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Home > Restaurants > Boqueria

Boqueria

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

53 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011
nr. Sixth Ave.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-255-4160 Send to Phone

  • Price Range: $$$

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Critics' Rating: **

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Reader Rating:

    6.2 out of 10

      |  

    6 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: Spanish/Tapas
View Slide Show
Photo by Carmen Lopez and AJ Wilhelm

Official Website

boquerianyc.com

Hours

Daily, noon-midnight

Nearby Subway Stops

F, V at 23rd St.; N, R, W at 23rd St.

Prices

$7-$29

Payment Methods

American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Bar Scene
  • Business Lunch
  • Dine at the Bar
  • Hot Spot
  • Lunch
  • Notable Chef
  • Notable Wine List
  • Private Dining/Party Space
  • Take-Out
  • Reservations Not Required

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Not Accepted

Profile

If you want the latest taste of this city's mini–Spanish revolution at the ground level, the place to go is a cheery little establishment in the Flatiron district called Boqueria. The proprietor isn't Spanish, and neither is his chef-partner, Seamus Mullen. And Boqueria isn't, strictly speaking, a tapas joint either. In fact, the main dishes and midsize plates are arguably better than the tapas. But this place is packaged like a tapas bar—a stylish, updated one, that is. There's a bar up front, a narrow, communal table in the middle of a long room, and rows of clubby, bar-size tables lining the walls. The room (along with the uniforms of the competent, terminally perky wait staff) is carefully coordinated in tones of toffee, beige, and sandy brown, and the thing you notice, after a visit or two, is that it's very loud, in a convivial tapas-like way, and it's almost always packed. — Adam Platt

Note

Reservations are accepted only for groups of six or more.

Ideal Meal

Tortilla española, $7; suckling-pig special, $35; paella Valenciana (for two people), $29; hazelnut ice cream with chocolate-and-coffee mousse, $7

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6.2 "Mixed Reviews"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
66% Would you go back?
50% Would you take a date?
0% Would you take kids?
33% Would you go on business?
33% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 6.3
Service: 7.0
Décor: 6.5
Value: 5.0

Average Food, Dreadful Experience

JDNNYC from 10001 | Posted on 7/22/09

Overall Rating: 2 (Not Recommended)
Food: 4
Service: 5
Décor: 3
Value: 1

What may have been an acceptable dining experience bordered on absolute misery. Cramped space for what the owners of this Chelsea tapas restaurant are trying to accomplish, full of what appeared to be tourists or poseur aging hipsters, who knows. The food was a bit bland, not much taste at all. The patatas bravas (friend potatos) were about the best item we had but were heavy on the burned, crisp pieces which seemed to come out of the bottom of the pan. The all around experience of Boqueria was annoying, uncomfortable, nowhere near worth the steep price of food, loud, Loud, LOUD! I had a headache the next morning and for once, it wasn't from enjoying myself, it was from the miserable chaos of dining at Boqueria. I might otherwise give the food here another chance, but the threat of the experience outweighs any second chances for me I'm sorry to say.

Never again.

dshuba from 07029 | Posted on 6/27/08

Overall Rating: 5 (Mixed Reviews)
Food: 7
Service: 4
Décor: 3
Value: 5

Went to Boqueria with two friends last night. When we were seated, the hostess tried to fit the three of us onto a small table for two. We said that we were going to order several dishes and would need more room than the table for two would fit. So she let us use two tables, but told us that if the restaurant filled up, we'd have to squish into the one. The restaurant DID fill up an hour later, and she told us to we'd have to move everything in. We said we had one more dish coming then we'd leave. The manager stared at us from the bar the whole time, like WE were the problem for being there. The food was okay, our waitress, Emily, was wonderful, but the management was incredibly rude. AND stupid, considering that we would have ordered more tapas, dessert and coffee if we had felt like we were valued as paying customers.

Read All 6 Reviews >>

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