La Zarza Resto Lounge

La Zarza is one of the worse place..food's not good and services were terrible.......will not go back nor suggest to anyone.

Pros: nothing

Cons: small, bad food, and terrible services

Posted 12/12/09

I celebrated my birthday at La Zarza, and everything was just perfect!

The staff was really nice with us.

First we had dinner with half of my friends.

We ordered a bunch dishes (tapas and main courses)

Everything was delicious. The corn, the gambas, the empanadas, the calamaris, the assorted meat plate, the paella,the veggies canelones,etc

Also we had pitchers of sangria(blackberry flavor).

After dinner we stayed in the lounge, and the other half of my group joined us in our table.

We had such a good time. And we didn't spend that much money the had the beers at $4 and the drinks at$6!! That was the best deal ever!!

I want to thanks la zarza!!!

Pros: The drink deals,the staff, the music

Cons: ???????

Posted 10/15/09

I went there because of this good idea of mixing argentinean and spanish food.
I am so glad that it fool filled all my expectations.
All the apps were amazing.
The calamaris, the empanadas with corn, the gambas al ajillo, the cheese and ham plate,the corn.
I didn't really like the hongos portenos,(sweet bread,mushroooms,potatoes and onions).I only had one bite, it was not good.
We also share couple entrees.
The milanesa with french fries, the argentinean skirt steak(my favorite one!!!), the spanish paella, the veggies crepes, and some more.
I didn't really like the chicken. It was very poor.(no flavor)
We also share couple pitchers of sangria. blackberry and peach.
Our waiter was really friendly with us and gave us an other pitcher of sangria for free!! so nice!
And also invited us to stay in the lounge.
And that's what some of us did.
We went downstairs to the lounge and had so much fun
I am going to have dinner again at la zarza!!

Pros: The food,the prices,the vibe

Cons: the hongos portenos and the chciken.

Posted 10/15/09

Having my birthday at La Zarza was one of the best thing that could happen o us.
The staff took care of us like if we were family.
Also the sangria pitchers and the two for one was very convenient for all of us.
The tapas were perfect to share,all the plates were delicious.
The prices were really affordable.
After our dinner was over we all staid in the lounge and had so much fun!
I will come back!

Pros: Service,Sangria,Food Two for one drinks

Cons: The dessert

Posted 10/13/09

I was looking for a cozy and romantic place to met up with my boyfriend.
And i ended up in La Zarza.
The place is really warm with soft lighting and a lots of candles. (perfect for a date)
They had a flamenco music show that made my dinner even more romantic and special
We had a great bottle of Liugi Bosca Malbec, that we share perfectly with a nice skirt steak and the paella. For apps we did the soft shell crab and the shrimp.
All the food was amazing!
Our dessert was yummy but it took to long the same with our coffee.
The service was attentive and friendly.

Pros: The deco,The paella,the skirt steak,live music

Cons: Dessert and coffee came late.

Posted 10/07/09

REVIEW FROM VERONICA RAMIREZ TO LA ZARZA
My first review in citysearch and it goes to La Zarza! I went to this restaurant because a friend told me it was very good...and he was right. I have to say that the sweetbreads , skirt steak and empanadas are great
And the sangria is way to far the best that i ever tried!!!. On the other hand , didn't like the salad, it was missing flavor. However, the atmosphere was a +++++, nice soft music with real rose petals on the benches. Will come back with friends

Pros: food,atmosphere,sangria

Cons: salad

Posted 10/03/09

I highly recommend this place, the ambience is great for a date, a cocktail after work, or just to sit by yourself and listen soft live music.
I have tried sangria in so many other places. but the one from La Zarza is definitely one of my favorites, the food is so good in general, and the staff is very friendly.
Ill keep coming back.

