Nai Tapas Bar

Came here on a double date and just the fact that my boo’s friends picked this place spoke so highly of my partner (dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres, as the old Puerto Rican saying goes. Tell me who you’re with and I’ll tell you who you are).
You get your familiar tapas favorites like sangria and bacon wrapped dates. But then you’re intrigued and you order tempura fried short rib, and you’re blown away. You decide to try the zucchini stuffed with goat cheese and you’re euphoric (and it’s not just the sangria talking).
Service was very professional and I also enjoyed the interior; you feel like you’re at a tapas bar in Spain. Our waiter made sure we ordered just the right amount of food.
Bar none my favorite tapas place in NYC: it strikes the right combination of old vs new while staying in the right price bracket.

Went here once and I’ve been dreaming about going back since! Compared to the Stanton Social, I’d choose this place over the Stanton. Yes, I know the Stanton is iconic in its own sense but when you keep into consideration price & quality, Nai Tapas edges out Stanton Social slightly because you’ll be paying 3x what you do at the Stanton than here. Of course, Nai’s tapas is a different style. The drinks here look amazing, and they seem to do pitchers!

Food here is excellent! Tapas are top notch. The Gambas al ajillo were garlicky, but not too oily. The patatas bravas were super crispy. The Spanish tortilla was huge and delicious. My friend ordered a steak tapas (can’t remember the name) and the meat was so tender. All very yummy! Definitely my favorite tapas place in the city so far.

I have mix feelings about this place. We got there and had rsvp through open table for their only available slot. After we ordered, the manager said he needed our table at 8 bc we never confirmed the rsvp. He claimed someone left us a voicemail but no one did. Minus a star.
The food was good. I liked everything but their pulpo a la gallega. It was very slimy. We had to send it back. We had the following:
Very good dishes: pinxo de chistorra con huevo de codorniz, churrasco arriero, meijillones avoa, caravoles
Average: coles de bruselas con lacon, gambas al ajillo
Just ok: croquetas de pollo and croquetas de jamon, filloas de coca rellas de mariscos, tabla de jamon queso.
The virgin sangria was good. The mango sangria was very good. Their tropical sangria was a miss.
At 8 they have flamingo dancers. You have to rsvp at least 2 weeks in advance if you want a table to see the show.

Came here with two other friends, we ordered a pitcher of red sangria and 10 tapas (all small ones), wayyy too much food!
— Ham Croquette was flavorful and delicious but very tiny (3 pieces). It’s too tiny that the presentation was quite awkward.
— Meatball was full of flavor, juicy, and super delicious!
— Mussel was good but nothing special, quite a lot for the price though.
— Brussels Sprout and Pork Belly was a nice combination, yummy!
— Patatas Bravas was super delicious! Must get.
— Coconut Crêpe stuffed Scallop and Shrimp was interesting, but the stuffing was quite loose, a bit disappointed, flavor-​wise was very good!
— Pork Belly, there no fat part I believe. (I’m not sure) I was a bit confused too that the pork belly is all lean, but still tastes very juicy and fluffy!
— Paella Noodle, the dish was lukewarm; the noodle served was quite dry… was probably the biggest disappointment of the meal. A lot of mussels and clams though…
— Oxtail was not bad, but a lot of fat parts which I’m not a fan of it.
— Red sangria was quite good but not superb, maybe I’ll try other flavor next time!
In general, Nai is not the best quality, but given the price tag, this place is very good and worth it.

We were here to celebrate a dating anniversary. We made reservations 2 weeks in advanced specifically to see the Flamenco show which is only on Thursdays and Saturdays. With that said, 2 weeks in advanced, and the 8pm reservations were all already taken, 1030 was all they had. We took it. We got there around 930, but had a drink at another bar, at around 1010 we showed up for our 1015 reservation. The hostess told us it would be a bit before they had people from the 830 show leaving and they could rearrange tables. Not a problem. We were rewarded with a table that was perfect for Flamenco viewing (which is done in the middle of the long and narrow, basement restaurant).
Flamenco: They are strict about no pictures or videos during the show, but have no fear, they will let you video/​snap during their last song/​dance of the night. The guitarist will literally say «and now, picture time» and everyone whips their phone out. Don’t think you can sneak a snap, one of the flamenco dancers will catch you and will shame you. Just wait until the end. The show was about 40 mins, short but very entertaining. I can’t wait to go back to see again, or maybe see in Spain (one can only dream).
As for tapas: We ordered 1) tableta de queso y jamon serrano 2) aguacate relleno 3) churrasco 4) patatas bravas 5) and a fried goat cheese wrapped in bacon
Every single one of these I would get again — Which was my favorite? I think I would have to say the stuffed avocado — it was stuffed with crab meat and corn (which gave it a surprisingly good sweetness) and topped with pieces of bacon. The patatas bravas had a nice kick to them. Sometimes you get them at these places and really, it’s just ketchup, but this was great. We did not have their sangria (we were recovering from a too happy Friday) but they had many varieties of sangria which I would love to taste.
Over all, our meal, plus 4 beers (Spaniard beer) plus a show came out to about $ 85 (sans the tip) — when you put it all in perspective, delicious tapas, refreshing beers, great waiter — it was not a bad price.
We will be returning!

