Reviews & Ratings for Hell's Kitchen

12/06/11

Not what it used to be. Now with friendly roaches.

by Gisselita at Citysearch

Until my last two visits during the last 6-8 months, Hell's Kitchen was one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the city.

A group of six went to have dinner and drinks after a show. By experience the pineapple margaritas, the menu and portions were simply perfect. The last two visits were very different as menu items have been removed/changed, portions have been noticeably decreased, and the place appears to be a home for huge ROACHES. Two of them jumped and walked over two of us during our last visit. Due to the surprise and disgust, everyone jumped away from the table and waiters rushed to catch and pick up the roaches with white towels. Everyone at the restaurant noticed the chaos. What was most disappointing was that the manager on duty (12/02 evening) or any other member of the staff did not take the initiative or time to come apologize to our party. We had to ask to see the manager. He approached us and quickly hushed us saying, “We’ll take something off the check” motioning us to settle. He did not apologize, but until we followed to point out the poor customer experience and low level of sympathy for what had just happened. We got the check, nothing was taken off and gratuity was included in the check total. We paid 100%. A few days later we realize that our credit card was charged an additional $14 without our approval.

Unfortunately, Hell's Kitchen has evolved taking a turn for the worse in food, cleanliness and service levels. It is no longer the restaurant it used to be. I would caution anyone before considering visiting this restaurant with your friends and family. At least not until the new management is replaced and the A grade on the door actually means something.

03/27/11

Great Food

by flaca1987 at Citysearch

This place is magnificent, we went there last nite as a pre dinner for a how we were going to see. We made reservations so luckily we didn't have to wait. The place is very tiny but youre still comfortable not tiny were you're closed in to the next table. The ambience and the atmosphere were great the lights are dim down. The waiters were great they explained the menu and all my questions about some ingredients. The food is delicious I am not a big fan of Mexican food but this was to die for, mind you I am a very picky eater and petite. The appetizer I choose were the scallops trust me when I tell you they were really really good, but becuase its an appetizer it was very tiny and they only served 3 which is fine. I only has one drink which was a Sangria it was made to perfection not too sweet and not too dry. For the main course I had Roasted Chicken and Monterey Jack Quesadilla with Poblano Crema. It was very delicious no complaints with the food whatsoever. Cons are Pricey what can we say were in New York what isn't pricey, there is only one bathroom so you have to wait 5-10 minutes. Those are just minor cons. My overall experience was great I will reccomend this restaurant to anyone.

02/18/10

Horrible food that made me sick and overrated!

by maverick061 at Citysearch

After reading all the acclaimed reviews of Hell's Kitchen, I decided this would be a perfect place to wine and dine my wife for our first Valentine's Day dinner together.

We were impressed with the ambiance when we walked in since it looked romantic and the friendliness and service of the staff. We actually thought that we were going to have a great Vday dinner!?

My wife and myself agreed on eating American food. However, I saw a lot of ITALIAN options instead on the menu and very little AMERICAN food. We have nothing against Italian food but we had that for lunch.

My wife wound up having the shrimp appetizer instead ONLY which tasted just ok. I decided to eat the "World Famous" HK Burger but the burger just tasted ok. After 1 hour and I reached home, I started getting sick. I got a massive stomach ache and cramps thanks to the HK Burger which was either undercooked or the beef was tainted and contaminated. Is this the price I have to pay for eating a "quality" burger??? I was sick for two days and had to miss work! Because of HK, I am now paranoid to go outside to any restaurant and eat since we are not the ones cooking!

The restaurant is soooo overrated. My experience at HK definitely left a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended).