Pros: Sangria,music,staff

Cons: watermelon margarita

Posted 09/30/09

We went lo La Zarza couple times for dinner before my friend's birthday.
I didn't know that this place was also a lounge.
We went around 8:00 we ordered food. A bunch of tapas like the calamaris, the empanadas, the croquetas, the patatas bravas the gambas, the provoleta,etc.
All this dishes were really delicious. The calamari were the best of the tapas!!!
Then for my entree i have the skirt steak.
But the best thing on the table was our blackberry sangria,omg!!!!!!!!!! the best sangria that i ever tried in my life, no kidding!!!! you must try it too.
Once we were done with dinner the busboy cleaned the hole table, went down and made the dinner table a lounge table.
So we staid all night long drinking and having fun.
Also they told us that we were more than 20 people so we got a stamp that we showed to the bartender to get half price drink deals!!!
Basically everything was perfect!
I am going to come back for my birthday for sure.
I loved the time that i spend at La Zarza!

Pros: sangria,music,food,lounge area.

Cons: caipirinhas, water melon margaritas

Posted 09/22/09

very cute place, with great decor ( seems like it would be awesome for dates)
the sangria is amazing, very tasty, my favorite dish.. the calamari! loved the bread with the dips they serve.
Our waiter was really nice and the restaurant ambience was very relaxing.
recommended to checking if out if you are on the EV.

Pros: the best sangria

Posted 09/11/09

I need to recommend this place to everybody.
We made a reservation for 25 ppl for a sunday evening and everything went fantastic. We ordered Prix Fixe Menu for a very reasonable price ($35 including sangria) that was absolutely delicious!, food was good as well, The "Crocantitos" (calamari) were amazing.. and the service was very attentive and helpful.
Also they had Salsa Live music!!
La Zarza was the perfect choice for us.
Highly recomended!

Posted 08/31/09

The food is great and so is the service. The waiters are friendly, with nice soft music. What else you can ask for?
The sangria is definitely the best i every tried!

Cons: The goat cheese croquets that I order as an appetizers was a little bit colder that i would be expected to be.

Overall great place! I definitely plan on coming back soon!

Posted 08/26/09

Im surprised of some of the reviews form this place, wich I think is great and fun, having a dj while you are having dinner on a friday night? why not? also the sangria is one of the best i have ever tried.
Paella is amazing and appetizers, well yes. some of them small but good enough for a complain.
i will be back for sure.

Posted 08/20/09

We had a really great time there, the place is very romantic and cute. They have a big variety of tapas and appetizers to share. Sangria is flavorful and absolutely delicious. service was a little bit slow. but anyway i would recommend this place to everybody..

Posted 08/17/09

i went with some friends to La Zarza on a wednesday night and we had a fantastic time!
Food was really good, we had chicken empanadas and calamari as appetizers. and then we ordered paella.. so good!
(the bread they used to serve before was a little bit better though)
service was very attentive and music was very relaxing..

Posted 08/10/09

i went there with some friends..
we ordered bunch of stuff.. but we really loved the calamari, and the empanadas
the best main courses were the paella and the steak.
But the best part was definitely the sangria. we could choose the flavor and the wine!!
Service was friendly and fast.
We ll definitely be back soon....

Posted 07/15/09

La Zarza's warm romantic atmosphere of dark wood and great music is a nice oasis on First Ave. The food is great and the drinks are wonderful. La Zarza delivers on flavor for all the senses.

Pros: Food, Service, Music

Cons: Can Get Pricey

Posted 06/04/09

I organized a 20+ dinner and party at LaZarza for my wife's birthday. The management was responsive and easy to work with in organizing the event, the space was accomodating, and the waitstaff was extremely attentive. I would highly recommend planning a large group event at LaZarza!!

Pros: Helpful management and great staff, large group friendly

Cons: Music too loud in lounge

Posted 03/28/09

We had dinner on valentine's night...it was just perfect..Food was delicious(specially the chocolate dessert), deco (with rose petals everywhere) and music ..super romantic. They made it perfect for our date and i'm so glad i discovered this place!

