Esperanto

06/07/09

FUN

by nycnyc1978 at Citysearch

i came here with a some friends last nite for the first time. The energy at this restaurant is crazy, but in a good way. it is very busy and entertaining. the food was great and the drinks are excellent. i had the carne asada and my friend had some stew. it was an all around good nite.

• Pros: hot hostesses
• Cons: long wait but it's worth it

02/25/09

Esperanto Provides Tasty Brazilian Experience

by panski at Citysearch

Esperanto Provides Tasty Brazilian Experience! Food true to the mix, flavors, freshness and spice of Brazilian cuisine in an atmosphere that provides an ambiance of latin america with music and decor. A real treat in NYC!

• Pros: Example: best croissants in town
• Cons: What are the drawbacks?

10/13/08

Best restaurant ever

by Moniq77 at Citysearch

This is the best restaurant ever. Its one of the few that I go to reguraly. The people there are great. They do their best to make you happy and are always pleasant. The food there is the best! One plate that I recommend is the Carne Asada , they do wonders on this dish. The bad only bad thing I can say about this restaurant is that it can get crowded on weekends around 8pm. But for the food its well worth the wait.

• Pros: food,service

06/05/08

Enjoyed it!

by longbluepants at Citysearch

I haven't been out for a while, so I'm glad I didn't waste my night out. The food was tremendous -- I loved the shrimp dish I had (camarones) and my husband had a steak, which he also enjoyed. We shared a chayote salad and plantain covered goat cheese appetizers, also delicious. The really great thing is we felt like we had good food but didn't get gouged. To drink we also shared the sangria, which was especially delicious and great for the warm night. Very recommended!

• Pros: Food and price were perfect

06/02/08

Loved it, a great night out

by sandraflores at Citysearch

I just moved into the neighborhood and went here with a group of friends over the weekend and the experience was wonderful. I was lucky enough to try a bunch of the entrees -- I liked them all and moqueca(fish cooked in a clay bowl) and lomito (the pork with a delicious passion fruit sauce) were my favorites. The drinks were also good and reasonably priced, I had mojitos and they were delicious and sweetly minty. It was so good I'm going to be back next week!

• Pros: Amazing food and drinks, great price

06/01/08

Par

by shaman8933 at Citysearch

On a weekend trip I journeyed a bit to try this place out for dinner. It was OK. I think my favorite part of the dinner was the fried yucca - haha. Fried yucca beats french fries any day. I had the Eperanto Steak, which I ordered medium well (which I wish I ordered medium rare). My BF had the same but ordered his medium. He thought it was a little fatty and chewy. Mine was a little tough and I couldn't decide if that was of the result of the quality of the meat or the cooking style. I ordered a glass of the Sangria and was glad I didn't get the pitcher because it tasted awfully imbalanced and I pondered not drinking the rest to bank calories for potentially more sinful/satisfying rounds of this experience. I ordered the volcano cake and couldn't realy pinpoint what was so disappointing. In retrospect, maybe it was overshadowed by the fact the waiter didn't offer us any coffee. I mean, c'mon. If you're serious about being a Latin American restaurant, you need to be serious about your coffee. Seriously. Maybe I was there on an off day...

We also went there for the live music, but oddly there is none on a Saturday. It wasn't a complete overshadow for my birthday weekend though. It was nice that the atmosphere was so open.

• Pros: Fried Yucca, Open Atmosphere
• Cons: Bad Sangria, Hints of Americanization (lacking that hospitality) takes away from the Latin American dining experience

05/13/08

Great food and a fun night out

by stevef218 at Citysearch

Went to this place on a friend's recommendation, and I'm really glad we did. Service was good, and we were seated promptly even though it was busy. We drank great mojitos, at a really good price ($6). The food was all delicious as well, and the check was very reasonable in the end. Plus they had a great band playing, and it all made for a really fun night out. We'll be back for sure.

• Pros: Food, price, live band

05/12/08

Not worth the cost, and, you can find a better Brazilian restaurant in the city!

by haircustomer at Citysearch

I ordered a traditional Feijoda dish, and it turned out to be a bit too salty. The rice that came with it was lukewarm. The portions of the appetizers were really small for the price. And for a so-called Brazilian restaurant, it's hard to understand why they don't offer one of the most popular and authentic appetizer/snack --- pao de quiejo (cheese bread). I can't wait to try out other Brazilian restaurants, because this one was disappointing. I'd recommend looking for a place where you can actually get what you pay for.

• Pros: There's outdoor seating, if you like that
• Cons: Smaller portions; there's gotta be a better Brazilian restaurant in the city

12/16/07

Good Latin American food!

by niner09 at Citysearch

I had a good time at Esperanto's with a party of 6 on a Saturday evening. The place has a nice lively ambiance with a good Latin American decor. They had Salsa and Merengue playing from speakers which helped grasp the feel of the restaurant. We were greeted immediately at the door and was seated promptly after having to wait no more than 10 minutes for another party to leave. The place is a small place, (it's not a hole in a wall-small) so the 6 of us had to sit a little closer together, but I still felt that there was a lot of room to maneuver. The place was busy of course, so our waitress had to run around a few times before we placed our orders. They were very good at starting us up with drinks, offering their signature pitcher of Sangria for the table, but we declined only because we were going out for more drinks later on. Water came in a nice bottle (probably tap) but it was cool; we should've asked for another bottle of water because it would go fast but they responded quickly when we ran out. Now the important part: the food. Appetizers: we had garlic bread and tostones (fried plantains) as appetizers and it came out nice and hot. Entrees: Some of us ordered the steak, which was delectable and made perfectly even as well done. It didn't feel like we were chewing on rubber. The rest had the grilled salmon and that was also made perfect; decent crust on-top and depending on how you ordered it, it flaked off with no trouble at all. Although we were starving and it took some time for the food to come out, it was well worth the wait. PARKING: very hard to find around that neighborhood on a Saturday night. We had to circle around several times before locating a legal spot to park in. If you're driving in, be prepared to park a few blocks away from the restaurant, but it's a lot better than walking 10+ blocks in the bitter cold from the train. Enjoy.

• Pros: Responsive service, food with decent prices
• Cons: Parking

11/20/07

Best night out in the east village!

by dutyfree at Citysearch

We had a great time eating there the other night. Food was delicious, and the mojitos we drank were amazing, definitely the best I've had in the city. Plus, the waitress was really sweet and attentive to our table and they had a great band playing, so it really made for a great night out.

Reasonably priced, and very much recommended!

• Pros: Food, drinks, price