I've been going to La Isla since I was a child, and it honestly warms my heart to see this place still standing strong. To survive the sands of time and continue feeding the community the way they do says everything. La Isla is more than a restaurant--it's family. It's home. It's el barrio. I have my all-time favorites that I've been ordering since childhood, and this visit was no different. I wanted pasteles with rice and a coco drink, and that's exactly what I got. No disappointments, just comfort food done right. The food is always good, the atmosphere feels familiar and welcoming, and the service is fast and solid. Walking into La Isla feels like being back home, like being surrounded by family, even if you're just stopping in for a quick meal. If you know, you know. And if you don't--this is your sign to go experience it. read more

La Isla - Pasteles White rice - Puerto Rican Near Me - New York, New York

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Their cuchifritos are good. Alcapurria, bacalitos, relleno de papa. Food? Nope. It tastes like there wasn't no love put into it. El Nuevo Caribeno over on 105th & Lex is the better bet. just order or get there at noon. Go to these places at NOON. Throughout the day the food ain't as good at most of these places. read more

DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE SAVE YOURSELF THE FRUSTRATION! I recently moved close by and wanted some food because I had been unpacking for hours. I saw it was a place with "Spanish" food. So I stopped by (STARVING!!!) I placed a to go order. This was the nastiest food I have ever had. I threw it out immediately! The chicken smelled old and uncooked. I ordered stew chicken with white rice and beans. The beans were all smashed up, the chicken was put in a soup container and it literally looked like soup! The rice had a funny smell as well. They give me 2 pieces of chicken a leg and a "breast" with no meat. The chicken leg was huge and very disgusting looking. The chicken breast was literally a bone. It was a container full of grease with 2 pieces of chicken one small piece of carrot and a small piece of potato. I would not recommend this to anyone. The staff is very nice and the service is very fast however, the food is DISGUSTING!! read more

La Isla - Puerto Rican Near Me - New York, New York

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I was in the area and wanted some hearty food and saw this spot on the corner. I went in and there were two ladies sitting and eating and honey their food looked goodt! Okay maybe I was just a little hungry but I was excited about trying the food. Mind you I didn't read the reviews because I might haven't tried it due to the poor ratings. However, after checking out the reviews, most of the issues seem to be with their delivery service and/or customer service. The staff were friendly and I didn't have a problem even though I was only in the restaurant for about 5 minutes, lol. I ordered the roasted chicken with rice and beans. I wanted some plantains but I would've had to wait 10 minutes so I skipped them. I got home and feasted because the meal was delicious. The rice wasn't overcooked and the food was very flavorful. The prices were average and most importantly, the portion sizes were big enough to have leftovers for later which I loooove.. LOL If I'm in the area I would return to this spot and check out some other menu items. read more

La Isla - chicken, rice, beans, and rice in tinfoil - Puerto Rican Near Me - New York, New York

3.5 stars. Fast and cheap eats . They give you a good amount of food. Got the red rice , beans and rotisserie chicken. Some parts were dry but satisfying. Got the fried potato and meat as well. Big piece. read more

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Terrible and I ordered 3 large mondogos and asked for less potatoes and more pigs feet. Instead, I received Mondogo soup with bones. Mind you, I have been loyal customer of La Isla and Uber Eats and would not give me credit despite me calling both. In short, La Isla had been slacking but it has reached a new low. Save your money on Uber Eats and La Isla. read more

I have been coming to this place for years and my favorite is the beef stew with yellow rice. Also, the Alcapurias (idk how to spell it lol) and Pastelitos are amazing. Tamarind and passionfruit juice are number one :-) read more

This place is not it lol food looks amazingly good but the pernil was dry like they reheated yesterday's freezer burned left overs. The parts that were moist were decent... skin was not crunchy but chewy like chewing on leather. The chicken pastelillo was yuck. It's like they used a chicken ground into a paste consistency. Dry as hell. The alcapurria was mostly shell... and the meat left me with a longing for better days lol read more

This is my go to spot for Puerto Rican/Dominican food. It's kinda diner like, it's even open late. Mondongo is fire here. Hearty lots of chunks of tripe and trotter. Morcilla here is banging too. If you're into morcilla that is. Chicken stew there hits the spot every time I'm sick. read more

