Yatenga — Restaurant in New York

By sheer serendipity, we arrived just as they were opening at noon on Saturday. I say serendipity, because Google is quite convinced they have been open since midnight, which is very untrue, despite efforts on the lart of the hostess to get it changed (I tried too, hopefully it takes and no one else gets disappointed because they're closed). The place was bafflingly empty for most of our meal, peaceful and quiet, if a bit on the warm side. Honestly, overhead fans are about the only thing that could have improved the experience.

The whole place is a distinct vibe, even the bathroom felt like a very particular time and place (tidy, big enough I didn't feel claustrophobic, had a place to set my purse). The hostess/waitress was delightfully friendly, bustling around opening windows and setting things up, and she had spot-on recommendations for what to order (and what not to- a few of the drinks on the menu, they're missing ingredients right now because of supply chain issues).

And the food... Well, when the New Orleans native tells you the grits are some of the best he's ever had, you listen (and steal a bite, because Damn). The croque madame and home fries got inhaled no less quickly, and my steak sandwich with its fried peppers and onions was to die for. I took a little longer to finish, but only because my salad (dressed to perfection, with bright fresh greens and a bit of shredded cabbage) was massive.

We are Absolutely coming back, even if we do live several...

Good afternoon today 8/21/20 I called Yatenga in order to ask if they had the special chef de gambas on the menu. I was told that the chef was back at the restaurant. Excited wasn’t even the word I decided I would bring my woman to yatenga in order for our favorite meal. This meal is literally our favorite meal ever eating out. We arrived around 4:05 pm I believe and I walked into the restaurant in order to see if it was open. A women walked from behind me in a rude tone and said “we are not open yet” another woman inside of the restaurant started crossing her arms very defensively and I walked back outside. Me and my woman waited outside and were ignored. Until the windows were opened and a woman says you can sit wherever you want but we don’t have any waiters. Her tone was not welcoming at all. I am super disappointed in my experience. I have been eating at this place for years ! I speak highly of it regularly I hope someone can contact me at migelanjel1@gmail.com this doesn’t feel right. I am a Harlem business owner also. I was spoken too so rude. My woman decided for us to leave because she did not feel good. We are kind loving people we don’t put bad energy out into the world. I hope the experience is better next time.

In good...

A very nice atmosphere, great food and well-made drinks (I had the frozen pina colada and the frozen margarita...both were so good but the margarita was my favorite if I had to pick one to order all night...$6 each for happy hour). Our server was wonderful and always came back to us with a smile. She even gave us suggestions when we were torn between which dish to order. My friend decided on one of the specials of the day. Crab cakes with spinach, wild rice and quinoa. She really enjoyed the crab cakes and told me to try some. They were delicious. She said she didn't really care for the spinach, wild rice and quinoa mix. She said the dish could've been seasoned better. She said she would get the crab cakes again but with a different side dish. I ordered the homemade nachos. It was a large, super filling portion and really good (although I would have rather it come with black beans instead of pinto beans). The nachos were fully loaded with grilled chicken, pinto beans, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, cheddar and monterey jack cheese.

So many options to choose from here and we plan to return to try them. It’s also worth mentioning that they have a daily Happy Hour until 8pm, a rarity these days considering most happy hours end...