The Row Harlem — Restaurant in New York

The Row Harlem would be perfect if it were located in Atlanta: poor service, overpriced and mediocre food, and a misplaced belief that it’s more upscale than what it is.

Let’s start with the food

1. The actual oxtail in empanadas was painfully dry, served with a side of…wait for it…barbecue sauce. While the meat did have a little flavor, the kitchen appears to have spent 30 minutes wringing out the moisture before stuffing it into the empanada shell.

2. The salmon dinner was also a swing and a miss. The baked salmon comes with two sides, so I selected the truffle mashed potatoes and the collard greens. When I received my plate, there was a piece of salmon on it with mashed potatoes that looked like it came out of a box, along with spinach. Strike one. Sent it back and they returned 8 minutes later with the most embarrassing looking “collard greens” ever. It’s like they took the greens, chopped them up, added about 1 grain of season, and steamed them for 5 minutes.

The salmon was actually cooked medium well (they never asked for my preference), but completely lacked flavor, even with the skin intact.

The mashed potatoes had the same consistency of those found in a microwave dinner. No distinct flavor whatsoever, but probably the most favorable thing on the plate.

Oh and by the way, if you want a soda, be prepared for them to bring you a can. Classy!

Service was minimal. There was more effort to let people know about their dress code than the actual service. But I guess it didn’t matter because this wannabe “upscale” restaurant automatically charges a 20% gratuity, no matter how mediocre your experience may be.

The atmosphere inside was mostly dark. It’s a relatively small restaurant with about 10 tables or so, with the intent on presenting an adult, upscale vibe. Yet there was a big TV mounted on the wall with NFL football on to distract me from the bad food and service.

The total for salmon, empanadas, and a can of Sprite cost $60; with the automatic gratuity and the extra fee to use a card instead of cash, the total came out to $80.77.

People like me will pay good money for quality food and good service, but this place offers neither. It belongs with the rest of scam restaurants that plague the good scene in Atlanta.

This place did nothing to dispel the myth that food in NYC (despite the tremendous diversity) is relatively average. Honestly, they should stop trying to be a full service restaurant and just be a bar with a few appetizers. If you’re a tourist, same your coins and go to a place like Melba’s where you’ll actually get courteous service and chefs who actually know to prepare...

I visited this location in May 2024. I was excited to visit this restaurant to support a Back Owned Business. Their menu items looked so delicious. When we arrived, there was no wait to be seated. There is both indoor and outdoor dining. I wouldn’t recommend this location for large outings as it’s rather small. We were able to place our happy hour orders upon being seated. It took forever for the appetizers to arrive. When I say forever, I mean over an hour. Now before you get on me and say business are still short staff, I’m aware of that. The place was empty maybe 6 people including us. We ordered the oxtail empanada comes with one empanada. There were no napkins or utensils on the table we had to ask for it. I wanted to save for my appetite so I didn’t eat the empanada. I ordered the chicken and waffles. My girlfriend ordered the steak with mashed potatoes and spinach. Again, it took a while to receive our order. My chicken taste as though it was cooked in old grease. That wasn’t the worse of it the chicken taste rubbery. My girlfriend wasn’t pleased with her meal either. When the staff checked on us, we told him we weren’t pleased with our meals he took it back to the kitchen. When my girlfriend got up to us the restroom, she overheard the kitchen staff complaining about us using explicit language about us. I thought this was very unprofessional. We were polite when we told our waiter about our dissatisfaction with our food and for the kitchen staff to say what they said. I almost feel like we should have known better ordering those dishes as the people at the bar were order finger foods. There’s only one restroom in the restaurant it would be a line to use it. I will NOT be returning to this restaurant nor would I recommend anyone to try it. A definite waste of money. There are steps to go down into the restaurant. The restaurant is accessible via public...

Very small, yet intimate, venue. Not really suited for large party walk-ins...but they will try to accommodate. Parties of 2 to 4 at best. It fills quickly. There is additional outdoor seating which was closed when we dined. If you're looking for some place to quickly dine n dash this AINT it. Bring some good company and good energy, they definitely serving a steamy fusion of comfort food for the soul. We were a group of 5 (walk-in) from Htown and waited at the bar about an hour for a table. I utilized this time to enjoy a frozen Sangria and catch up conversation w/my group. The sangria is EVERYTHING... and yes, you only need ONE if you ladylike, two if ya' flirty, lol. Once seated our food came out within 20-25 minutes...but NOTHING was re-heated, microwaved, etc.... all cooked to order!

The jerk mac n cheese is a masterpiece and it's large enough for 2 to share. Nuff said.

The oxtail samosas with white bean were extremely tender and seasoned well (2 per order). You can tell it was pulled and stuffed by hand and cooked to order. Mine had more fatty meat but the fat was tender and flavorful too. My only suggestion is to have a sauce option other than BBQ.

I also appreciated the sautéed collard greens which were sooo flavorful and HEALTHY since the life wasn't cooked out of them. My only suggestion is to either get rid of the large stems or tenderize them a lil' more.

Last, our table had 2 orders of the lamb chops which they cleaned to the bone! Overall, I enjoyed the vibe and being able to taste the passion added into the food. A piece of my heart was left in this gem of a place....