good food, excellent service BUT how can a bar not have a television that has sports.....craziest thing i have ever seen....some recored Art show being shown while the knicks are playing in the playoffs.....and no remote to change the channel....talk about tone deaf as multiple patrons ask the bartender, and several walked out...plenty of other good Mexican restaurants nearby
Maria D.
We came to the 18th street location. Even though we arrived before 4pm, after leaving us sit for several minutes they refused to let my friend order brunch stating that it had just passed 4pm so brunch was not an option. We let that go and I ordered fish tacos and a glass of white wine. The wine came in the smallest wine glass I've seen. The tacos were mostly batter, and relatively tasteless. We didn't say anything about the food but I complained to the manager that the wine glasses were very small and the wine was over priced for the size of the pour and the quality of the wine. He insisted that industry standard was 5 ounces, and that's what the wine glass was. The tiny glass might have possibly been able to hold 5oz if it was filled to the top, but it was half full and the pour was only about 2.5 ounces worth of liquid. The manager was extremely rude, spoke to us like we were idiots just bothering him and then walked away sent our check over. The staff there doesn't care anything about customer service and the food and drinks are very much over priced for the size and quality served. I will not go back and will not recommend them to anyone.
Arielle C.
A relaxed and reasonably friendly place. Lots of GenZers, and they sometimes have those built-in-microphone voices (don't hate me, it's true). Food pretty blah -- beans the texture of pureed baby food, Mexican rice tasteless, salad managed to be sweet (not in a good way). No salt or pepper or hot sauce. Drinks were ok -- different types of margaritas, not great. Staff friendly but overall not impressive. Probably won't return.
Jordan W.
A Tex-Mex haven in Manhattan, Javelina hit the spot for a recent Saturday afternoon happy hour. We enjoyed margaritas and real deal queso (as good as any I had back home) with a side of fresh flour tortillas, at their cozy bar. The service was a healthy dose of Texas hospitality, with our friendly bartender giving us samples of special marg creations, like strawberry and avocado-cilantro. A perfect, no-frills spot for any Texan lost in New York.
Jordan S.
Let me start by saying I LOVE Javelina and both locations are a go-to spot for me. I eat here often and recommend it to all of my friends. I have also worked in the service industry for 10 years. There has been a decline in customer service in the last few years/months of me coming here. The manager, Jason, at the Union Sq location is extremely unprofessional and unaccommodating. Every time we come he treats the host stand and the open table app like his tyrannical kingdom, when he should be managing and taking care of customers. Today, it was supposed to be a sunny day. We chose to sit on the patio per our reservation at 12:45. Once we were sat, we saw on the weather app that there was a possible chance of a quick rain happening very soon. We noticed that there was an open two top on the COVERED portion of the patio. I politely asked Jason if we could move to the open table, due to the possibility of rain in a few minutes and was told a quick no. He expressed he had a reservation at that table at 2:00 (yes, 2:00) He suggested we move inside, but we didn't want to be the only table inside when the temperature was nice, and only wanted to be covered for the impending brief rain shower. I then asked our server (who was extremely kind and great) Joel, if he could ask the manager if we could move but be out before 2:00, that way they would have more than enough time to get the table set for the upcoming reservation that apparently called and requested that specific table number and couldn't be moved to another table on the covered patio (pardon my run-on sentence). Our server asked the manager in plain view of us and he dramatically told him no, and then scurried to his office where he hid for the rest of our meal (-: Being a host at a restaurant is all about rolling with the punches and moving things around under certain circumstances - this was apparently not doable today. By 1:20, the rain had started and we were already paying our check, under my umbrella. Jason should not work in the "hospitality" industry. Especially not at a TEX-mex restaurant. Texas is my home state and all about southern hospitality. We will not be bringing our business to this location anymore, or recommending it.
Pete C
The manager is TERRIBLE. Always in a bad mood and always rude to customers. Happy hour used to be a hit, but now they only do happy hour at the bar, which is limited to 8 people. This place has gone downhill quickly.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Max Henry
The breakfast tacos were delicious. Insanely good tortillas.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Melanie C.