Posted 02/16/09

The atmosphere was nice and the night started off good until we started getting drinks at the bar while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive and the bartender was rude and obnoxious and acted like he couldn't be bothered with us.Then once our entire party of 14 arrived and were seated, although there was enough seating, the music was so loud you could barely talk to the person next to you.
The appetizers were served family style and I must admit for the most part were good except the goat cheeseballs, I could have passed on them. The sangria however was not very good "sangria" for an Spanish restaurant I expected better. The entrees which most of us ordered the skirt stakes came out cold. The waiter mixed them all up not knowing which was rare or well done. Then after shelling out a large amount of $$$ when I asked the waiter if we could have one piece of cake with a candle for one of our birthdays, the waiter was so rude and said he wished I had asked sooner as we had already paid the bill. This waiter had just gotten a tip of over a $100 and couldnt bring me a piece of cake!!! I guess writing up a ticket for a piece of cake was just to difficult for him! It was just not enjoyable and with all the restaurants in the city I would not recommend this to any of my friends or Family. My friends and family is the only thing that made the night!!

Pros: nice lounge

Cons: bad service, overpriced

Posted 01/19/09

I stopped by La Zarza last night with my boyfriend to have dinner and they had live flamenco music. It was so coool :) . I'll definitely be back next week, the atmosphere was great !!

Pros: Music, food

Cons: none

Posted 12/04/08

Very enjoyable evening. Great friendly service, amazing cucumber jalapeno margaritas. Food was overall good to very good. Paella reasonable with a nice lobster thrown on top. Would go back for the drinks and enjoy the food.

Pros: Drinks

Cons: none in particular

Posted 11/29/08

Not the finest Argentine or Spaniard dishes I've had - well, we didn't even order anything from the Argentine menu. The paella was OK, not great, but good. Good portion, and it has lobster. The decor was probably the best part; it's dark and very romantic. If you're a sangria lover, the menu offers 3 options, but you must of course purchase a full bottle.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant for dates, but not for groups larger than 4.

Pros: atmosphere, courteous waiters, speedy service

Cons: paella was a bit oily

Posted 11/24/08

Just wanted to express how pleasurable my experience was. The food was great and the service on point.
Was super busy, wich created a great afmosphere for my birfhday. I'll come back and i will recommend this place to all my friends. Also the lounge was great fun, great house music downstairs.
Cheers !!!!

Pros: Food, music

Cons: none

Posted 11/17/08

I went with a group of friends, around 12 or so and they did not get the number of people right so we were missing two chairs. The waiter took a while to figure things out..only to have us all squeeze into the booth in an already warm environment. A few of us ended up sweating profusely throughout the meal and when we asked for the air conditioning to be turned higher they just took our complaint and did nothing. Aside from being uncomfortable the food was also very mediocre. My rib-eye was tasteless, the skirt steaks people ordered were mixed up. The waiters did not know which steak was rare, medium, well-done etc. We continued sweating thru the main courses and horrible appetizers. Finally when dessert came we sat there for a good 15-20 minutes watching our ice cream melt because they took the utensil away. The price was not unreasonable however it was a very long, very uncomfortable dining environment.

Pros: Good drinks

Cons: Bad wait staff, food is mediocre

Posted 11/17/08

So everyone I talked to said this place was ssooooo amazing and that the food was life changing. Finally I went there with my husband for dinner. It was good, but nothing close to life changing. I guess after all the hype, we were left a bit disappointed. THe ever so recommended the Salmon was bland and flavorless. THe appetizers were good, but ssoooo small. In the end, too expensive for what you get.

Posted 11/11/08

We had dinner at La Zarza last Saturday. The popular calamari and chese plate for starters were very good although we missed some tomatoes with the bread like they do in Spain. Entrees we loved the skirt steak and the duck. Very well cooked. The duck should be bigger. Panqueques as a dessert is a killer. So good.
We stayed in the lounge downstairs for drinks afterwards.

