Excellent service from the wait staff. However, the food was a big fat nope. Some dishes were bland while others were too salty. No balance tastebud wise. The drinks... nope! Sorry, but the mojito was club soda and bruised mint. The Piña colada not frozen just a watery mess. Was more like piña ahogada! Good ambience but that's all smoke a mirrors. Alcapurrias were more like bad quipes. A real disappointment for Boricuas. Drinks are around $12 bucks, so $12 bucks overpriced. In response to the owner's reply: I support small businesses, hence my visit to your establishment. You have friendly, profesional staff and great decor. However, some of your food items need work. The alcapurrias were not alcapurrias. This is a fact not an opinion. They don't have the shape, taste nor the texture of an alcapurria from a hut in Piñones, P.R. Alcapurrias are the signature fritura of any Boricua menu so the expectations for patrons who know this dish are extremely high. The food was ok, it wasn't inedible by any means. But the natives rely on Yelp to select where to spend their time and money, therefore I had to point this out. I wish you luck and blessings in your endeavors. ¡Pa' que tú lo sepas! read more

This is one of our favorite spots. The neighborhood is so lucky to have this restaurant. It just adds flavor and personality to the neighborhood. The food here is always good , I really love the pork chops . They are so juicy. The beans here are great too. The menu is great, all types of Latin food . I love all the Puerto Rican dishes !!! The drinks are so good too. I love that they have so many drinks made with DonQ rum , I love love love DonQ rum. I love the cool artwork and ambience here. It's just so upbeat and lively. The staff is always smiling and hard working, they are attentive and fast. I just appreciate the service so much and the owners are just amazing people with amazing energy. I just can't get enough of this place. read more

Was able to get a seat for 8 same day. Came to celebrate my aunts bday last minute. Seated for 4:30 pm on a Friday. It was pretty packed. Still was happy hour basically 50% off most drinks. I had a sangria 3x lol pretty strong. I had the pepper steak I'm funny with meat it was tasteful but a bit chewy. Rice and beans delicious. My 10 year old got chicharron the pollo sin hueso omg i kept eating her chicken and the ketchup mayo was delicious. They don't have kids meal so her meal became a bit pricey. Two other people had i believe was like a Spanish fried rice they raved about it. The waitress was very attentive, kind and professional. They sang happy birthday to my aunt and none of us asked . ( i mentioned it when booking table) and wasn't charged for cake. Which i thought was very nice. That doesn't happen a lot in restaurants. I mean for the location it is pricey. The only thing i didn't like was being charged an extra $10 for using a credit or debit card. Like who walks around with cash anymore. And at over $250 bill thats not cool. But other than thought everything was good. read more

See all

This is more of a lunch spot or a quick dinner not a special occasion dinner or event. They choose who to sit at the premium plush seats, if not chosen you will be sitting by the front door on stools very uncomfortable Will not recommend for a special dinner for someone special.. good spot just to stop by and get some rice and beans. Very small place. Front hoist not welcoming, needs training. read more

I've had good food and decent drinks from here but their service is repeatedly alarmingly bad. Today they are not answering their phone even though they opened at 2pm... It's always something here It vibes like it's family owned and operated and everyday someone is trying to get someone to go in so they do not have to work. read more

As i search for something different in the neighborhood I came across this restaurant and took my daughters to celebrate a birthday. We walked in and I immediately loved the environment it was small cozy simple decorations. Our waitress named Serena and " Gordita Papi chulito aka Brian made this even a better experience as they answered questions and made recommendations. Some reason my photos were clear enough the food was excellent and I am a tough critique when it comes to Puerto Rican food. We had peril, tender and well seasoned., steak perfect, appetizers arepitas good only complain was it had sour cream on the bottom, chicken fried perfect and well seasoned. The drinks ok this is where i would rate it a four the coconut margarita did not taste like coconut it was too sweet and not sure what they used for that drink, we tried a few drinks they were ok the one my daughters liked was the nut cracker. Suggestion improve the flavors of the margaritas use more natural ingredients. Over all i would recommend this place in fact it may become one of my new go to spots. read more

See all

Great food and service!! Moving to NVC and this will be one of my must go tos. Love this place read more

Counter & Bodega - Mofongo - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

See all

That sums up my review. Seriously, this place is amazing! Our favorite restaurant of our NY trip. Doesn't look like much on the outside and is a little hard to find but worth the hunt. Inside is hopping with great atmosphere, energy, and vibe. (without being super noisy) Food is excellent! Started with Arepita Sliders which came out hot and full of flavor. (Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things here ) The table next to us was in awe everytime something new came out and asked what it was. Got the Churrascaria Skewer which combined steak with 2 different sausages + bell pepper and onion Wife got Chalufan, the Ecuadorian version of Chaufa. Both were outstanding! Wrapped it up with flan and espresso. Service was and Serena took great care of us. It was a busy Friday night, she never stopped running, and we never waited long for anything. This turned out to be our new favorite NY restaurant. read more