Came here finally because it was just down the street. To be completely honest, I was pleasantly surprised. The garlic shrimp was delicious, definitely get a large size for that one. I also recommend the steak and the brussel sprouts that’s mixed with some sort of bacon. The bravas wasn’t bad either but it was nothing special. Overstuffed myself. Our server wasn’t bad and the ambience was nice. Probably much nicer later in the night. They had really tasty Sangria as well and a happy hour for that. Come here and try it at least once. One of my favorite place to try tapas!

Decent service, decent food — nothing more.
The shrimp in garlic and olive oil was delicious, just like it is at every tapas restaurant in the world. The chorizo and quail egg on toast was also very good, and something I haven’t seen before!
The churrasco was ok, but the avocado and crab went un-​eaten. Sangria is nothing to write home about.

Still TOP OF THE LINE !!! Amazing tapas, amazing service and wonderful flamenco show !!
I took two friends of mine there last night and one was celebrating her birthday.
It was magical !!! I super recommend this place.
Don’t miss the amazing variety of sangrias they have — they’re totally delish !!

This is my go to tapas place. The food is amazing. 2 – 3 tapas per person is a good amount of food. It can get busy on the weekends, so making a reservation is a good idea. On the weekdays, it is easier to get a table without reservation. Getting a mixture of seafood and meat is a good way to go.
Food:
Churracso Arriero (Shirt steak) — good choice if you like meat. sliced pieces of steak.
Tostado de lubina (chilean sea bass wrapped in toast with serrano ham wrapped asparagus spears) — This is my favorite. Its crispy outside, sweet and moist inside with the sea bass.
Chipirones en su tinta (calamari in its own ink) — this is a ok fish. I like others more.
sardina a la plancha (grilled seasoned sardines over toast) — this is a large sardine over toast. you get a small fish bones and all. I like it.
Good bread wish it was warm/​toasted
Boquerones (basque anchovies over toast) — similar to the sardines, but the smaller amount of fish, but very strong taste

Came here on St. Patty’s day with my friend via a reservation I made earlier — it was relatively quiet when we came (around 5:45pm) but was getting a lot more crowded as the night went on (luckily, the typical St. Patty’s clientele was not there, PHEW!)
Happy hour drink specials are great — we shared a pitcher of mango sangria for $ 22. It’s good, and just the right amount of strong to get you sorta-​kinda tipsy towards the end.
Tapas were also delicious, but on the pricy side, considering the portions. My friend and I got 4 different tapas (I recommend shrimp in garlic sauce!) — all of which were great, but definitely not filling. We also got 2 dessert tapas — the nutella stuffed churros and the flan; again, delicious, but definitely not worth the $ 7 price tag. All in all, our total bill came out to about $ 80 — pretty steep considering my hunger wasn’t fully satisfied!
I have to say that I liked this place mostly because the quality of service was on point. Our waiter was super nice, and even the busboys were so gracious and polite! It’s always a nice refresher to see genuinely great service! Would’ve given this place 3 stars if the service was meh.

