Huertas

My best friend and I met up on a Friday night for a girls’ night at Huertas. Trendy and cozy is the name of the game when she and I dine together, and this place definitely fit the bill.
The hostess was very cordial, and took us to our table in the back room. While the front room is awesome with the open kitchen, etc., we loved how warm the back room was.
We asked the waiter about the wine coolers, and he essentially talked us out of them. Given it was the top third of their drink menu, maybe they should look into something else if not everyone loves them? Idk, we decided to save that for next time!
So we went with two cocktails and were not disappointed! I got the Huertas Pimm’s Cup, which is everything you could want in a pimm’s, and my friend got the Super Smash Hermanos. Neither of us are huge bourbon drinkers, but this cocktail was very refreshing and delicious!
Food-​wise — Huertas offered some of the more interesting plates than I’ve seen in awhile in Manhattan. The BBQ Squid Skewer was what I think is the best calamari I’ve ever had, and it’s cool how they offer just «small bites» of meat for ~$ 2 – 7. We’re not huge carnivores, so this was perfect for us.
We did the papas, asparagus, and market greens. The most interesting dish was the rotos verdes! It was essentially a pasta dish where the pasta was made out of potato. So good! And I love everything that comes with a fried egg.
One weird thing: We could never determine who exactly our waiter was, as it felt like two guys kept trading us off but were not on the same page about what we had and had not already ordered. We chalked it up to the fact that Huertas is a gratuity free establishment (which is pretty cool!) so maybe service just isn’t the main focus, but it was weird. Nevertheless, prices felt fair since you didn’t have to tip at the end of the day!
Would go back.

As a Basque food restaurant professional and a Basque guy, this place is not Basque Spanish or French, I do not know who is the owner, but for sure he or they are not Basque nor Spanish and I felt it since the very first moment I entered into the place. I think the only Basque item they have is the Txakoli wine and the cider. The place is OK and the presentation of the «pintxos» are nice and the food is good. Basque cuisine is something very serious in the Restaurant World to show this poor example of a taste from Spain. New York City is full of this kind of places. Spain Cuisine is probably at the head of World innovation with hundreds of restaurants in the Michelin Guide and a lot of them with Michelin Stars.
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Huertas is probably named in honor of Huertas Street in Madrid, famous because the amount of bars and restaurants in the area.

Came here on a buzzing Saturday night and still managed to pull a quick res upon arrival. The menu is full of yummy looking treats but is a bit hard to navigate with so many tapas that can range in size, so thankfully our waitress was very friendly and helpful in sharing recommendations. The food itself was flavorful and though I can’t recall the names, I’d definitely remember the dish by the ingredients next time I visit. Great experience overall!

Overall, I would come back again. Huertas had nice décor, service was good and the food packed a punch. More details below
Environment
Huertas has quite an lively environment. Happy hour specials. Open windows. Bar area. Table to sit. Lighting was good. Overall, a nice place if you want to bring a date or just chill out with some friends
Service
Service was quite good. The waiters were attentive refilling our water and drinks. The food came out fast and took care of any special requests we had. Waiters seemed to be knowledgeable about the food and drinks.
Food
I was in a party of 4 and we ordered a ton. Arroz (similar to paella) was really good. Had a nice layer of crunch on top of it and the seasoning was on point. We also had the gran selecion (3 meats and 3 cheeses). Portions were average size. Cheese was okay but the chorizo was great. Highly suggest the chorizo as one of your meat selection. The last item we ordered was the steak. Steak was quite phenomenal and seasoned perfectly. Cooked to a medium rare and not burnt on the outside except for the last piece. The potatoes that came with it were awesome too. In terms of drinks, the gin tonic on tap is to die for. A bit pricey but one of their house specials. Superb.
Pricing
Plate sizes were small for what you are paying. Prices are a bit high especially for the steak at 45. Drink prices were high too as beers started at 9 dollars. Gin and tonic on tap was 13

