This past weekend marked the 100th anniversary of my late mother's birth, and I wanted to honor her with some of her favorites. My mom was Puerto Rican and loved piña coladas, so we made piñas at home and ordered Puerto Rican food to celebrate. After browsing the delivery app, we came across El Castillo De Madison, saw the strong reviews, and decided to give it a try. My husband ordered his favorite roast pork mofongo, my teenager chose the stuffed chicken breast with shrimp, and I ordered the chicken asopao (soupy rice). For appetizers, we added a pastele wrapped in a leaf and an order of maduros (sweet yellow plantains). Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the ratings. I don't know if it was an off night, but it was disappointing across the board. We had ordered Puerto Rican food from another restaurant just two weeks earlier, and the difference was noticeable. My husband found the pernil very dry and it came without any sauce--we weren't sure if it was forgotten or simply not included. The shrimp-stuffed chicken breast was bland, as was the accompanying sauce, which seemed like a béchamel. My biggest disappointment was the asopao. While there was plenty of rice and the broth had some flavor, the "chicken" was really just 3 big bones with some meat on them. I also encountered several small bone fragments all through the soupy rice, which made it uncomfortable, if not a little dangerous, to eat. The pastele lacked flavor, and the maduros were cut too small and round (for maduros the plantains should be cut a little bigger and on the diagonal) and they were overcooked--I hate to say we ended up throwing them out. I haven't eaten at the restaurant in person and briefly considered going to see if it's better on-site, but if I do, it won't be anytime soon. In fact, we were so disappointed that we ordered Puerto Rican food from the other restaurant the very next night. It may have been a bad night, but since every item we ordered missed the mark, it's hard for me to give it the benefit of the doubt. read more

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Pernil was great. Moist, fatty (I asked for that) and no dry pieces which is rare. The skin was crispy without breaking your teeth like in some places. Service was great. The ambiance of the place is good but really designed as a worker's place to have lunch and go. The tres leche wasn't bad but wasn't as what I remember in other places... maybe an added ingredient? Not sure, I couldn't place it. Overall, would definitely come back if I am ever back in this area. read more

I was passing through the city today on my way to Pennsylvania, and I had a taste for authentic Dominican food. This restaurant definitely hit the spot. I got there just in time for their lunch special as it was about to end . I ordered oxtail with yellow rice and beans . It was $14 (lunch special). I got the last serving of oxtail so get there early as it seems the oxtail lunch special sells fast. Big portions, very flavorful, and the oxtail was tender. The woman who was at the register was also so kind and sweet great customer service as well. Very clean establishment with more than enough room and tables for dine in. I will always return . The reason I gave 4 stars is for the wait time. It wasn't crowded and I had to wait a little over 10 min. Other than that it's a great authentic Dominican restaurant. read more

El Castillo De Madison - Store front - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

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Anticipating a long snowy NY weekend, I placed a seamless order of comfort food from El Castillo de Madison. The order arrived timely and hot! I really like that they put the main course, rice and beans in separate containers. It's an O C D thing, I know. If you like to spoon the beans on the rice right before rather than the rice soaked in beans, this place is for you! The Pernil was perfectly seasoned and plentiful. The Sancocho was full of chicken, pork, cassava, plaintains ... my belly is so happy! Go! There are other Dominican places in the neighborhood which are all very good but I think this is going to be my go to from now on! Da-yam their food is good. Oh, the older gentleman that delivered was the sweetest man - I tipped him nicely! Please tip nicely, they deserve it! Psst. Pro tip if you get the Pernil or pork chops order a side of the garlic/vinegar condiment, it's extra BUT it brings the flavor to the next level! read more

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It's the worst thing about Delivery. I've been trying for a year and it's the same thing. On the website there is one price and they charge another. The good thing is that now there are 2 more options with a new Cuban. read more

The chef is amazing, the customer service is atrocious. The women in the front will make you lose your appetite. If you're fasting like myself and having a long day, don't spend your money here. You won't even want to eat their food after getting all the attitude. Been going for lunch 3 days in a row cause the food is good but today will be the last cause their attitude is disgusting. Do better. read more

This dominican restaurant is about a 10 15 minute walk from my home and never disappoints. The Avena (oatmeal) is very filling and tasty, also comes with a slice of buttered bread. The breakfast platters are reasonably priced but always get the Mangu. 2 fried eggs, salami fried cheese and Mangum with extra onions really hits the spot! Delivery is fairly quick as well. The pork chops, white rice and beans are another go to order for my household. Definitely worth a visit for some fairly tasty food! read more

El Castillo De Madison - Oatmeal. Avena - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Been coming here for over 15 years They never disappoint My family loves to order their Cuban sandwich I love their camarones ajillo. **chef's kiss** read more

Left the East Broadway subway station on my way to Basketball City for my Five Boro Bike Tour packet pick up, and I spied this place. Packet pick up was extremely efficient thus year, so on my way back to the subway, I popped in here for breakfast. Two eggs with bacon, potatoes, two slices of well buttered toast and a freshly made cup of Spanish coffee, five bucks. FIVE BUCKS !!!! Unheard of in Manhattan. And by the way, the correct name of the place is El Castillo De Manhattan. read more