See all

I was in the area looking for a casual lunch spot when I came across Counter & Bodega. They have lunch specials every day (including weekend), so I stopped in for the pernil lunch plate with sweet plantains, yellow rice, and chicharron with a mango juice/soda to drink. Everything was excellent from the service to the food. The chicharron was deliciously crunchy with a little bit of fat still on it and the pernil was excellently tender. I can't wait to come back to try the mofongo! read more

Counter & Bodega - Pernil Lunch Plate - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Been here a few times now because it's so great. My favorite feature is how unique the menu is. It is a Puerto Rican restaurant that features a variety of authentic foods from PR and a selection of Latin American countries. (There is a little flag next to each menu item to tell you where!) I've probably tried at least 12 things on the menu, and highly suggest ordering a bunch of items and splitting them up tapas style so you can try a bunch of things. Some favorites have been: Macho Nachos, Pasteles, Mofongo, Tacos (Al Pastor), Truffle Yuca Fries, and the Pernil! The staff is super nice and accommodating, and the restaurant itself is just a great vibe and really fun - they have fun with their Halloween decor as well so I imagine they do a great job for other holidays and occasions as well! read more

While visiting NYC we were in search of good Puerto Rican food. We sure weren't disappointed! Service was prompt, the manager was friendly, and the food reminded us of the island! We'd definitely dine again! read more

Every time I come to New York I always make sure to stop here! The atmosphere, the culture, the vibes, the service and most importantly the food is always top notch! The owner Sophie is a sweetheart! She takes her time, checks in with you, makes sure all is well and has the best customer service. The food is mouth watering, delicious and one of a kind. Truly an experience you do not want to miss out on! 100% recommend this place! Counter & Bodega never stops keeping me satisfied! read more

Counter & Bodega - Mofongo & Skirt Steak - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Came in on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon for lunch. I hear latin music, I go in. The front has 2 tables with a wide open space so I thought I could just enter through there, but they wanted me to go through the official doorway? Okie... That's my last complaint about the place. They check your temp and spray your hands with alcohol. The service was really good, the waitress was super attentive and made sure everything was good. The place was a bit empty, although I came in pretty early, around 1:45pm ish. Got the Bronx lager (btw, I hate IPAs. But this one is pretty strong with a clean and not too overly bitter/hoppy after-taste) and a cubano sandwich. The cubano sandwich is fantastic. My goodness, the meat is juicy, tender, and well seasoned. The toppings are big, but not over-sized that you can't hold it in your hand and keep everything from falling out. The nice mixture of spicy mustard with mayo was well done. Exterior of the bread wasn't buttery nor oily, which means they probably used a real heat press in foil is my guess. If you've ever seen the Jon Favreau movie called 'Chef', which I highly recommend, I'd imagine that's what those sandwiches tasted like in the movie. Music was popping, the atmosphere lively, the place started to pickup as I was getting ready to leave. It's a quiet and clean street, not much people watching or to see. But nice place to come hang. The interior is a bit dim though, needs more natural lighting or brighter bulbs read more

Counter & Bodega - Best Cubano sammich in the city #breakinquesoemergency #muchasgrassyass - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Great meal. Offers a variety of foods from Latin Caribbean countries & the US. Ordered plantains (Maduro) which were ripe and well cooked. The pork and chicken empanadas were also tasty- FYI: 3 cut in half to make 6. The Brussels sprouts salad was an interesting menu item. Not necessarily the salad I was expecting- raw sprouts that were not fully prepared to be a salad and minimal dressing made this dish meh for me. Would have loved to see a tapas style menu as they are described to be. read more

Great Spanish food but the Puerto Rican took me back to LA Isla - riquisimo. The staff could not have been sweeter which added to the amazing plates they served. There might be a rose in Spanish Harlem but this is a bouquet of gastromical delights. I was home. read more

The food at this place is insanely good! If you're going see a show at the Gotham Comedy Club, eat here before (of after). Everything the four us had was fantastic. The pernil is probably the best I've ever had. I am so pumped: it was a huge serving, so I have leftovers for tonight! read more

Kind service, great traditional food true to taste. Very welcoming venue. Super cute.