Posted 10/21/08

I was searching for a restaurant and lounge in the East Village on Citysearch and found La Zarza. We decided to go a couple weeks back and had a great time. Very nice ambiance, delicious food, great drinks and an attentive waitstaff made La Zarza a very nice experience. Highly recommended!

Pros: Food, Service, Drinks, Atmosphere

Posted 10/09/08

Great place for you if you are college aged, loud and have a lot of extra cash, which you'll need here. we were seated next to some bleep in the city wannabees, that were so loud, we asked to sit next to the DJ instead...and still could not hear the "world" music. Tavern does best describe this place, but it is one overpriced tavern. The "entrees" are portioned like tapas, but are priced like entrees. The sangria "made at your table" is a great concept...for guacamole. Flavors in Sangria are supposed to have ample time to marinade. In this case, you'll be ruining a perfectly good bottle of wine. The presentation on the cheese plate, along with the size of the duck entree truly made me chuckle. The cheeses were (actually cheese crumbles...and I mean small crumbles) sprinkled with seeds and dried berries. I am not kidding, it was funny. Delicious, but funny. The ceviche was the shining star, and larger than everything else. Do not visit unless you have already eaten. If the food had been labled "tapas" and priced accordingly, I would have nothing to complain about except for the loud atmosphere and sophomoric trendiness. Overall, dissapointing.

Pros: Group Ambience

Cons: Loud, overpriced for what it is

Posted 10/07/08

Unique flavors and amazing presentation made me have a great experience in my first visit to this place.To mention , the lobster ceviche was soooo goooood !!!!!! The lamb ribs, the melted cheese and the crab plate are dream dishes..As entrees we had the salmon with carrots, the skirt steak and the paella, perfectly cooked all of them. And a special mention for the sangria, great concept!!!!! never seen that idea before, it's fresh and fun. For customer service,everyone was very friendly, very nice guys.
I couldn't have a better night, i'll be back very soon. Almost forgot, try the panquetes dessert !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pros: All of the above

Cons: none

Posted 09/08/08

I have been to this restaurant twice and each time I had a great experience. The atmosphere was very romantic and located in a trendy area of the lower east side of NYC. My husband and I sat in the window and had a wonderful dinner by candlelight while being serenaded by music that was edgy with a Latin flare. The waitress was very sweet, and helpful when we asked her what she would recommend for drinks and appetizers. I tried the pineapple mojito, which was refreshing and delicious while my husband tried the spicy margarita which turned out to be a little too hot for my taste (I loved the pansy garnish!!!). The sangria which I saw on a few other tables also looked good and I hope to try next time I am there. The food was also delicious...try the stuffed dates and the rib eye steak, for dessert we had the crepes filled with dulce de leche?.amazing! Overall this place was great.

Pros: unique atmosphere and music

Posted 08/08/08

I went to this restaurant by recommendation of a friend. The first thing i noticed was the beatiful crowd, pretty guys and girls all around : ) !!!!! I recognized a lot of people of the nightlife industry wich made me feel like i already was having a drink in a hot spot of the west side. Good thing i made a reservation 'cause the place was packed!!! Once at the table, the server was attentive and gentle.He suggested the sangria as the best option and omg, he was right!! The best sangria i ever tried in NYC!!!! The food got in the table just in time, let me tell..you must try the dates and the crocanitos, amazing...and for entrees we had the rib eye and the bacalao, super fresh.No complaints about the food, but the music was a little too loud and another important thing, i had to wait in line for the bathroom too long!!!!!Overall, we had a wondeful time and i think this is my favorite new spot.
Pros: fresh food, amazing sangria, best scene in the east village
Cons: music too loud, line for bathrooms, hard to find because the sign in the front is too small.

Posted 07/06/08

I wanted to start saying that we had a great experience at La Zarza.The restaurant's design surprised me, cozy and nice.Was a really busy night, we had to wait a the bar for our table.......but the wait was worthy.The appetizers were really tasty, as well our paella.The best part was the sangria, we choose a white wine and mix it with some puree and flavored rum (recommended by our adorable waitress ) very refreshing, ideal for a hot summer night.I think this place has a great potential and thanks for trying something nicer in the east village...

