Jason Cruz
First time frequenting Primabel Bar & Restaurant in Newark so I was a little nervous. Upon entering the establishment the place was pretty much empty, save for a few patrons sitting at the bar. Normally when a restaurant is that empty it speaks volumes about the food but it was my birthday, my call. I chalked it up to a slow Tuesday. So we sat down and placed our orders. For appetizers we ordered the clams in garlic and wine sauce, fried calamari with marinara, and for some reason my mother’s husband ordered the soft tacos. It took roughly 45 minutes before the appetizers arrived at our table. The calamari and clams were pretty good but for some reason the soft tacos collapsed from the steam emanating from the picadillo. The tacos couldn’t hold their structure. My mother’s husband ended up eating the meat and veggies off the plate with a spoon and throwing away the tortilla. Sad!! I didn’t want to read too much into it but I had to worry if our dinners would end up the same way. Thankfully, they hadn’t. I ordered the Spanish yellow rice with shrimp and scallops in a garlic sauce which was fantastic!! I would absolutely order it again! My mother ordered her usual: pork and potato cubes with clams in a brown sauce. They nailed it. The flavor profile of the three components is out of this world! Finally, my mom’s husband ordered a shrimp and salmon dish in what looked like a creamy paprika sauce. This time he literally sucked his dinner off the plate. He completely devoured his dinner. Three shots of espresso to finish off the evening!! Grade: B+ for the food and service!! I highly recommend them!!
… moreHeidi Liou
Amazing food and there was live music when we went!
… moreJames Stewart Jr
A little warmer in the dining room than I would prefer, but staff was great, quick service, group split a pork/beef/shrimp picadinho, really good, and plenty of leftovers to box up.
… moreSusan Blanco
I have been to this restaurant on numerous occasions in the past the service and food was excellent. I went back after 3 yrs and the service was horrible the server spilled the wine all over my purse she was more concerned about what was going on in the bar section not paying attention. All 3 of us ordered the T-Bone steak which was excellent but the Spanish potatoes were burnt we left that. The cappuccino was cold. All in all the service was horrible we couldn’t find the server had to ask some one to get her on 3 separate occasions. The knife was used she gave me another one I didn’t recall this kind of terrible service ever before. We had a different lady give us the check the server came brought us the card back I asked her if the restaurant has new owners? Sure enough she said yes. My advise to the owner he needs to clean house the employees there are having a grand old time on the owners expense. To top it off we were the only ones there in the whole restaurant except for the people at the bar and the food took 25 minutes and the server was not around shouldn’t have to look for the server. Terrible Terrible Service good luck keeping the place going.
… moreAlexander Son
The service is awesome at this place. The cocktail is made to perfection, but the food, not the best I had in the area. The steak was fried, not grilled as its promised in the menu. I will definitely go back for cocktail and fried food: chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, but never again for steak. Again, the service was excellent!
… moreJohn Pinho
Great food…great service…friendly atmosphere… Kareoke…live Brasilian music on weekends.
… moreRogner Quintela
Not sure what’s going on with this place. I think it changed ownership but we went there for a party during Portugal Day Parade. It was great. Place was pumpin. Love music outside by parking lot. Chei de novinhas e primas.
Nice party but unfortunately police shut it down. Not sure why but Newark PD are cockblocks.
I hope they do more pagode parties.
… moreTiago Martins
I had had at this restaurant with my family.
I’ll have to say that the food was delicious and very well cooked.
I think they need an additional server or two as I noticed that they took a little too long to serve us. There was another couple in the table across mine that was complaining about the service time as well.
I would recomend it as long as you’re willing to wait.
… moreShawn Kelly
In Newark meeting a friend living in NYC. Started at our usual place to meet but wanted something different and truly local. Found this restaurant on TA with limited reviews but decided to give it a try. It really is as good as described with very good food, reasonably priced drinks and local friendly flavor. Try it, you will not be disappointed and still have a few bucks left in your pocket.
… moreJoshua South
Ate here with a group of co-workers (total of 8 people) after work on a Tuesday evening. It had a casual atmosphere. The food was excellent starting from the appetizers all the way down to the dessert! The calamari and the shrimp during the appetizer was on point. The sauce on the shrimp was great dipping for the bread. For the Entree the seafood pasta was fresh and a generous serving portion for 5-6 people alone in 1 serving. We also had the picadinho, which was my favorite- excellent… not too greasy! And had a good portion of salad with steak. Then we each had a serving of different desserts that we shared- flan, chocolate mousse, tiramisu, cheesecake, and some pudding. All were delicious but my favorite were the flan and chocolate mousse. As for the drinks, we had a 2 pitchers of the red sangria and my friends had their beer from tap from their little waterfall grotto… it was so cool! We were all seated in the patio at the back of the restaurant which had a great breeze from outside on a nice summer temperature… our day happened to be rainy which was relaxing to see and hear from where we were seated. All in all the service was prompt and excellent from our waitress Rose. The owner happen to be in there during our visit and was very friendly and accomodating. And if you’re in doubt just for the parking alone, there’s a private parking lot in the back of the restaurant. Would reccomend this place and would come back again with family and friends!
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