I was in the area and I decided to stop in to get an alcapurria. We were super tired and hungry, and came from a long way, so we stepped inside. Haven't had one in a long time so took a chance hoping it would be good. We also ordered their tres leches cake, which I didn't try, but was told it was decent. However, I was not happy with the alcapurria. It was super greasy and the little meat filling inside was questionable. I won't be returning. read more

Was hoping to get a good Hot lunch or rice n beans mixed and some roasted chicken and everything was cold I ate a spoon or two - had I not spent 11 bucks here I would have dumped it. Sorry not sorry Don't serve cold food and no way to heat it up - come on now WTH?? read more

The food here is usually good, but today as of October 24, the drinks were rotten and maybe had a malfunction. It was disgusting and should've not been served. The waitresses are sweet but the one who answered my phone today was horrible. And the tables are just there for eating, nothing special. read more

Looking For Good Food? Pass This By I've been coming here for years. The food is hit or miss but I kept giving them the benefit of the doubt. Nah, no more. Husband went in around 1pm. Purchased 1 beef empanada, 2 chicken empanadas, and 1 roast chicken and a Modungo soup. Soup was the only edible. Empanadas crusts were hard, like they've been sitting there from day before. Beef filling was tolerable but the chicken was horrendous. Chicken meat pulverized til it looked and tasted like sawdust. No flavor, over dry. So dry needed to drink to wash it down. Needless to say, didn't finish. The roast chicken dry, over done, wings, hard and blackened , again like it was left over from day before and just reheated. Going to the dogs tomorrow. Sorry now I didn't take photos at the time. Never going back. read more

Avoid this place at all costs... I ordered two things, got sent the wrong items and even the wrong items were horrible! The onion steak was dry, old and freezer burned and the stew chicken had bloody chicken!!!! How in the world does one mess up stew chicken????!!!!! I wish I could give half a star and that would be for the maduros and the maduros one! read more

NEVER ORDER FROM THIS RESTAURANT!!! I ordered a full combo via Seamless and the delivery person brought the side dishes and forgot the whole chicken! I called the restaurant and they just blamed it on the delivery person, they didn't offered a refund and they only suggested I could come to the restaurant to pick up the rest of my order (they didn't even offer to pay for a taxi). Terrible experience!! I understand it was mostly the delivery person's fault but the restaurant should have done something to make sure I got my order!! (they said they didn't know how to contact the delivery person...what???) The lady who attended my call also told me she couldn't do anything about it and told me she needed to hang up the phone on me! Amazing! I will never order from here and I'll make sure none of my friends do! read more

La Isla, In A Pinch And You Must , It's Just Okay !!!! The Whole Chicken And Yuca, When It's Cooked Properly And They Have Onions It's Pretty Good. Definitely Skip The Beans ;( read more

This is the best late night food spot in the neighborhood. 1/2 roast chicken w/ beans and yellow rice is the order, it's perfect. Throw in a pastellito or 2 if you too hungry to wait. read more

My sons are the reason why I decided to eat here because they wanted to eat Spanish food. Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed that the health grade was pending which would have made me turn around if it wasn't for my sons. We decided to order our food and dine in. We were seated for a short time but no one came to our table to serve us. I had to get up and go to the counter to tell the waitress that we needed table service. (Red flag #1) She finally comes over two minutes later and provides us with menus and leaves. A man walks into the restaurant, sits down at another table and immediately the waitress comes to his table to service him. He receives his food immediately but our orders haven't been taken yet. I'm like what is going on in here. (Red flag #2) I was going to address the situation but my youngest son urged me not to to which I obliged. Finally she remembers that we are still waiting to order our food and comes over to our table to take our food order. First of all, her English is very minimal which isn't good if you can't understand what I'm saying. She made two mistakes with our orders because of lack of language skills. Our food was really good despite the poor interpersonal communication. Fast forward, we are finished with our food so one of my sons wanted to take his remaining food home so he asked for a pan. She goes behind the counter and signals to my son to come and get the pan, um excuse me I thought that were being serviced at the table. We are finished now so I go to the counter to pay the bill only to be surprised by the total bill. Apparently, when you order food here the meat choices are classified as a plate choice but rice or beans is not included. I've never eaten at a restaurant that has done that. I ordered the chicken chunks which came up to $6.00 for just chicken alone and no rice.....weird. Although the food was good, it is safe to say that I will not patronize this restaurant again. In my opinion, the pricing is a completely rip-off. read more

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I should have just trusted the other folks here who said the service is horrible. It is indeed horrible! I don't mind that they sent me the wrong order, but I DO MIND being hung up on and then nobody picking up the phone the seven times I attempt to call back to be re-connected. At this point I will cut my losses and find somewhere else to order from. read more