This might be the worst restaurant I’ve been to yet in NY.
Gimmicky.
Pretentious.
And horrendously overpriced.
Normally, I wouldn’t choose to dine at any «tapas-​style» restaurant based on principle alone (why pay more for smaller portions?), but I gave in because it was a friend’s birthday dinner. Between 6 people, the bill was over $ 300, and I left hungry and disappointed. The two IPAs I had with… uh, what’s the opposite of dinner… were more filling and satisfying than any of the food here. And it’s not just the portion sizes; the food itself is very bland and boring. And who the hell serves wine in a Petri dish?!?**
Seriously a big waste of time and money. I wish I could give 0 zero stars. But all these other idiots on here seem to love it. Well, HAVE IT. It blows.
**UPDATE** Spanish wine glasses are a thing, I guess. But the ones here definitely seem smaller than most.

Really good tapas, pretty expensive but really friendly waiter who told us that they did not expect us to add a tip.

A must-​go for foodies in NYC! Exciting Basque inspired tapas make Huertas the perfect spot for parties or date nights. Everything on the menu is so good you wish you could eat a costco sized portion of it! Friendly service makes for a comfortable, fun dining experience. It’s classy yet laid back, kind of like Dame Judy Dench after throwing back a couplea tall boys. Make sure you try the pulpo a la gallega and the porron!

Great vibe. Very spacious. Great tapas and cocktails! Pricey for tapas so gonna try happy hour!

Really don’t see a point of going here. Decent service, albeit fairly slow. Tapas were so so, nothing to be excited about. The wine list was pretty outrageously priced. From what i saw the markup on most of the bottles is close to 5 times, usually 3 – 4 is more commonly expected. We ordered drinks instead, and all of them were sub par. Not the quality you should be paying $ 15 bucks for.
The biggest disappointment was the «big dish» of prawns. We in the good old US of A refer to large type of shrimp as prawns. So calling the dish large prawns, is designed to evoke images of some large type of crustaceans. Instead, the big $ 20 dish of «prawns» consisted of 4 (four) smallest shrimp i’ve ever encountered. This singular dish must have been the largest mark up entrée i’ve ever seen. Freaking rip off.

Where do I start? Is it with the savory pinxtos? The extensive wine list? Maybe the dimly lit but elegant setting? The myriad of delicious small plates to order from?
I think I’ll start to tell you about the phenomenonal service, that started as soon as we stepped through the door. We had 5pm reservations on Valentine’s day. Arrived on time and greeted by the hostess and seated promptly. As we walked through the dark wooded and stone lined walls we received smiles and well wishes from the other waiters and bartenders. I felt like Ned Stark about to have dinner at Winterfell Castle. We were brought to a circular room in back and sat at a small and cozy candlelit table with fresh flowers. Good space between tables to remain private. We were given a black envelope, when opened contained the menu. A nice interactive touch.
We chose to start with a bottle of French Syrah. We then decided to try all of the pinxtos, which I definitely recommend! All were awesome with their own unique tastes but hands down the foie gras with apple on toast was sweet and savory and took the prize!
My girlfriend lived in Spain for a year, so she is acquainted with some of the small plates. We ordered the Pulpo, Migas, Tortilla, and Salchicha. The waitstaff brought them one at a time in perfect timing to not crowd the table. The Pulpo was like having an octopus steak. The lentils that came with the chorizo made a great spicy and savory combination. Tortilla was an omelet with potatoes in the middle. The Migas had sweet bits of bacon pork and apple and was probably my favorite although they were all delectable.
We finished with a cheeseboard to finish the wine and tried the oriol, mahon reserva and valdeon. The valdeon was SUPER sharp just the way I like it. I swear it almost tasted like wasabi.
Everything was impeccable and I was thoroughly impressed. Would definitely return.

I had wanted to try Huertas for awhile now, as I follow the restaurant on instagram and was always impressed with the look of the dishes. I was equally impressed when the owner moved away from tipping, started paying decent wages, and included gratuity — this is how all restaurants should operate! Class act. Anyway we only had enough time to stop in here for a quick bite but everything was incredible. The restaurant itself is beautiful, the waiter was attentive but not annoying, and the three small plates we had were excellent. The octopus was so perfectly cooked! We will definitely be back for dinner soon. Great job!

