El Quijote

A crowd packs into this Chelsea restaurant for an extensive menu of Spanish classics and tapas.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
With its festive decor and atmosphere, this unmistakable Spanish restaurant situated below the Hotel Chelsea has been culling regulars for decades. The bar scene encompasses most of the front room, luring after-work drinkers and hotel guests with plates of manchego cheese and pitchers of sangria. Lobster served in green sauce is a favorite from the dining room's seafood-heavy menu. Party-sized portions are de rigueur, and most dishes, especially the popular paella, easily feed more than one.

12/02/06

Old school spot that will never go out of style...

by nyc_fo_life at Citysearch

It was one of my friends birthday's and we wanted a good restaurant that wasn't too trendy or pretentious, but was festive and good. For that kind of guy's night out, El Quijote was the perfect place. We were able to get a reservation for 8 the night before and they were very nice as our party took their time getting there. Once we were all there, it only took a few minutes to get our table although the place was pretty packed.

The service from the uniformed waiters was friendly and thorough. The food was all tasty and in ample portions. There's nothing cute here--just real Spanish food and plenty of it. It isn't cheap but considering the quality and quantity, it is a great value. Not a single one of the 8 grown men I was with finished their meals, but every one of us loved it. That said, it's the perfect place to share some appetizers and a main dish. The decor is authentic old New York just like the Chelsea Hotel above.

• Pros: Steaks, Seafood, Paella
• Cons: Don't go if you don't like garlic

10/23/06

YUM-O

by michiemush at Citysearch

The food was pretty good. The paella is deelicious. I suggest you order the Marinara Paella con Longosta, it's not as wet as the Valencia Paella. The price is decent too!!! Recommended!

• Pros: Good price for the food, available parking around the area, they allow you to make reservations.
• Cons: The service can be a little better.

10/11/06

great paella!!!

by jjong at Citysearch

I went with a group of friends and expected ok food and high prices. I was happy to find that the food was reasonably priced and great paella!!! The steaks are huge and a great bargain, but was tasteless. I would not recommend the chicken with garlic because it was overcooked. The Seafood paella with 1/2 a lobster is a bargain, and is really tasty.

• Pros: great paella
• Cons: long wait for food, and dry chicken

05/16/06

User review by lamalinche

by lamalinche at Citysearch

The garlic soup tasted strange. The cruttons on it had been fried on stale oil. The paella was a total desgrace: the rice was dry, had no azafrán but tomatoe, the chorizo had been sliced and was the worse you could find, the seafood was overcooked. One good thing: the service had been good and very friendly, though not wise on wine recommendation. Then the check arrived: they had charged us 40 extra bucks out of nothing. Our waiter tried to explain that the house never writes down the alcoholic beverages on the bill (????!!!!). We insisted it was wrong, and of course it was. After long waiting and no longer friendly faces, as I said it was 40 less than they had planned to charge us. We will never again show up our noses there,nor our poor mouths and less our wallet.

04/07/06

Great date!

by Nykoreana at Citysearch

My date took me to this place for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised! The decor is not modern/trendy like Taj, but more down to earth, spanish style. The waiters were absolutely fabulously always being attentive such as filling water/sangria. =) The food, I thought was excellent! The paella is HUGe, maybe serving up to 4 people. The seafood paella was great. The appetizers, the most expensive one with a variety of different seafoods, sausages was absolutely, ridiculous, yummy! after the appetizer, I was so full, I couldn't contain myself. The fliet mignon/lobster/shrimp dish was also wonderful, very large portions for this price in NYC. At the end of the mean, i wanted to cry because I was so full. One thing, if you want a medium well, you should ask for medium. If you want medium, ask for medium rare, etc.

• Pros: Seafood, Waitstaff
• Cons: Loud b/c of large, groups

07/31/05

NOT good

by drtm at Citysearch

The vege "paella" consisted of overly boiled vegetables and loose rice- it completely lacked flavor. The museels were okay, but overall this place was very disappointing. Friends had salmon and grouper and no one could enjoy his meal...

06/17/05

great service, great prices.

by applehead at Citysearch

although some of the dishes were on the salty side,

the prices and portions can't be beat.

the servers,busboys, hostess.

just everyone at the restaurant were all smiles and so down to earth.

we never had to summon our waiter because he took care of things

right away without us having to ask.

really wonderful for large parties.

the entrees takes awhile to come out so try to order

appetizers.

just a really great experience overall.

• Pros: good value, friendly waitstaff

12/27/03

NY @ it's best

by mshellnyc1958 at Citysearch

El Quijote is the 1# place for seafood, especially the large perfectly steamed lobster! I've been frequenting the place for over 20 years and much to my amazement things have stayed consistanly the same, TOP OF THE LINE.

Birthdays are a special treat when the wait staff delivers their rendition of Happy Birthday in their signature baratone style. Everyone is happy and enjoys a good time. Don't forget that sangria and top if off with the best coffee in NY!

• Pros: Here is where you can, always enjoy a good, fat lobster
• Cons: , No cons

10/26/03

Great seafood

by nyc411 at Citysearch

This is a great seafood restaurant, authentic sangria red/white. The menu has tons of selections.

But lobsters are the way to go here.

• Pros: portions
• Cons: noisy