Primabel Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Newark

First time frequenting Primabel Bar & Restaurant in Newark so I was a little nervous. Upon entering the establishment the place was pretty much empty, save for a few patrons sitting at the bar. Normally when a restaurant is that empty it speaks volumes about the food but it was my birthday, my call. I chalked it up to a slow Tuesday. So we sat down and placed our orders. For appetizers we ordered the clams in garlic and wine sauce, fried calamari with marinara, and for some reason my mother's husband ordered the soft tacos. It took roughly 45 minutes before the appetizers arrived at our table. The calamari and clams were pretty good but for some reason the soft tacos collapsed from the steam emanating from the picadillo. The tacos couldn't hold their structure. My mother's husband ended up eating the meat and veggies off the plate with a spoon and throwing away the tortilla. Sad!! I didn't want to read too much into it but I had to worry if our dinners would end up the same way. Thankfully, they hadn't. I ordered the Spanish yellow rice with shrimp and scallops in a garlic sauce which was fantastic!! I would absolutely order it again! My mother ordered her usual: pork and potato cubes with clams in a brown sauce. They nailed it. The flavor profile of the three components is out of this world! Finally, my mom's husband ordered a shrimp and salmon dish in what looked like a creamy paprika sauce. This time he literally sucked his dinner off the plate. He completely devoured his dinner. Three shots of espresso to finish off the evening!! Grade: B+ for the food and service!! I highly...

Ate here with a group of co-workers (total of 8 people) after work on a Tuesday evening. It had a casual atmosphere. The food was excellent starting from the appetizers all the way down to the dessert! The calamari and the shrimp during the appetizer was on point. The sauce on the shrimp was great dipping for the bread. For the Entree the seafood pasta was fresh and a generous serving portion for 5-6 people alone in 1 serving. We also had the picadinho, which was my favorite- excellent... not too greasy! And had a good portion of salad with steak. Then we each had a serving of different desserts that we shared- flan, chocolate mousse, tiramisu, cheesecake, and some pudding. All were delicious but my favorite were the flan and chocolate mousse. As for the drinks, we had a 2 pitchers of the red sangria and my friends had their beer from tap from their little waterfall grotto... it was so cool! We were all seated in the patio at the back of the restaurant which had a great breeze from outside on a nice summer temperature... our day happened to be rainy which was relaxing to see and hear from where we were seated. All in all the service was prompt and excellent from our waitress Rose. The owner happen to be in there during our visit and was very friendly and accomodating. And if you're in doubt just for the parking alone, there's a private parking lot in the back of the restaurant. Would reccomend this place and would come back again with family...

I have been to this restaurant on numerous occasions in the past the service and food was excellent. I went back after 3 yrs and the service was horrible the server spilled the wine all over my purse she was more concerned about what was going on in the bar section not paying attention. All 3 of us ordered the T-Bone steak which was excellent but the Spanish potatoes were burnt we left that. The cappuccino was cold. All in all the service was horrible we couldn’t find the server had to ask some one to get her on 3 separate occasions. The knife was used she gave me another one I didn’t recall this kind of terrible service ever before. We had a different lady give us the check the server came brought us the card back I asked her if the restaurant has new owners? Sure enough she said yes. My advise to the owner he needs to clean house the employees there are having a grand old time on the owners expense. To top it off we were the only ones there in the whole restaurant except for the people at the bar and the food took 25 minutes and the server was not around shouldn’t have to look for the server. Terrible Terrible Service good luck keeping the...