15-20 minutes later, one of the BEST steaks I ever had was served. The presentation was amazing! The steak was cooked to perfection - nice and tender and the color was just right. It came with a side of chimichurri which unlike other ones I've had, wasn't too salty. As you can see in the photo I took, the steak also came with a side of greens and these potatoes that were like no other, crispy on the outside and perfectly baked on the inside.

All-in-all I would definitely come back to Tabaré and I'm willing to bet everything else on their menu is just as out-of-this-world...

Giving this two stars only for the atmosphere and architecture. The place is absolutely beautiful, but thats all it has going for it. The waiters are really nice too. The drinks, for their price are delicious but WEAK. I'm a total light-weight, I can have one glass of rum and I'll be tipsy. I ordered one of their drinks and I didn't even feel a tinge of alcohol. The fact that they only take cash and American Express. Thats ridiculous, no exceptions. The food, you think you're going to get something fantastic, because boy oh boy do the reviews seem to say you will but my sandwich was soggy as hell. There was just so much going on in the sandwich. There was no egg or bacon, as claimed in the menu, but soggy ham and less than toasted bread. I'm utterly disappointed. I had high hopes for this place. My last issue is the PRICE. Google gives this place $ which signifies its cheap. That makes no freaking sense. This place is not cheap at all. Their menu has little options and everything is expensive. To me, $ means prices similar to Vanessa's Dumpling's which is good cheap food. Or even SEA which never breaks the bank even when I pay for a drink and for a meal. The price tag is ridiculously misleading. The food is not superb in any special way or form. Maybe the lighting and architecture of the places convinces customers its actually better than it is. This is an exaggerated rating. I did love my waitress,...

I'm conflicted with how many stars I should give because on one hand our experience here was decent but on the other, they're CASH ONLY or Amex (who even has an Amex these days - we're millennials lol) and make no mention of it anywhere on the menu or on the walls.

My friends and I walked in here by mistake. We were going to Juanchis Burger next door but mixed up the two. Once we were already at the bar, the vibe and menu were what we wanted so we decided to stay.

We ordered some dishes and drinks. The pasta I ordered was absolutely incredible. It was a papperdelle with meat ragu and tasted perfect. My friend ordered the sea bass, and the other ordered the gnocchi. Both said their dishes were wonderful.

I would totally return if not for this policy of being cash only. In this day and age when cash is definitely NOT king there's no reason they shouldn't take credit or debit cards (not just AMEX). It was frustrating when it came to pay, they don't even have an ATM on site, so I gave her a look and I was like can you accept a regular card this one time? She asked the owner who agreed but only to take one card not all 3 which was fine. The other option would be walking down the block to get money from a deli.

Anyways, if you are like me and don't appreciate restaurants that are cash only, this is not the...