Excellent tapas, nice atmosphere, great service. I highly recommend Nai! My wife, daughter and I wanted to grab a quick dinner in the East Village before heading to a Broadway show. We went to the restaurant about 6 pm on Saturday night and were seated right away. This is a really nice, comfortable tapas bar. It would be a great date spot.
At the waiter’s recommendation, we ordered a half pitcher of blueberry pomegranate sangria. It was enough for each of bus to have two small glasses. It was very good, not too sweet.
We started with some mixed olives and jamon Iberico. The jamon, kind of a Spanish prosciutto, was excellent. The olives were… olives. Nothing special, a nice complement to the ham.
For tapas, we ordered:
— Ravioli de Calabacin — grilled zucchini wrapped goat cheese topped with a bacon wrapped date, the zucchini and cheese were tasty and mild, the smoky, salty bacon wrapped date was the star of the dish
— Filloas de Coco Rellenas De Mariscos — coconut crepes filled with seafood, the crepes are folded up like little cups, it’s very mild and delicious, there’s a very nice sauce on the plate, I think it was puréed pepper, it was delicious
— Albondiguillas — little pork and beef meatballs in a flavorful brandy sauce, yummy!
Our total meal was about $ 100 with the tip. The service was excellent throughout. The plates take a little while to come out. They’re worth the wait. Just drink some sangria and relax!

I would highly recommend this place for spanish tapas. The food is very tasty and the sizes are extremely generous for tapas. The house wine was nice and fruity.
Churrasco Arriero — skirt steak with garlic and spicy cherry peppers
— The steak was cooked and seasoned well. The sauce that came with this was very flavorful. The peppers on the side had a nice spicy kick, which was nice.
Mejillones Avoa — mussels in a paprika wine sauce
— The mussels tasted very fresh. The paprika wine sauce reminded me of spicy ramen soup lol
Short Rib Tempura
— I really liked this dish. It came with 3 generous sized portions of short rib. I really like the contrast between the soft tender short rib with the crunchy tempura shell. This came with thin noodles on the side that seemed to resemble vermicelli. The short rib was excellent. The noodles were too salty for my taste.
Pulpo a la Gallega — boiled octopus
— I prefer my octopus grilled because I feel like doing so de-​slimes it. This dish was okay. I don’t think I would get this again, but my friends seemed to like it.
I would definitely come back again.

Reasonably priced tapas and delicious sangria. Love this place!
We came in on a Friday around 8pm and this place was packed. We stood around for about 20 minutes before we were finally seated (will make a reservation next time!). Our server was super helpful with making food and sangria recommendations. To give us an idea of how big each tapas would be, she told us that 3 – 4 tapas would make a filling meal for one person.
I love the blueberry pomegranate champagne sangria. It’s fruity, not overly sweet, and contains a satisfactory amount of alcohol. The champagne sangria is ok but extremely inferior compared to the blueberry pomegranate sangria. I need to come back during Happy Hour for their $ 20 pitchers of sangria.
Some of my favorite tapas from their menu are:
— Pelotillas de Queso de Cabra (friend goat cheese, serrano ham, tomato, toast). If you’re a fan of goat cheese, you will love this. The ball of goat cheese is crispy on the outside and savory/​creamy on the inside. The small plate comes with 3 of these.
— Pulpo a la Gallega (boiled octopus). SO tender and perfectly seasoned.
— Filloas De Coco Rellenas De Mariscos (coconut crêpe, scallops, shrimp, crab meat). Creamy delicious seafood wrapped in a crispy skin. Too bad the small plate only comes with 2 of these :(
I was not a huge fan of the avocado stuffed with crab meat or the calamari in its own ink. I got sick of the avocado dish after a few bites because the excessively creamy texture was nauseating. I love calamari so I had high expectations for the calamari in ink. However, the taste of the calamari was much more «fishy» than other calamari dishes I’ve had (possibly due to the ink?).
Overall I enjoyed the drinks, the food, the service, and the atmosphere at Nai Tapas Bar. I will be coming back!

Great selection of tapas on their menu. I highly recommend the pollo al ajillo– garlic potato chicken. Till this day I am thinking about how perfectly flavored it was. Next time I will try all their other hot dishes– as for the tapas on toast, I think it is best to skip those as it is nothing that will blow you away and it was too much bread in my opinion.

Cute little tapas place. They serve small plates of good food & sangria. What more do you need to know?
They started us off with some bread and what looked like olive oil.
We ordered some Blueberry Pomegranate Sangria & a pitcher of Champagne Sangria. Both were sweet and refreshing.
Mejillones Avoa — mussels in paprika-​wine sauce:
Mussels were cooked well. They weren’t tough and all the shells opened. The sauce was delicious and had just a slight kick.
Pollo al Ajillo — chicken & potatoes in garlic sauce:
The chicken soaked up the thick sauce and tasted juicy.
Rabo Guisado — braised oxtail:
I wasn’t able to take an appealing picture of the oxtail, but it was also delicious. It was braised to the point where the meat was just falling off the bone. The sauce was amazing as well.
They also have live flamenco shows on the weekends if you’re into that. If you’re coming with a large group, definitely try to make a reservation on Opentable or call ahead, because it is a little cramped in there, but they have a decent sized bar and the food is good.