Honestly the service is horrible!!! Really expensive for no reason. The prices are just ridiculous!! Just 4 pastelito is 11 dollars with sooooo much salt! I would had rather spent those 11 dollars somewhere else. read more

I don't eat here often but when I want authentic Puerto Rican / Carribbean food, this is where I go. I usually get the Mofongo with Carne Frita - mashed plaintains, (fried unripened salty, savory not the sweet kind), served with fried chunks of pork, (basically a chicharron), along with some lettuce and tomatos. Be sure to get some garlicky pan drippings gravy to spoon over the mofongo. A big helping runs about $8.50/order. You can also just order the mofongo for $5.50. This is why I make a special trip to eat here and why the place gets 4 stars in my book. They also have a whole rotisserie chicken for $6.00. A nice juicy Pernil for $8.00. Rice and beans, Tripe soup (Mondongo), etc. It's all good. Other side dishes for about $1.50 apiece are: Papa rellenas - fried mashed potato with gound beef Plaintain rellenas - mashed plaintain stuffed with ground beef. They also have mashed plaintain stuffed with other meats like tongue (lengua) and fried pig ear (oreja). Delicious. Alcapurria - cassava (sometimes called yuca) stuffed with ground beef. Cassava is a starchy root vegetable like a potato but a little more fibrous. Add some garlic sauce to this baby. Yum Yum Give me Some. A great place for chucifrittos (little fried snacks). You may have noticed a trend here - starchy carbs with meat. Lol. They also have fruit drinks, Kola Champagne soda, and of course Malta. To save on calories, I'll stick with my Diet Coke thank you. This is a no frills order and pay at the counter and then grab a seat. Locals don't seem to tip but please do. I sat at the counter recently and was served by the friendly attentive staff that made sure I was happy with what I ordered. The menu is a big sign hanging on the wall written in Spanish with an English translation. Since it's so inexpensive to eat here, I have no problem tipping 50%. Most items are on steam tables by the window so you can see what looks good and point if you are intimidated. The mofongo is one of the few dishes made to order so you will need to wait about 10 minutes for them to prepare it. Eat in or carry out. Cheers! N. read more

Worst service I have ever received. The lady in charge of phone orders is extremely disrespectful and does not care about the customer.

The food is fresh and delicious and the prices are excellent. $7 buys a half rotisserie chicken with generous sides of rice and beans. (The lunch special is even cheaper). For some reason they frequently run out of black beans, so you have to make do with whatever beans they have. And it's a 60% chance they won't have sweet plantains. Besides the chicken, my other favorite food is moving, which comes in shrimp, chicken and perhaps pork; it's moist and flavorful. You might have to wait 10 minutes or more for your food, partly because it is so fresh. The service isn't great. The women who work the counter speak very little English, always look somewhat put out and annoyed and can tend to spend a lot of time chatting with random people while you're trying to order. As for ambience, there is none. There are 4 small booths that are old, hard and grungy. There are a few stools the bar run along the front counter. If you're not sitting, the quarters are very tight while you stand and wait for food. If you want something cheap, tasty and filing to go, this is your place. read more

Paid 7.50 for rice and 2 small cubes of beef (beef stew. Didn't realised I had ordered rice only

Just got food from here , be cautious. The chicken was NOT cooked!!!! I wouldn't recommend this restaurant. I wouldn't give this restaurant a rating if I had a choice. read more

La Isla - Puerto Rican Near Me - New York, New York

My friend from Costa Rica took me here to get some authentic, inexpensive Spanish / Latin American food. The food was great, but the reason for only 3 Stars is that the service could have been a lot better. Don't get me wrong, they ladies behind the counter are very friendly, but I would have appreciated being acknowledged within the first 5 minutes. Anyway, we decided to ask one of the chefs what she recommended. She served us each a half chicken with rice and beans on the side. The chicken was very moist and the skin was amazing. Everything I could ever hope for from a chicken. There are several tables/booths, but we chose to sit at the counter. read more

Ordered mofongo it was not made fresh Dripped oil nasty !!!!! If you can stand the roaches eat there Dont spend your money here read more

I came here expecting pasteles de queso. I got that plus it was stuffed with garlic. I threw it away because I couldn't stand the taste. It over powered the entire pastelito. Next the tamarindo drink was super watered down. There are flies and mosquitos everywhere. Don't recommend coming here read more

