Reviews & Ratings for Socarrat

RUDE hostess

by nyblue123

I have been in this place more than once, best paella in the city, no doubt. But if you have to deal with a hostess that first tells you the wait is ten minutes when you come back tells you with the WORST attitude and without apologies that it will be over an hour....you will without a doubt (!) forget that they serve the best paella in town. Too bad for them to hire people with attitude. This was tonight March 10th. NY has way too many GOOD restaurants to deal with people like this.

Great -- if you avoid rush hour

by Scoop NYC

This is one of those New York restaurants that serves great food but is made utterly unbearable by overcrowding unless you can convince yourself to eat at really unfashionable hours.

Arrive before 7 or after 9:30 and you'll sit down immediately and eat the best paella you'll find outside of Valencia. It's not just good; unless you've actually had great paella in a paella-making region of Spain (which most tourists never visit) this will taste nothing like any paella you've ever had. The rice is completely different as is the way they soak it with flavor.

What you've had before is Chef Boyardee, this is spaghetti Bolognese from Il Mulino. But none of this will matter to you if you make the mistake of eating here at prime time.

If you do that, you will wait an hour, then get squeezed onto a couple stools at a communal table with loud groups of semi-intoxicated people, then you'll wait way too long for the food. The paella you get then will be just slightly undercooked because the kitchen is trying to turn the tables and you won't have room enough to eat it properly anyway.

New York is full of restaurants like this -- places that serve wonderful food but are unable or unwilling to manage prime-time crowds so as to prevent the crowding from utterly ruining the experience. This is a far, far better food town for people who can happily eat at off hours.

Gone downhill

by sazam

The first few times we tried this place, the wait was long but it was worth it for the delicious paella, tapas, and cozy atmosphere. But this time, the wait was still long and the food was mediocre and overpriced. We had a fava bean and clam tapa at the wine bar next door. For $11.00 we got only three tiny clams in a container filled with beans. I dropped one, so that left only two. Once we were seated at the long dinner table, waited a long time for lifeless paella. Unfortunately, the meat, chicken, sausage, and beef (?) chunks were charred and dry like after a nuclear attack and had no flavor. The rice was not particularly flavorful either. And at $22/person, it was definitely not worth it. A sad loss for the neighborhood.

• Pros: This place was great the first few times we tried it.
• Cons: Serious decline in quality, but the wait still long

Tasty paella, average tapas

by coog78

I really enjoy the concept of this restaurant. We sat near the middle of the table across from each other. Sangria was good, not great, but was fine. Potato tapas were basically like french fries, a bit disappointing. The fried artichokes were decent, but bland. Quail egg and chorizo on a toast was the best tapa and tasted nice.

The paella was why we came and it did not dissapoint. We ordered the pescados and mariscos paella and it was done very similar to paella in Spain. The rice on the bottom was crunchy and the peas were perfect. Seafood was tasty and overall a very nice dish. Average tapas can be forgiven by the success of the paella.

• Pros: paella, communal setting

Great Paella, Cute little place

by shert

The socarrat paella is amazing. The tapas were good as well. They don't take reservations but they put your name on a list and call when they're ready for you. We waited about an hour for 4 people on a Saturday night, not too bad. The staff is all very friendly. Definately go.

• Pros: Paella, Tapas, Sangria, Ambience
• Cons: No reservations

ok food, terrible service

by nycdoctor

The hostess said there was a 20 minute wait and offered to take our name and cell phone # to call us when our seats were available. We went around the corner to a bar to wait for her call. After nearly an hour, we called the bar only find out that they had crossed our name off the list and seated numerous people ahead of us, even though they had never called us. When we went back, they made us wait another 20 minutes. They offered us each a free glass of Sangria.... however, they poured us a half glass each of sangria while the people sitting right next to us were given a full glass of sangria because they were paying for it. To top it off, the food was greasy and did not live up to the hype! Not worth the price and poor service!

• Pros: Lots of grease
• Cons: Terrible service

tastiest paella and tapas!

by bleedinghearts

i eat here when i can since i am not too far from socarrat. overall, i think this place has one of the tastiest, lip-smacking tapas foods (tia pol is number one to me in the city). the paella is amazing too. i wish it was bigger-everyone loves to go here and it gets so busy if you don't go early when it first opens!

the one complaint i have is that the last time i went with my friend, we ordered lots of food and wine, but the woman was still trying to rush us out. also, when she wanted to clear my plates, she took my knife and poked at a piece of meat i wasnt' finished eating and asked if i was done. i thought that was invading my personal space and disgusting. i really didn't want that moment to ruin what i thought of socarrat. if it wasn't so delicious, i think in any other restaurant, i would've walked up and left b/c that was unprofessional and rude.

overall, i am willing to overlook that and still go back to socarrat!

• Pros: tasty tapas, great paella
• Cons: too small, rush you out

Amazing Paella

by goldenpig

We went on a Monday because I've seen the line outsde on Thursdays and Fridays and didn't really want to wait a long time. The space is small, not many seats, but not cramped.

It is nicely decorated and the exposed brick wall adds to it's warmth.

The staff is friendly and knowledgable.

There were many variations of paella. We had the meat one while others around us had seafood, meat and vegetarian ones. We enjoyed ours emensely and the people surrounding us enjoyed theirs as well... There were no leftovers from anyone near us.

Their sangria was good, but too much ice.

I am not a big fan of sitting on bar stool seating for extended periods of time, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

We highly recommend this place.

A wonderfully unique restaurant settles in the neighborhood!

by bubbles32

A paella bar in NYC - why hasn't someone thought of this before?

This place is truly unique - a great place for something different and off the beaten path. It's hidden between the buildings - blink, and you might pass by it. The place is wonderfully decorated ... very sensual, warm and charming. And the staff is, too! Our server, Miguel, was an absolute delight, adding to authenticity of the night. He was friendly, charming, helpful AND easy on the eyes, too!

He recommended all wonderful dishes. We had several tapas to split (fantastic gazpacho, croquettes & a delicious pork belly app) and then had the main paella for 2. It arrived on an elevated stand - like a throne fit for a king's meal! I'm usually not one for communal tables - but this place is fantastic and sharing elbow room is part of the fun here. My neighbors and I all got along wonderfully. The couple next to us even shared their wine with us!

We had an absolute ball here. Would come back in a second. The staff made us so comfortable - always an added bonus when having dinner. There's no other place like this in the city - and the paella had real socarrat (the semi-burnt stuff on the bottom of the paella pan) which transported me back to my first paella in Barcelona.

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you Miguel!!! ;)

• Pros: the decor, the food, Miguel
• Cons: none! other than it's popularity, I suppose ....

Ridiculous Paella

by bbt12

Fabulous paella, cozy atmosphere and good wine list.

It's small but the selection is excellent, I have never had paella that good in my life I will definitely go back. The only downside is the size of the space.

• Pros: Fabulous food & wine great atmosphere
• Cons: small, inevitable wait for a table no reservations