Travesias — Restaurant in New York

Salva Cruz I hope you read this *I tried to have dinner at this restaurant for Valentine’s Day. I tried to make a reservation about a week ago and I was told they do not take reservations. My girlfriend tried to call on 2/14 @ about 3pm and was also the restaurant does not take reservations. This was of no surprise because this is probably the 3rd or 4th Valentine in a row my girlfriend and I spend at this restaurant. We always enjoyed the food and ambience. We were customers when they had a 4 course pre-fixed menu for Valentine’s Day and I believe there was a reservation permitted at that time. Tonight, we get to the restaurant and there are over 10 people waiting in the enclosed outdoor area when we head in to speak to a tall gentleman who says, the wait is about 40 minutes. I asked if he needed our name he said no it’s first come first serve and if you want I’ll tell the manager that you will wait for the table, and we agreed. Some time goes by and a couple is seated and some couples that were there before us look a bit confused. Shortly after, we are pointed out and we make it clear that other folks were here first. The server gets the manager “Junior” who is met by multiple patrons, including my girlfriend trying to make sense of an unorganized wait time for a table. Junior finally steps out and takes names of everyone to make sure no one is skipped. He sits about 3 groups in the order he wrote them down. Then another couple arrives, the gentleman walks inside and comes back out. Shortly after, he is called by a waitress to be seated. We were confused because we were up next to be seated. Also, at this point there were another 10 or so people waiting before the gentleman that is seated. The couple intended to be seated after us goes inside to speak to Junior who tells her this man had a reservation!! We are very upset at this point because we’ve been waiting about 40 minutes (roughly 9:20pm), so we address the issue with Junior and he says I’m sorry this happened can you wait and we’ll seat you next. He had no intention of having the people step back out and wait their turn. Junior further states that he has told his wait staff not to make reservations but some have done that without his permission. The waitress obviously being thrown under the bus by Junior says, with an attitude “I sat then down because my manager (Junior) told me to sit them down”. We look at Junior and he is obviously caught and has nothing to say but tells us to wait and this is not the type of night to be upset! Meanwhile, he is the reason we are upset! He obviously hooked up his friend with a table and tried to pin it on his wait staff and couldn’t even own up to it. I then asked him for the owner’s name and contact information but only got the name Salva Cruz. We were so upset we left because we felt so disrespected by Junior that he would have patrons waiting in an enclosed but cold outdoor areas and he just lets his friend skip everyone. This is the last time we eat at this location. I’m born and raised in the Bronx but moved to Yonkers with my girlfriend in 2022. However, we’ve made it a point to come back to the Bronx to support small businesse, like this restaurant, and this is how we are treated. We are both attorneys, so it is not like we are coming to the Bronx to eat cheaper meals because we are fortunate enough to live a considerable life. Also, this restaurant isn’t a cheap place to eat and it is in Throggsneck, a middle class area in the Bronx anyways. I will not come back, and I will make sure anyone who asks, I will tell them to...

I was the first table to be seated, we arrive 15 before opening. From 2pm that they open it took them 23 minutes until 2:23 to take out order when we were the first table of 3 tables that was seated at the moment. At 2pm the server were just setting up the tables and putting the utensils, that should been done before restaurant opening, okay. We order the Empanada trio which were Excellent, but took 30 minutes for my appetizer to come, after already a waiting a long time to take my order. I order a margarita and my partner also and it was super strong! I was not able to finished, I couldn’t taste the passion fruit of how strong it was. other tables got served way before us, put food arrive at 3:15, presentation was good, I order the the fried fish, the mofongo felling was amazing!! The fish wasn’t flavorful at all, and the guava spice of the bottom was out of the context, it just didn’t have to be on the plate at all, the flavor mix if that was just awful. My partner order the steak and it was super well done when he order medium well, the steak was not left to rest because It was very hot and over cook, also taste it a lot like charcoal meaning the grill that was cook on was not clean properly. Overall spend 140 dollars. Very expensive for 1 app, 2 drinks and 2 entres when the food was not good of expectations and service was not good either. Place looks super nice, great music just to loud honestly for my preference, specifically if you sitting inside, a lot of staff there and no one was just paying attention to the guest, abs I don’t know if that was the manager but there was just a guy all times at the fort like a guard and honestly if he’s the manager he should be fired for not making sure restaurant is function 100% for success of service, standing outside just setting people, is not what a manager should do, he should be making sure that restaurant is good in all standards and that also includes food. Had very high expectations about this place and it was a truly disappointment. Overall waited 1hr and 30 minutes to eat, when there was only like 7...

I visited the restaurant yesterday with my friend. The atmosphere is cute and the food was good. We informed the staff of our dietary restrictions, my friend can not have shrimp and I can not anything coconut. We emphasized this multiple times, for example I told them I can not have the Pina Colada but could have any other drink that did not use coconut milk.

We ordered the app sampler which on the menu stated it had “Pina colada shrimp”. We asked the waiter to set the seafood portion aside so that I could take it home later. We wrapped up our meals and left. I packed all of my food up to go and went about my day. When I got home, I separated the seafood from my rice and Lomo Saltado as I planned to eat the seafood much later in the evening. As I was eating my food once again I began to feel sick, began to throw up and have gastric issues, my typical allergic reactions. When I look over my food, I notice the shrimp skewers were covered in flakes, as I further investigate I discovered it was coconut flakes. On the online menu that you scan on the restaurant, there are no indications of the shrimps being covered in coconut flakes, only that it is a “Pina Colada Shrimp” and I specifically emphasized that I could not have any coconut.

I contacted the establishment today and spoke to the individual that serviced me. I asked if the Pina Colada shrimps were covered in coconut flakes, the individual stated yes. When I told him what occurred he stated “But it’s shrimp you said you weren’t allergic to shrimp and our menu says the Pina colada shrimp as coconut flakes” I informed the person that their menu did not specify that the shrimp had anything coconut. I emphasized that I became sick with their food, he offered to comp my next order in that establishment.

I write this review to warn people to be careful if you have any dietary restrictions and double check your meals if you order from this place. I thank God that my allergic reactions are not as deadly as others. Besides the food we did indulge was good but the lack of attention has discouraged...