Posted 07/05/08

We were promptly seated and the music was great. The food was tasty and had the potential to be worth its price but we found the dishes to be inconsistent in quality, portion and price (2 of 3 appetizers were excellent, duck was tasty but small - garnish was larger, and the steak was "chewy" and lacked salt/flavor, 1 appetizer was larger then the entree but priced the same). I would have given 4 stars if it wasn't for the bad service. The host had an attitude and the restaurant had only 1 waitress. The waittress and busboys appeared to be poorly trained because they seemed sincerely nice but looked lost as to what to do next. To me it seems that the restaurant is ran by someone who is inexperienced in the food industry and the place would better serve as a lounge. After 3 long hours and spending $160 for 2, we were full but completely irritated by our experience.

Pros: Great music/DJ and some tasty dishes

Cons: Lack/inattentive service. Inconsistent food quality.

Posted 07/01/08

First impressions were good, dark, cozy place with a fun vibe. Clearly the consensus is great cocktails and reasonable $$ for the drinks too. Overall the food was good, however the service is not. After the appetizers (great ceviche).... a long gap, which turned out to be because our entree order was never put through! Dead giveaway when the waitress asks an hour later "are you going to order anything else?" Deurgh!? Manager tried to blame it on the kitchen which is clearly nonsense. WHen they arrived the steaks and paella were v good! The appology came in the form of 2 complimentary desserts for a table of 4.. that we didnt order. Token gesture i suppose, but next time i suggest a round of drinks or comp some entrees... not 2 $7 desserts (they were good though). I'd go back for a bachelorette or something as the music is insanely loud... but otherwise conversation mid-week is probably more audible than a w/end.

Posted 05/07/08

This is my first time reviewing, but it was a dinner for my 30th birthday, so I want to say my piece. Overall, the restaurant is great. Decor is nice, music is good, etc. We tried 3 Apps and a couple Tapas. All were good except the lobster - it was fishy, but sounded great on the menu. Dates were amazing!! Calamari - although more Asian in flavor than Spanish - was great too. Duck and Skirt Steak were both a little overcooked (skirt steak requested medium and served well done), but flavors were nice. The Spanish white sweet potatoes were beyond any expectation. Aside from the dates and potatoes, the drinks were the real star...Mojito was incredible! Cucumber Margaritia was fantastic (my new favorite!) And the best part was the Sangria made tableside...what a concept! Beautifully planned and executed! All in all, a great experience, but be weary of the entrees.

Pros: Interesting Menu, Good Food, Nice Ambiance, Great Drinks

Cons: Service OK, Some Menu Items should be Avoided

Posted 04/26/08

It is a average with average service and ambiance.I have been there twice but i didn't see anything special they have great mojitos though.

Posted 04/25/08

The East Village needed a place like La Zarza.
We went for dinner last Thursday. We made a reservation at 8:30pm. We got there 15 mins late and The restaurant was crowded , but the hostess was very accomodating. Atmosphere was great. There was a DJ playing some tango and flamenco mixed with some house music. We ordered some appetizers. I loved the calamari (very original the addition of the honey) and the pulpo. My husband had dates. Very tasty as well. Entrees: Skirt steak (so good), paella and the salmon. I would have preferred the sauce for the salmon on the side, but it was good. We ended up staying for some cocktails enjoying the ambience and the music.
La Zarza, Congrats and Welcome to the EV

Pros: Food, Ambience, Music, Vibe

Cons: We had to call 3 times to make a reservation

Posted 04/07/08

In my opinion this is the best new restaurant in Manhattan. There really is not one negative thing I can say about La Zarza. The food is spectacular, the service was great, the atmosphere is romantic and they make the best mojitos Ive ever had. Ive recommended this place to all my friends and will continue to do so.

Pros: Location, Service

Cons: None

Posted 02/15/08