Huertas is pretty much the perfect east village restaurant/​bar. If there is a situation where «wanna go to Huertas?» is not appropriate, I have not met it. I’ve been to Huertas more than 20 times (no joke, I just checked my Amex history), and each time it seems to surprise me.
1. The food is absolutely amazing. If you like hearty and delicious food, you will love this place. The huertas rotos have been a mainstay in my food life since 2014, and the pinxtos (small single bites) always seem to be exactly what I want.
2. The drinks (especially since they got their liquor license) are outstanding, fitting perfectly with the food. Whether you want beer, wine, a cocktail, or some of the house vermouth, Huertas has it all. Even if you are just looking for a cool bar to grab a few drinks at, Huertas is the place.
3. The ambiance is dark, wood filled, and just the way I likes it. I have used Huertas for the following: dinner with the parents, dinner with old friends, dinner with new friends, 1^st dates (both food and drink related), 2^nd dates, 22^nd dates, getting out of the rain and getting a wonderful bottle of wine for a great price, having a few small plates and drinks before dinner at another restaurant (3 times, and twice I cancelled the other dinner and ate at Huertas), Huertas is good for ANYTHING.
Get there, keep going, rinse, repeat. Its a wonderful place that keeps reinventing itself.

Wow! Unexpected … A great place for foodies who have a fear of missing out! With tasting menu options or 6 X bite menu I was in heaven.
We came for the hot dog which is off the menu! A delicious hot dog but it’s still a hot dog. I’d recommend staying on the menu.
The Gilda — salty, sour and sweet, not my favorite but I don’t love anchovies
Russian salad with tuna — delicious! Loved the Russian salad. So good!
Shrimp and egg MY FAVORITE! Ordered more! Mayonnaise mixed egg
Mushroom croquets — bursting with flavor. My fiancé loved this — he almost fought me for his.
Stuffed piquillo pepper — roast pepper was perfectly roasted with what tasted like the Russian salad stuffed inside. Either way delicious.
Foie gras and honey crisp — this was I not expecting. Wow! The foie gras was perfect and with the mix with sweet I loved it!
We also had the churros. Don’t get them. A let down to an otherwise a perfect meal.

came by for brunch at 1pm on a saturday, and this place was completely empty. and this place is pretty huge too, so right away i was little worried about the food since normally everything in this area is packed.
i shouldnt have worried though. while the menu is pretty limited, everything that our group of 5 had was amazing. I had the Migas which was fried eggs, sausage and chickpeas, and it totally blew me away. who knew chickpeas and sausage could go so well together? it is quite a bit of food, you could probably share all the dishes.
only thing i didnt like was their gin and tonic «on-​tap». this is pretty much just a gimmick; the G&T was terribly watered down, hardly any gin and mostly soda water. the mimosas were equally bland and weak.
overall i liked the place alot, its a nice, quiet spot for brunch (no bottomless brunch) but i would stick to the food and just beer and wine for drinks since they dont make good mixed drinks.

Delicious food and excellent service, but way too pricey for me to make me want to come back.
Relaxing and cozy ambiance, perfect for a small group of friends or date night.
My two friends and I ordered family style to share. One of us is vegetarian and we still had tons of options to choose from.
Mushroom croquetas — $ 2 each. Served right out of the deep fryer, super hot and crunchy outside with creamy and savory mushroom filing inside. It tasted like cream of mushroom with bits of mushroom inside.
Papas — Perfectly fried potatoes with bravas sauce and aioli. The best part is mixing the two sauces and smothering the potatoes in the concoction.
Pulpo — Grilled well, with just the right amount of char, and seasoned well too. Just a TAD bit too chewy, compared to other grilled octopus I’ve had, but overall very good.
Arroz con Setas — One of the best fried rice I’ve had. My favorite part of this dish is the various mushrooms in it and smoked garlic. Lots of flavor from the leek as well.
Vieira con Calabaza — Though I tend not to order scallop dishes at restaurants (because they’re usually overpriced and aren’t very filing), this ended up being a good risk to take. The scallops were seared and topped with some type of fried crumble. Maybe bits of ham? That really added to the dish. Brussel sprouts and sauce paired well and just wanted to dip the scallops in as much sauce as possible!
Churros with chocolate sauce — Churros were very thin. I wish there was more substance to it. The melted chocolate was very good. Kind of tasted like a mix between milk and dark.
Almond icecream — Delicious. Small pieces of almond cracker on top and bursting with almond flavor within. Great with the churros and melted chocolate!

