Floridita Tapas

Floridita, a 40 year old institution in Harlem was forced to close down by its landlord, Columbia University as part of their expansion plan into the neighborhood. It’s yet another example of a small business casualty at the hand of Columbia’s Billion Dollar Manhattanville expansion plan.
How did it happen? Columbia claimed there was a problem with structural integrity of the Floridita kitchen, and shut the restaurant down before the owner could fix the problem. Now he is attempting to relocate to a space next to Dinosaur BBQ on 12^th Ave.
I heard Columbia is now turning the original restaurant into office space. Unbelievable.

It has been closed for at least a month.

Unfortunately this place is now closed, as is the Floridita next door, due to the Columbia University Manhattanville construction.

I eat at Floridita alot. So much, I know workers by first name. I can always count on a good, fulfilling meal. Whether it is arroz con pollo or a cuban sandwich, they never seem to disappoint me. The best, and I mean the best is their coffee. MMmmm. I’d go in just for that when I’m sick of people playing with my caffeinated emotions.
Nice place to sit and have lunch if you’re in the area. I would not suggest breakfast though. Lunch and dinner is the best. their bfast menu is limited.

CLOSED (?)
No one answers the phone, nor is there a machine? Bad sign, of course; trekked up to see a painted-​over sign and dark windows… think it’s safe to say they’re closed?

Food was great had the veal in sauce and the Atmosphere is great. Would def go back

This is one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. It’s amazing what they’ve done with a location that used to be a Kentucky Fried ChickenTaco Bell. They did a wonderful job with the décor inside.
When I’m there with friends, I always get tapas to share. The portions are very reasonable. My friends and I are making our way through all of the dishes on the tapas menu. We’ve only got a few to go. I really love the shrimp and mussel dishes. And of course every meal has to have Patatas Alioli. My only complaint is that they often don’t have the scallops available.
When I’m there alone, I either get a couple of tapas dishes or I opt for the tapas combo platter where you get your choice of five tapas, although it’s from a subset of the menu rather than the full tapas list. The portions for each tapas you get is smaller than you would get for a full portion, but the price reflects that.
The red sangria is fantastic. They offer individual glasses, half pitchers, and full pitchers.
As other people have mentioned, the staff is great. They pay attention without be intrusive. And it doesn’t take too many trips back before they remember you and treat you like a returning old friend.

The food was decent (cuban sandwich & toritilla) — and the service was enthusiastic (really sweet waitresses) but they just forgot like ½ our order. We ended up eating only half of what we ordered b/​c they forgot the rest of our order and we were in a hurry. Next time I’ll go w/​more time so I can taste more of the food!

My wife and I have dined at Floridita Tapas twice in four days both meals were excellent as was the atmosphere and service. Floridita Tapas is reasonably priced for food and drink. It’s a great place to go with another couple especially if you are into sharing your food and having conversation while you dine.
The first time we were there we shared the Tapas combination platter, each choice was tasty and enjoyable. For the main course I had the skirt steak (that was big enough to wear as a skirt) cooked to medium rare perfection. If you are looking for a casual dining experience with great food, attentive service, relaxed atmosphere and prices that make sense in this (or any) economy then make the trip up to Floridita Tapas. It’s very easy to get to, take the 1 to 125^th, come down the steps look across the street and there it is… tapas nirvana.

OLE!!!
Been here a few times and everytime it’s better than the last.
Last time was on a Friday with my feisty mother who joined in on the FREE, yes FREE, flamenco show. She gave them a run for there money.hehehe.
I’ve been to Spain and have never had a tapas quite as good as this place. The waiters are friendly and some are even Spanish! shock! GASP.
The sangria is delish! we went through two huge pitchers and a little baby one, and four more glasses of it in about two hours…(no wonder mami joined in on the dancing). Definitely a good family friendly place (no kids, just adult family members) and for cheap dates… a plate of tapas with 5 diff toppings can be had for $ 15.
Will go there again and this time i will join my mom on stage!

Made a special night all that much more special…
In searching for a place to host a 70^th birthday dinner for my father, we selected Tapas Floridita because of its ideal location and its great food. I have to add that the service was wonderful, the planning was hassle-​free and they were very accomodating to all of my requests. The flamenco show was impressive and added to the feeling that we were in a bar in Spain.
The evening was very special and I would totally host another event there. I recommend this restaurant, whether for drinks & tapas, an intimate gathering or a large group.