El Castillo De Madison - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Typical local Dominican spot. Been here a couple times when I needed to satisfy my empanada cravings. I randomly got a side of yellow rice one day and regret it!! The rice was hard and bits of it was impossible to chew on. After that, I stopped by to get 2 beef empanadas and when I got home, both of them were chicken! I don't think I'll be going back :( My parents love their chicken soup though, and my mom loved the yuca that came with it. Outdoor seating is also available. read more

Excellent food and lovely customer service. I go to El Castillo De Madison sometimes with my boyfriend and his family, and we always have a good time there. read more

My boyfriend and I have ordered from this place a couple of times. The food is generally good and they have decent prices. The best thing is that you are able to order online and thats always a plus. Their morir soñando [die dreaming] which is a traditional dominican drink, is really good. I order it every time. Their pastelios are great and their food has a lot of flavor. Their rice could be better. Recently i ordered chicken stew [pollo guisado] and it came with no stew. They didn't even call to let me know. Sent chicken with no stew. read more

Breakfast was average, bread was good. Eggs were over cooked no care. The atmosphere is noisy over the top!!! Stupid Telemundo TV blasted , then if that was not enough they blasted dominican music on the house stereo. Time was 8:30 am.... No wonder I was the only one here, been here before this time it was unbearable. I wanted to eat and plan my day, that is why i came here in the first place. Impossible to achieve in this joint!!! Two stars for an average no passion food and super noisy establishment. Reason for two stars, the place is clean! read more

El Castillo De Madison - Empty now I know....Super loud and unfriendly. But clean important to me! - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

This is fried chicken wait a minute Fried chicken chunks with Bone in Chicken Chunks . They lucky I did not go back to the restaurant but I would never ever ever buy from this restaurant ever ever again! I spent close to $30 on a meal because I was being lazy and this is what I got. read more

El Castillo De Madison - Fried Chicken Chunks - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

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A great place for the average Californian to try Choquette/Hall Dominican style avocados for the first time. Rarely seen on the west, they are larger, more watery and a little less pungent. But still plenty yummy, just different. The prices are economical and the portions are grande. Sweet plantains are a must as well as the crispy fatty fried pork. Never crowded, El Castillo De Madison is a welcome addition of Latin flavor to lower China Town. read more

Tried the Cuban sandwich and let me tell you I couldn't of been more pleasantly surprised! Great pork, great seasonings, and the cheese is perfect! read more

The majority of the people that work at the counter are nasty and rude. They have no people skills. And on top of that, they charge people whatever they feel like. I even pointed to their menu and had proof that they were overcharging me but they did not listen. On top of that, the quality of food is not the best. The steak and pork chops are super dry and have no flavor. And when you order a lunch special, they pack your plate with rice and beans and just 1 ounce of meat. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!! There are better restaurants in Manhattan. read more

I used to get food from here a lot but I think I'll take a break since I got a roach in my beans today.

The place to go if you are into Entomophagy! Unfortunately for my niece, she gets a cup of water with someone's lipstick smudged on it and then when they replace her cup of water, it has a roach on top of the ice floating. Disgusting!! read more

Horrible food here. If only I could give 0 or negative stars! I think the only decent item here is the Pastele in Leaf. Breaded Steak Sandwich: No flavor and dry. The steak was pounded really thin, breaded and deep fried. The breading was as thick as the steak! Fried pork chops: Very generous with the poorly cooked hard white rice. Pork chops were so dry I thought they were serving jerky. Cuban Sandwich: No flavor with the exception of A LOT of salt. Roast Pork Mofongo: DRY DRY DRY DRY with no flavor even with the gravy they sent. Did I mention it was DRY?! read more

Sometimes when I'm craving for a steak panini, this place hits the spot. The family that runs this joint is sometimes friendly, sometimes rude. Once I ordered pepper steak and asked for them not to put onions and they delivered it with onions. I called back to let them know and the guy told me it's not his problem. So don't order delivery here if you dont speak Spanish. Go to the restaurant for pick up instead and check your food to make sure they made it right. read more

Good service. Clean restaurant and efficient service. Delicious food. We ordered the boneless chicken white rice and beans side plus an order of green plantains and salad with avocado. The tostones were still warm when we received them. Happy with the order. They included the garlic dip I requested too. There were no napkins tho. But I Would definitely order again. read more

I use to go on site viits on Fridays around this area so I would visit this place for lunch. I normally order the lunch special, oxtail stew with yellow rice, beans and salad. Also, try their coffee, latin style...I find it better than DD's coffee... I would like to go back, but too lazy to travel there just for the food.... d= p read more

The Cubano is perfect - am going to try the soupy rice and chicken next visit. This place is a meat lovers paradise run by a challenging family - do not miss out read more

Great local Family owned Latin American Restaurant. The food always smells so good. I ordered the Cubano sandwich ($5.50) and it was really good. The place is clean and staff very friendly. The only thing I noticed that bothered me was a sign on the register for credit card usage was $20.00 minimum. I have never seen a minimum that high ever. So bring cash of its just you. read more