Great spot! I love their rotisserie chicken and papas rellenas. Very cheap, very flavorful. The papas rellenas used have more meat inside... they are still delicious though. read more

La Isla - a woman standing in front of a display case filled with donuts - Puerto Rican Near Me - New York, New York

The chicken is not that good.The best thing to get here is the drinks and the Empanadas .I would not eat chicken or a full dinner from here ! The food is terrible ! read more

I didn't think I really liked Cuban sandwiches until I had one at La Isla today! It was amazing! They forgot the pickles and it was still fantastic. I also really loved my Coco drink. It was my first trip in and it will definitely not be my last. I can't wait to try the entree dishes I watched them serving from my counter seat. Everything looked so tasty. read more

Lived in NYC for years but never made it up to East Harlem. I decided this time to make sure I made it to the neighborhood. I dragged my wife and kids there and thanks to the previous tips on Yelp, found this place and knew to go right to the counter and order two plates of delicious pernil asado (roast pork) with brown rice before sitting down. Everybody liked the food and we were full for hours afterwards with all the rice and beans. The kids especially liked the parcha (passion fruit) drinks which were perfect on a hot day. read more

Amazing quantities for the price. The yellow rice, beans, and chicken were on point. There is an appetizer there that looks like an egg roll...avoid that at all costs. It tastes like it's made with hair that's been fried in stale coconut oil. Horrible tasting! I haven't tried the other appetizers yet. Just stick to the basic Half chicken meal and you can't go wrong. You won't need any more food than that unless you have a serious eating disorder. read more

I ordered rice and beans with chicken late last Thursday night. Got sick as a dog! One bite of the nasty chicken did it. Uncooked, nasty and the person serving the food was an a-hole to boot. Don't go!!!! Please!!!! read more

If you're looking for as close to Puertorrican food without flying there, this place gets pretty close. Don't expect a fine dining setup here, which is perfectly fine. Just enjoy the food which they give plenty of!! read more

La Isla is a spot where the food taste better the later it is. It help if you are drunk as well. Lot's of fried food with your typical rice and beans on the side. Water and tamarind which helps with impotence. Not that I need it but being that its late it can help out if you have a date. Nothing crazy about the food. Had a steak sandwich. It was ok. Really cheap. read more

This restaurant is countertop service only which is great because you could save on the tip and order more of their delicious food! Afterwards you can take your food over to the spacious seating area and enjoy your food without having the fuss of a waitress. On mon-sat 11-4 they have 4.95 lunch specials which is generously sized for 1 healthy guy or 2 healthy ladies. read more

Don't eat here. I grew up in the Bronx so I have tried many different types of delicious spanish food. I ordered stew chicken with rice and peas and the coco juice. Stew chicken was very salty and looked more like soup and the rice and beans had no color or flavor. The coco juice was mediocre at best, I threw it out after a few sips. Normally I can't eat all the food and have leftovers but this time it was so gross I threw all leftovers in the trash immediately. You are much better off going to the nearby El Caribe. Much, much better food. read more

This has to be the worst spanish food ever. The beans had so much oil and the rice was flavor less. I ordered some tostones and was horrified When i opened the box. They were not flat yellow or crispy. Instead they were Black and not even fried twice. I asked for mojito and i got a bag of oil w green pieces of garlic. The only thing that was decent was the alcapuria. I threw my food out and will never buy from here again. P.s. i witnessed one of the servers pretend she didnt speak english when a costumer was complaining. Mind you i made my order in english to the same person. Smdh. read more

I'm workin' my way up to Mofongo. I do know Carmen Mofongo, a lean and mean red headed puerto rican, but I'm too embarassed to ask her the skinny on the food stuffs she's chosen as a surname. So when I needed a break from goggling at the amazing discount goods in shop after shop on way upper 3rd, I walked into La Isla, waited respectfully, and pointed at a purplish thick mixture while asking for Mashed Plaintains. I asked for garlic sauce, and the woman said 'maybe'. but she gave it to me. Whatever it was, it contained the complexity of nations, was about 3 bucks, stuffed me, I ate it all through a spanish harlem party, brought it downtown, served the rest with roast chicken to my friend, and continued to marvel. Next time I went, for cafe con leche, I was super ingratiating. Sometimes people have the good stuff and I just might not be their type, but as a long time urbanite I can toady like nobody's business. Again. read more