This place is lip-​smacking «oh my god» delicious. I seriously haven’t been to a place like Nai’s in a long time; where food is so good, and the price points make your eyebrows go up and down. It was one of my best friends birthday, and we nearly ordered everything on the menu. Why not? It was TREAT YOSELF DAY (we were really treating him, but it felt like our day, too!).
Let’s see what I can remember:
–Sangrias were potently delicious;
–Mussels marinated in some kind witchcraft, tomato sauce that got us weak in the knees;
–Garlicky shrimp;
–Crispy, seasoned Brussels sprouts;
–Meatball dish — that brandy tomato sauce is so good!
I can’t wait to come back here again! Only issues I had were that the hostess or whomever was picking up the phone gave us a hard time making reservations for a table of 5. They got us seated on a tiny-​ass table, but we made the best with what we had. What really sold us with this place was the food and the charismatic way the waitress worked with us all evening.

Nai holds a special place in my heart. For no substantial reason, really. When I joined Unilocal a year ago, I was a mere plebeian who had no idea how to navigate the endlessly complex waters of the New York food/​drink scene. What does one do in this situation? Bookmark. Hyperventilate due to option overload. Bookmark some more. One of the first places I landed on – and forgot about not long after – was Nai Tapas Bar. So when I came here on Thursday night, I worried that my expectations were far too high. But they weren’t. Tabula Rasa Molly has some sense in her.
First: the space. Basement-​level venue (needs to be given the flamenco!), not as much room as you’d initially think. The food, drinks, service and flamenco were all noteworthy – my only real qualm here is the very real potential for claustrophobia. As in, I learned way too much about the lives of the couple sitting next to us. You’d also be wise to make a reservation – at least on Thursdays/​Saturdays (flamenco nights).
Now onto what y’all really care about: ingestibles. To start, we ordered a half pitcher of the Blueberry Pomegranate Champagne Sangria. They were unfortunately out of the mango (our first choice), but this was a damn good second. Almost too good. In other words, be careful. You can hardly taste the alcohol. You may be inclined to drink it quickly. Don’t (but do order it!).
Quick note about the food before listing the damage: one simple but brilliant feature on the menu here is the small/​large option (with corresponding prices, obviously). I’ve been to a number of tapas bars at this point, and I don’t think I had ever seen this before my visit to Nai. If you’re like me and want to try as much as is humanly (and fiscally) possible, opt for the small – this is possible with most plates, just a few exceptions – and order a wider variety. You may be thinking that this is a trap: yet another frightening high tapas bill may ensue. But fear not! Not only was this some of the best Spanish food I’ve had in NYC, but our bill was $ 70 for a half pitcher of sangria and five plates. For tapas in New York, that is a DEAL.
Now for that damage I mentioned:
–Aguacates Rellenos (A++)
Holy guacamole. More like a whole (y) avocado. This was easily my favorite dish of the night. Far more flavorful than I ever could have imagined. This is real, delicious lump crab, prepared with corn and a few other minor players. Overall, the texture is more creamy than anything else, but the corn (and something else I couldn’t discern) gave the whole thing a subtle crunch which wasn’t necessary but was certainly appreciated. My only complaint: I wanted more crab meat. And more avocado. Okay, I just wanted this dish x2.
–Croquetas de Jamon (A+)
Again, the flavors were standout. Given that it’s all one big mixture inside of a croquette, it’s hard to go into detail. But it’s one big mixture of yummy goodness and I’m not going to question why and how these unassuming bites became so tasty. Note: this type of thing could easily go waaaay overboard on the salt. Not that case here. Well. Freakin. Done.
–Gambas al Ajillo (A)
Standard for tapas. Sorry for the redundancy here, but again, these were seasoned beautifully. I was wary given a few negative reviews that highlighted excessive salt, but this wasn’t my experience. Six shrimp for the small option. Left me wanting more but that’s the literal price we paid for going with the small option.
–Albondiguillas Estofadas (combo of pork/​beef I think, served in brandy sauce) (A)
I would never seek this kind of thing out on my own. But when I’m out to eat, I like to live a little. The meatballs were – surprise, surprise – cooked perfectly. But the real star of this dish was the brandy sauce. It managed to strike a perfect balance between sweet and savory, which paired wonderfully with the inherent salty quality of the meat (can’t really avoid that when pork is involved). This is the kind of sauce that you’ll want to ladle onto your plate so you can douse every last morsel in it. That good, folks.
–Salted cod w/​chickpea purée (A-​/​A)
The cod is one of the few dishes here that only comes in one size. But for just $ 15, you pretty much get an entrée-​sized plate of fish. No question, other restaurants in the city could easily offer this same portion for twice the price. Pretty simple dish – not much flair to it despite how aesthetically pleasing it is. Between being quite full when it arrived and the fact that all prior dishes had been bursting with flavor, this one didn’t wow me as much. It was still yummy (especially the chickpea purée) but not quite at the level of the others.
Lastly, the flamenco: Fun, festive, loaded with talent and LOUD. The musician had a soulful, raspy voice and was quite the whiz on the guitar. The dancers were even more passionate – quintessential flamenco. I’ve seen flamenco five or six times in my life, and this seemed pretty authentic to me. Reminded me of Spain (never a bad thing).