So it was my mom's birthday tiday and she LOVES spanish food and lived in chelsea her whole life and we've been going here for a while now and decided to to get the pepper steak for her, the pork chops with black n red beans with sweet plantains for me and my sister..The food was AWFUL! The plantains were burnt!! The pepper steak was like rubber and dry as F... and the pork chops the same! The plantains literally looked like charcoal too! The bill was 73 dollars too for crap food! This place is going DOWN!! I would never recommend this place again! read more

We were really excited to try this place and while the food was overall good, it was a bit confusing as they have all kinds of random, non-puerto rican food on the menu. We ended up ordering the appetizer platter which was loaded with all kinds of delicious things. It could easily feed 3/4 people. One improvement could be guacamole chips as I don't think they were fresh as about half we're stale. Service was also excellent from the host to the server. read more

Counter & Bodega - Appetizer platter - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Very good puerto rican food if you are in the area give a a shot.Drinks are good but you do need reservation. read more

Counter & Bodega - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Excellent authentic menu with perfectly seasoned food. I had rice, maduros, and churasco, she had pastillos de carne, pernil, y pollo. All the food was fresh and excellent taste and flavor. Highly recommend! read more

Wife and I enjoyed very much. Drinks were good, appetizers were very good and entrees were even better. We had the 6pc empanada appetizer (3 empanadas cut in half) we chose, chicken, beef and bean/maduro. All three were delicious. My entree was the pechuga de pollo with white rice/red beans and tostones. Deliciously cooked and definitely a home made sabor! My wife's was the pernil with arroz con gandules and maduros. She enjoyed it very much. The serving sizes were perfect and we even brought home half of our orders. Will definitely return! Oh, service was great and wait time wasn't bad at all. Overall A+ experience. Wish we had know about this place sooner. read more

See all

Outstanding service big portions excellent taste buds staff ver attentive nice variety of Latin dishes represented by each country flag

Food was amazing the service could've been a little better but being that it was a Sunday evening and they had 1 person working the floor we understood. The whole decor and Vibe was dope good music playing definitely will be back read more

Unfortunately the restaurant was out of Gandules (Pigeon Peas), Salmon, Churrasco steak, Pepper steak, and Alcapurrias. On their website, it states that they open at 2pm. Since my family and I were arriving earlier than expected (reservations were for 2:30pm), I modified my reservations on OpenTable to 2:15pm to only wait in the rain for 15 mins because "they're still setting up". So much for modifying the reservations. The waiter was nice and made some good drinks but that's about it. We waited extremely long for our food to arrive and they were out of mostly everything in the menu. Super embarrassing and disappointing because I chose the restaurant. read more

Ambiance was was nice. My family of 4 went on a Sunday. We made a reservation to ensure we would have a table. It was pretty full. The food was delicious. As an added bonus it's not just Puerto Rican food. It had some Cuban, Ecuadorian and Peruvian dishes. I had to eat healthy so I ordered the bowl. It had quinoa, grilled red peppers, grilled asparagus, grilled brussels sprouts, broccoli, and grilled chicken. It was so good and filling. I actually couldn't finish it. I took it home and ate it later. I never thought it would be so good. I was pleasantly surprised. Everything ordered was so tasty. If you have a chance go treat yourself to some good latin food. You won't regret it. read more

Counter & Bodega - C&B Bodega Bowl with grilled chicken - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

The restaurant was a lot more trendy than I expected. Dimly lit with neon lighting on the walls like all those trendy instagram restaurants have. The stewed chicken had good flavors, but very little chicken. Maybe 4 pieces? Chicken was also a bit dry. The rice and fried plantains were well made, but the small amount of chicken was a turn off. Meal was definitely not worth $30. I did bring a 4 foot long painting into the restaurant and they had no qualms - they actually helped me package it, so that was nice! read more

Every day there is a long wait to get into this place for dinner. That should tell you enough about the quality (and quantity) of food and the friendly vibe. We ordered the mofongo and pollo guisado. The mofongo was phenomenal. They must have put a whole bulb of garlic in this. It was flavorful and perfectly crunchy and soft at the same time. If you like kalua pork, you'll like this Latin take on it. The pollo guisado was also good, but the mofongo was definitely the highlight. The drinks were great--the happy hour special had generously poured sangrias for under $10. Definitely add this to your list of restaurants to check out in the Chelsea neighborhood. read more

Counter & Bodega - Pollo Guisado Dinner Plate - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Counter & Bodega is a special place partially because of the good food, but also because of the great people that work there and create a great environment. I reached out to the restaurant merely 24 hours before I needed a reservation for a party of 16 for a birthday dinner. The restaurant staff and owner found a way to accommodate us, in the time frame that I needed, and I cannot say enough about how grateful I am for that. Their Prixe Fix menu was helpful for us, as we were able to try many different options on the menu for apps/dessert and everyone got their own entree. I have zero complaints about the food. Personal recommendations: any of the empanadas, which I thought were pretty damn good, and the salmon w/ garlic sauce. They also had a vegetarian option for someone in the group who needed it. (Also, whoever made the drinks was heavy handed, and for that, I am grateful.) We dealt with Red and Brian, who were fun, cheerful, and attentive throughout our entire time there - and the owner, Sophie, who was instrumental in taking care of our last minute recommendation and checked on us multiple times throughout the dinner to make sure everyone was taken care. I enjoyed the food for sure, but I cannot say enough about how great the experience was being there, and I would be happy to go back at any time to support their business. read more