Javelina has a great happy hour offering with rotating cocktails depending on day of the week, beers, and also house margaritas from 4pm - 6pm on weekdays. I got the house margarita while my friend got a beer. Upon being seated the host did let us know that we needed to order an appetizer in order to sit at a table vs the bar, so we ordered guac which was good. Perhaps the best part about Javelina is that they bring you free chips and salsa. That alone will be bringing me back over and over. The indoor decor was vibrant and bring and service was good. There are multiple locations in the city so check them out if you need a happy hour spot.
Mary Marshall Anderson
Best white queso in the city! Hallelujah!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kimberlyh L.
Service was wonderful!!! Food was perfect! Fresh and delicious! Enjoyed the margaritas and chicken goat cheese enchiladas. Street corn was superb!
This place was very disappointing. I had heard they were known for their queso & was excited to try it. We split the fried jalapeno queso & what we got was a bowl of Velveeta with almost no spice & even the jalapeños were bland! The biggest gripe is that all the food & even the margaritas come out so fast it is obvious that nothing is made fresh. I had the crispy beef tacos & the shells were stale & again very bland food. Honestly Taco Bell's crispy Taco would've been better. Margaritas were also very weak. Service was good but they really rush you through. It's a skip for me.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Yosa Yon
I used to order from here all the time. I spend close to 100 bucks every time I order because I’m not just feeding myself, I’m feeding my family. The last time I ordered, they forgot the tortillas that was supposed to come with my chicken fajitas. I called them and they said they would send someone with the tortillas. Well we waited and no one ever came. I won’t be ordering from here again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Yosa Y.
I order from here all the time and I always spend nearly close to 100 bucks each time because I'm not just feeding myself. I'm always feeding my family. Well the last time I ordered they forgot the tortillas that comes with the chicken fajitas. If you ever ordered something and they forgot a key ingredient or pairing, you know how extremely frustrating that can be. I called the restaurant and they said they would send someone over to drop off the tortillas, and that would've been fine except they never showed up. I will never order from them again. I can't believe this is how they treat people.
Salina Abji
Very disappointed by their policy of not providing separate bills for food and alcohol, which I explained makes it difficult for people to claim the meal on their taxes or get reimbursed by an employer for work travel. Sharing this review with the hopes that management will change this policy or at least reserve it solely for large groups.
Camara Porter
Eh, food really isn’t that tasty. It’s pretty bland. The staff are very kind and generous with their time. Great atmosphere, Meh food.
good food, excellent service BUT how can a bar not have a television that has sports.....craziest thing i have ever seen....some recored Art show being shown while the knicks are playing in the playoffs.....and no remote to change the channel....talk about tone deaf as multiple patrons ask the bartender, and several walked out...plenty of other good Mexican restaurants nearby
We came to the 18th street location. Even though we arrived before 4pm, after leaving us sit for several minutes they refused to let my friend order brunch stating that it had just passed 4pm so brunch was not an option. We let that go and I ordered fish tacos and a glass of white wine. The wine came in the smallest wine glass I've seen. The tacos were mostly batter, and relatively tasteless. We didn't say anything about the food but I complained to the manager that the wine glasses were very small and the wine was over priced for the size of the pour and the quality of the wine. He insisted that industry standard was 5 ounces, and that's what the wine glass was. The tiny glass might have possibly been able to hold 5oz if it was filled to the top, but it was half full and the pour was only about 2.5 ounces worth of liquid. The manager was extremely rude, spoke to us like we were idiots just bothering him and then walked away sent our check over. The staff there doesn't care anything about customer service and the food and drinks are very much over priced for the size and quality served. I will not go back and will not recommend them to anyone.
A relaxed and reasonably friendly place. Lots of GenZers, and they sometimes have those built-in-microphone voices (don't hate me, it's true). Food pretty blah -- beans the texture of pureed baby food, Mexican rice tasteless, salad managed to be sweet (not in a good way). No salt or pepper or hot sauce. Drinks were ok -- different types of margaritas, not great. Staff friendly but overall not impressive. Probably won't return.
A Tex-Mex haven in Manhattan, Javelina hit the spot for a recent Saturday afternoon happy hour. We enjoyed margaritas and real deal queso (as good as any I had back home) with a side of fresh flour tortillas, at their cozy bar. The service was a healthy dose of Texas hospitality, with our friendly bartender giving us samples of special marg creations, like strawberry and avocado-cilantro. A perfect, no-frills spot for any Texan lost in New York.