• Pros: Ambiance, Location, Friendliness of staff
• Cons: Quality of Food

03/11/09

great food and staff..CREEPY chef

by circleeast at Citysearch

I ate here last week with my boyfriend...started at the bar with some amazing cocktails..me..wajito..my fella..a beuno anejo margitita..bartender with the moustache was super friendly and helpful!!!! Dinner was great but what bothered us most was the creepy guy with the chef whites(chef maybe??) who stood at the end of the bar for most of our meal and just "surveyed"the dining room...Why isn't he in the kitchen cooking..looks like he gets in the way of the staff a lot too. The reason I say "creepy" is because my boyfriend said when I went to the bathroom he totally stared at me,checking me out..EEEEEWWWWW!! Food was great and staff was super friendly from the hostess..to the ,manager..to the bartender(nice moustache..my boyfriend has one too!!!) to the super nice server(forgot his name) BUT seriously that chef guy is creepy..get back in the kitchen....and stop making customers feel weird with your creepy stare

02/22/09

eh, just okay

by keiramcdaniel at Citysearch

just okay....ambiance. just okay...food. just okay...service. tried the steak tacos, sirloin, guac, the sea bass and a few other things with friends. again, the food was okay but not the best guac or the best anything. i was expecting progressive, flavorful mexican but received bland mexican that i could make at home. again, its an okay place if you're hungry and happen to be in hell's kitchen, but nothing i would go out of my way to visit. i've always been skeptical of moderately priced to expensive mexican, because that just goes against the grain of what mexican food is, and this is the epitome of why i would just go down to chavellas in brooklyn if i had a craving for anything mexican.

• Pros: nice place to take the visitors you don't really like
• Cons: not a place to go if you want to be satisfied

02/18/09

I had a great time

by Melove2eat at Citysearch

I ate at Hell's Kitchen on Valentine's Day and had an awesome time. Everyone on the staff were very nice and helpful. When the manager stopped by to ask how everything was I couldn't stop gushing about the food. My favorite dish was the Tiger Shrimp. My boyfriend had the Lamb and it was out of this world. If you have a chance to stop by the bar for a drink and apps make sure Rick is working. He is the best.

• Pros: Friendly service from host to manager
• Cons: It is pretty tight but worth it.

11/10/08

Worst Dinner in Recent Memory

by jenniepries at Citysearch

We had an 8pm reservation, were seated at 9:15, received our first nibbles at 10pm. No apologies, misleading wait updates, and no attempt to make the situation better. When we spoke with the manager, we were chastised and the blame was placed on the table seated before us. The evening ended with the manager sarcastically making fun of us, the bartender criticizing my drink order and being told we were not welcome back. Aren't they thrilled they included 20% gratuity in the check? We paid the full bill and will never go back. Oh, and the food was overpriced.

• Pros: Many other options in the neighborhood
• Cons: Aggressively terrible service

11/06/08

Everything was great.. until...

by likeabuterfly52 at Citysearch

Myself and 6 other people had 6pm Wednesday night reservations here. We were there in time for the reservation, greeted by a friendly but rushed waiter, got drinks, apps, dinner and coffee. Everything was wonderful, although the app sizes were definitely on the small size for the price. After the coffee was served you could tell they were rushing us.. the check was brought before it was asked for and the bus boys began clearing everything off the table and when I say everything they even took our water glasses out from in front of us. They took the paid check off the table and within 2 minutes came over and asked us to leave our table. I have NEVER been asked to leave a table before, especially in a nicer restaurant that has received 4 1/2 stars by other people. I will not be going back, and would definitely not recommend this to anyone, unless they like being rushed after paying a considerable amount for dinner

• Pros: If you ignore the price for what youre getting it was good quality food
• Cons: Rude, rushed service

09/28/08

Phenomenal Restaurant!

by unabella99 at Citysearch

Honestly this is my favorite restaurant in NYC. The atmosphere is great, the food is phenomenal, the service is lovely and it's just overall an incredible restaurant/food and experience. Ordered the sea bass, the guacamole as an appetizer, the banana empanadas for dessert. A really most delightful experience and it's relatively inexpensive as well. Don't forget to try the Sangria as well. You'll be coming back again and again.

• Pros: Food/Ambience/Price/Selection
• Cons: Nothing for me

08/28/08

horrible crowd

by nyc825 at Citysearch

the people who sat next to us were harassing us and making racial jokes while we were sitting next to them. It was an awful dining experience. especially in nyc??! felt like i was in mississippi. Its a shame because the food was good but it was just unbearable especially the finance dooshes harassting us during our meal. Dont understand why hells kitchen attracts such trash. really not cool

• Cons: bad crowd