If you are trying to reserve on Open Table and there aren’t any times available, don’t let that deter you! The site said there was no availability for 7 pm but when I walked in, there were only a few tables dining and they seated me immediately, while I waited for my two friends to show up. It started getting packed around 8 or so.
Happy hour is until 7, including Fridays! You can get $ 20 pitchers of sangria and there are 6 different flavors you can choose from. We tried the mango and the champagne. I liked the champagne better because it wasn’t as fruity. But as a person who isn’t a fan of super fruity drinks, I must say that even the mango was good. It wasn’t too sweet and was very refreshing.
For food, we decided to order a bunch of tapas and share everything. Here’s what we ordered:
Croquetas de Jamon (Serrano ham croquettes) — these were amazing! They came out piping hot. There was more cheese than there was ham, which I liked.
Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce) — the flavor was great, but the ‘sauce’ is really just a garlic oil. It was a little too oily for me.
Pulled pork sliders — good but not anything special.
Churrasco Arriero (skirt steak sautéed with garlic and spicy cherry peppers) — I would definitely recommend NOT ordering this. It was SO salty. All I could taste was salt, and none of the mentioned flavors.
Albondiguillas Estofadas (stewed meatballs in a brandy sauce) — this was one of my favorites of the night. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauce was really good.
Caracoles (escargot in their ‘house sauce’) — these were just alright. Again, pretty oily. It tasted like some kind of a butter sauce.
Avocado stuffed with lump crabmeat — this was hands down the best one. They take a whole avocado, cut it in half, and fill it with this creamy (but not overly creamy) crabmeat and corn salad and top it with real bits of bacon. And yes, the crabmeat is real and there’s a good amount of stuffing. It was so good that I was already full when this last dish came out, but I finished all of it because I didn’t want to stop eating it. Ever.
On top of the great food, our waitress was really nice. She was very attentive, and she even let us hoard that second sangria pitcher, since happy hour was about to be over.
I’ll definitely be back to try some of their other tapas (and sangrias) and of course, get my avocado/​crabmeat fix!

Ive been here a few times and never made a reservation. Granted we try to get there when it opens at around 5ish so it isn’t very busy yet. The staff is very accommodating and helpful.
I don’t usually drink alcohol but the sangria here is pretty good. They have a mango sangria which was very refreshing and you can’t really go wrong with mango anything!
They have a large variety of tapas to choose from. The shrimp in garlic sauce is SO GOOD and dipping the bread in the sauce just makes it even better! The fried goat cheese with tomato over toast was also really good. The different textures and flavors really worked well together. The skirt steak was cooked really well and is kind of a large portion if you get the full size. Any of the potato dishes are good but my favorite is the patatas alioli which is fried potatoes with a creamy garlic sauce. We also got this avocado stuff thing that was DELICIOUS! They literally cut the avocado in half and have this creamy yumminess in the center.

Este sitio esta de puta madre! Me encanto. Excelente servicio, comida exquisita y precios muy cómodos. El ambiente es divino y acogedor.