Let me start by saying I LOVE Javelina and both locations are a go-to spot for me. I eat here often and recommend it to all of my friends. I have also worked in the service industry for 10 years. There has been a decline in customer service in the last few years/months of me coming here. The manager, Jason, at the Union Sq location is extremely unprofessional and unaccommodating. Every time we come he treats the host stand and the open table app like his tyrannical kingdom, when he should be managing and taking care of customers. Today, it was supposed to be a sunny day. We chose to sit on the patio per our reservation at 12:45. Once we were sat, we saw on the weather app that there was a possible chance of a quick rain happening very soon. We noticed that there was an open two top on the COVERED portion of the patio. I politely asked Jason if we could move to the open table, due to the possibility of rain in a few minutes and was told a quick no. He expressed he had a reservation at that table at 2:00 (yes, 2:00) He suggested we move inside, but we didn't want to be the only table inside when the temperature was nice, and only wanted to be covered for the impending brief rain shower. I then asked our server (who was extremely kind and great) Joel, if he could ask the manager if we could move but be out before 2:00, that way they would have more than enough time to get the table set for the upcoming reservation that apparently called and requested that specific table number and couldn't be moved to another table on the covered patio (pardon my run-on sentence). Our server asked the manager in plain view of us and he dramatically told him no, and then scurried to his office where he hid for the rest of our meal (-: Being a host at a restaurant is all about rolling with the punches and moving things around under certain circumstances - this was apparently not doable today. By 1:20, the rain had started and we were already paying our check, under my umbrella. Jason should not work in the "hospitality" industry. Especially not at a TEX-mex restaurant. Texas is my home state and all about southern hospitality. We will not be bringing our business to this location anymore, or recommending it.
The manager is TERRIBLE. Always in a bad mood and always rude to customers. Happy hour used to be a hit, but now they only do happy hour at the bar, which is limited to 8 people. This place has gone downhill quickly.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
The breakfast tacos were delicious. Insanely good tortillas.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Javelina has a great happy hour offering with rotating cocktails depending on day of the week, beers, and also house margaritas from 4pm - 6pm on weekdays. I got the house margarita while my friend got a beer. Upon being seated the host did let us know that we needed to order an appetizer in order to sit at a table vs the bar, so we ordered guac which was good. Perhaps the best part about Javelina is that they bring you free chips and salsa. That alone will be bringing me back over and over. The indoor decor was vibrant and bring and service was good. There are multiple locations in the city so check them out if you need a happy hour spot.
Best white queso in the city! Hallelujah!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Service was wonderful!!! Food was perfect! Fresh and delicious! Enjoyed the margaritas and chicken goat cheese enchiladas. Street corn was superb!
Restaurantji Recommends
This place was very disappointing. I had heard they were known for their queso & was excited to try it. We split the fried jalapeno queso & what we got was a bowl of Velveeta with almost no spice & even the jalapeños were bland! The biggest gripe is that all the food & even the margaritas come out so fast it is obvious that nothing is made fresh. I had the crispy beef tacos & the shells were stale & again very bland food. Honestly Taco Bell's crispy Taco would've been better. Margaritas were also very weak. Service was good but they really rush you through. It's a skip for me.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
I used to order from here all the time. I spend close to 100 bucks every time I order because I’m not just feeding myself, I’m feeding my family. The last time I ordered, they forgot the tortillas that was supposed to come with my chicken fajitas. I called them and they said they would send someone with the tortillas. Well we waited and no one ever came. I won’t be ordering from here again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I order from here all the time and I always spend nearly close to 100 bucks each time because I'm not just feeding myself. I'm always feeding my family. Well the last time I ordered they forgot the tortillas that comes with the chicken fajitas. If you ever ordered something and they forgot a key ingredient or pairing, you know how extremely frustrating that can be. I called the restaurant and they said they would send someone over to drop off the tortillas, and that would've been fine except they never showed up. I will never order from them again. I can't believe this is how they treat people.
Very disappointed by their policy of not providing separate bills for food and alcohol, which I explained makes it difficult for people to claim the meal on their taxes or get reimbursed by an employer for work travel. Sharing this review with the hopes that management will change this policy or at least reserve it solely for large groups.
Eh, food really isn’t that tasty. It’s pretty bland. The staff are very kind and generous with their time. Great atmosphere, Meh food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4