I went to this place to have brunch with a friend of mine. I had some high expectation for this place because, if I am not mistaken, this is one of the nominees for this year’s James Beard Award rising chef of the year or something.
I started with some soft drink, and they fixed a non alcoholic ginger drink, which wasn’t bad. Then I ordered octopus dish with a side of bacon. As for the octopus, I thought it wasn’t cooked perfectly. I thought some of the skin parts were burnt, but then the overall texture was mushy. I expected more like having something to chew, but this octopus didn’t have any spring-​y texture. Then the bacon. It wasn’t bad, but I thought $ 6 for that bacon was way overpriced compared to some of the other places I have tried.
Seems like they are more known for their tapas. I might try another time.

So fantastic! One of my favorite memories of Barcelona was getting pinxtos in hole in the wall tapas places so I was ecstatic to see it on the menu here. Here’s what we got:
— All 6 pinxtos — if you’re a party of two, they are perfect to split, one bite each. LOVED the duck croqueta and squash blossom, the liver mousse, eggplant and sardine and radish were great, and the gilda was fine.
— Rojo — such a fun dish! It’s spiralized potatoes in a delicious meat sauce with a runny egg on top that you mix in like a korean bibimbop. Lovely.
— Salpicon — very refreshing, summer-​y dish. Bright and citrus-​y with great seafood.
— Arroz a la Nicoise — I love rice and they had a wonderful addition of crispy rice at the bottom of the dish. The tuna, although it looks the kind that comes out of a can, is so delicious (pretty sure it doesn’t come from a can).
— Zamburinas — this was a different kind of dish, marinated scallops in tomato sauce. If you’re feeling up for something a little different and adventurous, this is a great one!
Overall, fantastic tapas/​Spanish food that is reminiscent of Spain. Love it!

Stopped by for the bar here as my friend was running late in meeting me for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I ordered the house tinto vermuth which was actually very sweet and full. The bartender was also very friendly and showed me and the group of people next to me his very talented skills at drinking from the traditional Basque wine pitcher (the group of guys next to me were had ordered a pitcher and were doing a very poor job at it).
Overall a very classy but fun place. Would definitely return for more drinks and maybe some food next time.

Huertas favorable publicity doesn’t translate to an initial impression of grandeur or opulence. In fact the room is boxy and painted black.
This is where the flatness is interestingly foiled by warm service, a thought out graceful ambiance, with an affordable wine list, and well executed food.
I made sure to visit on $ 1 pinxtos, tiny bite, night. The choices change but on my visit I sampled borequenos (anchovy) speared with a pickled pepper and an olive, a duck croquette, and a lamb meatball. All were marvelously independent in taste and substance, despite their small size.
I chose the rose for $ 10, light and refreshing.
People hang out here, and at 6pm on a Tuesday, it felt lively but wasn’t overcrowded.
Huertas feels casual and special, with that lazy European vibe coupled with well prepared food just the way I like it.

Came here for an early dinner last weekend. This place is great for small groups or for anyone looking to eat variety for Dinner. Be careful, because they offer a completely different brunch menu!
I highly recommend the scallop tin, it’s rich, tomato-​y and had a great spicy zing to it. The pintxos vary day to day, but excellent for those looking to get an array of one biters treats. It’s $ 12 a person which equates to about $ 2 per piece if you decide to go that route. The food value is decent, but where they get you is the wine, so don’t come too thirsty!