El Castillo De Madison - Cubano sandwich - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

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It took awhile for me to finally try this place and I think I have been missing out. For me, El Castillo de Madison might just be the closest restaurant to my house and while I've always wanted to go in, I've always been a tad intimidated by the language barrier. A recent trip to El Castillo de Jagua steeled my nerves and I walked in for lunch. After requesting a menu, I figured out that they serve a lunch special similar to Jagua and one of the options was oxtail. Rice, beans and meat for $6. Hard to beat that! (I wonder why they charged me $7 for takeout, though...) Anyhow, the food was good - not life changing but if you need your rice and beans fix, there's nothing wrong with what they serve here. I enjoyed it as much as any order I've had including Cafe Margon and the aforementioned de Jagua. There were only 3 pieces of oxtail and two of them were very average but one piece - fatty - was quite heavenly. I was completely stuffed and being that they are a close walk by, they've earned my business. You can definitely do worse if you are in the area so give it a try. I'll also be back to try some of the other things on the menu. read more

I can't believe how delicious their food is! It tastes just like home, maybe even better. Shh! Don't tell my mom! This is where I come when I'm too lazy to make a trip to Cuchifritos in Harlem. First of all, their portions are huge. Anything you order will be enough to last you for days. I love their fried porkchops, they're so juicy which I wouldn't expect with anything fried. They're perfect, literally humongous, and great. Even though they're fried, it's not to the point of being burnt. Their rice and beans tastes like any other Spanish restaurant you've been to so there's not much to say on that. Their pernil sandwiches are huge too and filled with meat. I just wish the pieces they put in the sandwich weren't so dry. Other than that, 5 stars! I love their food and hope they never go out of business! Everything is so flavorful and quick. Customer service is great too. Once you come in a lot, they begin to recognize you, your orders and are genuinely friendly and want to know how you're doing! read more

El Castillo De Madison - Fried chuleta (porkchops), rice and beans, with a side of tostones! (I took the food home, they don't serve on plastic plates haha) - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Yum yum in my tum tum Don't be a dum dum don't judge this place by the store front or aging decor the food is outstanding Beef stew......... Oooooo so good Pork and beans... Ask for fatty pieces and skin it's yummy Flan Flan Flan... Sweet sweet sweet Rice over load so much rice in one order you can make a rice castle Good eats Happy pooping read more

My hubby was craving Cuban sandwich, so we've decided to order out from El Castillo. It was my first time eating from here, even though I live in the neighborhood. I ordered tostones and grilled steak. My hubby got the Cuban sandwich and beef stew. The tostones were awesome! They were not greasy and that is a big plus from me. The grilled steak came with rice and beans. There was even rice to feed three adults. My mother in law, hubby and I shared one plate of rice, and we still had left overs! The beef stew was tasty. My hubby said the Cuban sandwich tasted good. The meat was not dry. HOWEVER, the grilled steak was a huge disappointment. Either the chef pounded the hell out of the meat, or they pressed way too hard on the grill. The steak was dry and tasted like big slice of beef jerky. It was not seasoned and just blah. 3 stars for cheap and decent meal, but crappy steak! read more

Worse food I ever had & very pricey. The waitress was excellent but the food was insipid. Plz don't go eat here.

It's amazing Dominican Style Cuisine! If you want good old fashioned home cooked MEALS for breakfast, lunch and dinner your going to the number one hole in the wall LES has to offer in our newly anointed million dollar neighborhood! read more

The food is fresh and good. Service is great. Nice restaurant. Highly recommend the breaded steak and plátanos maduro. Yummy!

This place loves giving way too much rice for one person to eat. I'd prefer if they gave half the rice and a few more beans. The food is good and cheap. read more

The food used to be better. The rice is my biggest complaint next to the increase in price out of no where.

It's was excellent. So good. I enjoyed the empanada and a good Cuban sandwich. I would recommended. Good service!! read more

El Castillo De Madison - Nothing left. - Latin American Near Me - New York, New York

Great deal! I don't know about the others, but my Dominican roommate and I don't even cook Dominican food anymore--it's just not worth it, because we actually cannot cook cheaper and better than Casitllo... read more

Decent home cooked style food. Messed up my order a little (it was a delivered meal) but no big deal. Would recommend

Can always count on them for a good solid meal. Family owned, good customer service and great food that doesn't take ages. Haven't had a bad experience here yet! read more

Food is decent. Waited too long for my order. They serve regulars/ Spanish speaking people first. They reused a container. I ordered sausage with rice and beans. The container containing the sausage had guacamole on the side and a piece of bone inside. (Pretty sure sausage is boneless). There is a $20 credit card minimum. Not Worth! read more

From the outside, it's not the most inviting spot but I used to come here with er, let's just call him a mistake. Anyway I was addicted to their cuban sandwiches of all things. Wrapped in foil and usually squished, it definitely wasn't the prettiest but it was ALWAYS delicious. No weird dry bits of meat and never skimped on pickles :) read more