Best Authentic Spanish Tapas

Did you know that Ellen Barkin eats here!!! Ellen freaking barkin!
So…Tapas, I have to be honest I have never had the pleasure of eating tapas at a friend’s house or at a restaurant so i can’t quite judge if any restaurant has prostituted the institution of Tapas. Forgive me.
But I have heard that many restaurants use the hype of tapas to lure unsuspecting caucasians (and in this case, a dominican) into buying overpriced plates with nothing but a couple morsels of food to show for it.
However, i grew up eating at the next door cuban place since I was 5. In my house that was «fine eats»…lol. So I figured I could trust the Floridita name. The new Tapas restaurant definitely raised the bar on that! You’ve already gathered that the décor is quite mature. The place definitely takes itself serious. The staff is quite sternly courteous, knowledgeable of the menu, and awkwardly attentive! These were not grad students trying to pay for their sociology books (at least not that night).
The plates themselves are decently priced and quite filling! The highlight of the night is the Blue Sangria! Settle for nothing less than a pitcher!!! It’s tasty and will sneak up on you like fine Sake.
The only thing that bothers me about the place is that it doesn’t cater to the young, wild New Yorker extraordinaire that is moi! I’m more of a Café Largo-​Hudson River Café guy. This place seems better fitted for the theater district rather than West Harlem. That’s not to knock anything from the quality. And it is definitely something different. It’s just the ambiance is a bit too grown up for me. Guess it’ll fit me better when I’m 40 or trying to pick a good place to break up.
Did I mention I met ELLEN BARKIN!!! That woman looks drop dead gorgeous… in real life! Don’t get jealous Maritess. She’s got nothing on you…

Upon walking one of my student’s home with a friend one dark evening, this fancy new Tapas spot caught our eye. We like tapas. A. Lot. I must say, I was definitely excited to check it out. Think I tricked two of my co-​workers into coming here post-​volleyball-​ing. One thing, from the moment we walked in until the moment we left – they were SUPER friendly! The atmosphere is pretty classy and it’s in a convenient location – right next to the red line aka 1 train (and express). Definitely looks like it might make a great date place…
So! It being a school night we passed on the Sangria (I’m still curious) and went straight for the tapas. Volleyball and yes, not eating all day can definitely make you staaaarving! They brought out some bread and butter to start. Hmm. Okay. Not so Spanish, but never a bad thing. Then the tapas started rolling out. We got the staples: gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), patatas al ajillo, chorizo al cebolla, also some shrimp with cheese, and the fritos (little mixture of a few things). Decided to save the paella for next time. Um. Right.
We were so excited and so hungry – we just dived right in. Ummmm, helloooo cooking oil! Everything was so fried and oily! Oh my goodness! And not even in that, «mmm delicious clogging arteries» way. The oil kinda tasted old. It definitely ruined it for us. We could barely get through the garlic shrimp – and that’s our favorite! The garlic potatoes however, were the most on point – too much mayonaise and all.
We kinda felt bad because they were soooo nice and kept asking us if everything was okay (we just said «si…si! ‘sta bien»). But we definitely paid quickly and scooted our way out without finishing everything. The prices were a’ight, but my friends swear that their plates were a little smaller than we’re used to. Will we be back? Sadly no. Awww! But they were so nice!

This place is a little more upscale than most of its surrounding (which is pretty dingy). The staff has a distinct quality — Spanish male.
I was being particularly b****y (very unlike me) by having my shrimp salad sent back. I forgot to ask for their choices of dressing and when my salad came drenched in olive oil (Ok…maybe i’m exaggerating but i absolutely can’t stand oil-​based dressing), I pouted till my friend had them bring me a new one, with red wine vinaigrette on the side. I felt really awful though and we gave them a huge tip to make up for my foul behavior.

I’ve been a fan of green El Floridita, the Cuban restaurant next door, so I wanted to check out this new fancier establishment. It’s conveniently placed just next to the 1 train station on 125^th Street, I did walk past it a couple of times, and the fanciness of the interior scared me off a little previously.
The half-​pitcher of good sangria ($ 16), the ~$ 5 – 10 tapas and $ 10-​$ 20 entrees were plentiful, rich and tasty. The meatball tapa was outstanding, and the tapas were probably three times the size you will find in other tapas establishments around Manhattan, also being more juicy and less salty than the usual fare that needs wine to flush it down.
While the food and service qualify for solid 4 stars in this price range, the beautiful dark ambient and the Flamenco music and dance performance just a couple of feet away make for a most memorable experience. Many of the customers spoke Spanish, and excited cheering that followed the performances made it seem I’m not quite in Manhattan. An awesome date spot.

Are you tired of paying $ 10 for a plate of tapas that only has two bites on it? Well, then come uptown to Floridita Tapas. I’d been waiting for this place to open for a while because, well, tapas are yummy. And anything would be better than that freaky DOH shutdown KFC/​Taco Bell monstrosity that used to be on this corner.
We haven’t tried the entrees yet, but, oh goodness, we’ve hit the tapas. My favorite dish is the Salpicon de Mariscos (octopus, shrimp, squid, scallops and mussels served with cider and olive oil). It’s light and the seafood isn’t over powered by the cider and oil drizzle, but it’s also a huge amount of seafood for $ 13.
Other hits are the shrimp with salsa verde, the fried chicken, the bravas potatoes, the huge plate of fritos (a selection of fried deliciousness including the cured cod puffs and the chicken croquettes), and the empanadas.