Really good enchiladas, fresh and tasty. Rice and beans are flavorful. Friendly service. read more

Counter & Bodega - Enchiladas Con Salsa Verde - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

We came to check this place out initially to try during restaurant week , only 1 got the special since the options for rest week were ok ... drinks to start it was still happy hour & we were able to order, I had a Capriahna this was alright later changed to Presidente beer, better. Gasolina & Margarita drinks were not bad. Appetizer tried the Churrascaría skewer this was great variety of meats along w the cheese bread very good. Decent chicken wings. I had the Chicken Patacón very good nice tasting chicken good combo w the meat & cheese also had some Truffle yuca fries they were not bad but lacked truffle taste. Also tried the Pernil , good as well. Chuleta & Chicharon de pollo good options as well. Regular Cheesecake for dessert was very good, great tasting cheese cake. Service a bit slow, seems like only one girl was taking care of the bar & the tables can't completely blame her .. staff shortages all around. Good variety the menu representing Latin America, no need for restaurant week menu here at least not for us prices are reasonable w out the deal we enjoyed our meal & drinks. read more

See all

Awesome restaurant with great Puertorican food and exceptional service. Highly recommended. read more

Counter & Bodega - Arroz con gandules, lechón y maduros. - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

I came here on weekday afternoon & had a pleasant experience! Excellent service and meals. Waiters went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of. I ordered Lechon (pork) Arepita Sliders, Pononos & Lomo Saltado & Yucca Fries. I HIGHLY recommend the Arepita sliders and yucca fries! read more

See all

Wow! Looking for some authentic Puerto Rican food! Nailed it! Ordered the Mofongo with Pernil, Maduros, white rice and beans. Food was Devine! The drinks on point! Stop by and enjoy the food and sit at the bar! Great folks! Great atmosphere! read more

Counter & Bodega - Mofongo and Pernil! - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Great atmosphere, even better service. It was refreshing to be in an environment where the entire staff took pride in offering a great experience to their guests. The decor, vibe and overall warmth definitely helped create an atmosphere that I was happy to be a part of during my visit. I will definitely be back and would recommend this establishment to all. read more

It's a great spot if you're looking for some latin flavor! Food is great, the drinks are fantastic! We loved the ambiance of the place and the service was great! read more

Counter & Bodega - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Service was very slow and unnattentive. Food also wasn't very good but beers were cheap. I'd probably go back to grab a chill beer or two.

delicious pernil platter and Cuban sandwich, not too salty. Nice vibe, great, friendly, fast service at lunch. Reasonable price/portion. Can't wait to try the ceviche and Pollo Guisado. read more

The first red flag should have been that I stood at the front for like five minutes and was not acknowledged. The second flag should have been the fact that the ratio of staff to customers was very off. There was literally ONE person attending every table, including a party of about ten (for a birthday celebration). The restaurant, itself, is nice. I loved the wall art and the vintage items you could find in a old school bodega. Unfortunately, the space is too cramped. It is so cramped that I asked to be moved to another table.  No complaints on the drinks; the Henny colada was perfect, and the "Hawaiian Punch" was also really good.  The food was another story! I HATED my chimi sliders. The meat had to be seasoned with the Goya Sazon with Coriander and Annatto or paprika alone; it was ORANGE, chewy, and smelled like burnt plastic. The chimi sliders came with fries, which were extremely soft; they should have just made it mashed potatoes! I could not even finish half of one slider. I took the first one apart, and ate the small piece of fried cheese, with huge gulps of Sprite! The second one, I refused to even touch. My boyfriend ordered the pernil with white rice and red beans. The rice was HARD; when he put the fork through the pile of rice, it came apart like little hard pieces of rocks. The beans looked old and the pernil was definitely a day or two old. The pernil had a greyish color.  ** Please put some respect on the culture... get a new chef and serve fresh plates. This place has a nice concept, so it has a lot of potential. The DJ played some good songs and the drinks are good! *** *** *** UPDATE: Why would a bad review get me anything? I actually told the server to remove my plate because the smell was getting me nauseous... with your "ALMOST FIVE STAR" reputation, you should have employees that further inquire when a comment like that is made. Oh, and if I wanted something, it would not be from YOUR restaurant. I have been to plenty of restaurants, so I know a good experience from a BAD one!  Also, my "personal taste" and pallette are perfectly fine; thank you. read more

See all

I don't have words to describe how incredible our entire experience was. When we walked in we were immediately greeted and seated. Everyone we came in contact with went above and beyond to make sure we were enjoying our time and having a memorable experience. The drinks were perfectly poured and delicious. The food is out of this world. We tried the empanadas which were phenomenal, but the real surprise was the Lomo Saltado...I am still drooling. You can't go wrong with this place! read more

See all