Sunday NY Times rates Sonora "Excellent"

[roxlet]

I have never been to Sonoro, but this review makes the place sound awesome. Does anyone have recent experiences?

[intrepid]

last time i was there was 2 years ago, food was bland, medocre, service poor, I wont go back, the other times before that food at sdonora was consistently bland and mediocre

[laylag]

Same experience here intrepid - we went about two, two and half years ago and service was really bad, food was disappointing.

[roxlet]

So is this the good NY Times reviewer or the bad reviewer? What she wrote definitely seems to be at odds with the CHers experiences. Perhaps it's changed?

[Alberta516]

I'm surprised to see such mixed reviews too Roxlet. As I said, my one (not recent) experience was quite positive. Suggest we each try Sonora out when we can ( it's not all that expensive ) and report back here with our reviews.

[jfood]

jfood tried to make a reservation yesterday, called and left a message since no one was there. No return call.

[rbailin]

jfood should know that more and more restaurants are listed on OpenTable.com, and Sonora is among them. Why deal with fallible humans before you get to the restaurant when you can make a reservation online?

[jfood]

Yes it is but OT sometimes only has a certain number of tables since the restaurant may impose a hold-back.

[Sonnyno]

I just can't resist getting into this frey. First off, I like Sonoro and I have gone there a few or more times this past year. I like Sonoro because I like food that is highly flavored and you can get that there most of the time. However. I have to agree with a number of reviewers and highly disagree with the NY Times reviewer. The place is not excellent and occassionally has serious flaws. I would also have to say that sometimes service is not good although for the most part it has been O. K. for me. Sometimes the food is so bland that I have to wonder what happened. That was particularly true for a snapper, Mexican style, that I had one night. This is a good place for an occassional visit but the NY Times does a gross diservice to some of the recent very good to excellent restaurants that they have been rather unkind to by calling this place excellent. Go without high expectations and you might be pleased.

[tito]

Sonnyno,

I agree with you 110%...very well said. Food is good, menu does not change often enough. Wine list is limited and overpriced at best.

[rafi]

my first time there was 2 weeks ago.. we had an early saturday dinner there for my father's birthday. nice decor, mostly pretty good food but didn't feel special by any means. i did enjoy the ceviche a great deal but definitely left underwhelmed and feeling i wouldnt go out of my way to go back.

i think the whole latin fusion concept didn't work for me... why not get better, cheaper latin food elsewhere?

[Shawn]

I was shocked when I read the review this morning. I always thought of the food as good, but not exceptional, and the service spotty to awful, depending on the night.

[winston1]

I always thought Sonora was under appreciated. I think the food and service are exceptional without being over the top. Service has always been good.

[foodrink]

I have been there many times I have never found it to be an excellent. Food has always been good but service has never been great. Last time we had a 6:30 reservation and the dining room was 1/4 full but it took them a good 10 minutes for them to seat us. The sat us without menus and then it took another 10 minutes for a waiter to come by and he asked us if we would like to order. When we informed him we didn't have menus he took a drink order and disappeared. He brought the drinks but no menus. So we asked again. Halfway through our cocktails the busboy came by with the water and I asked him for a menu and he got it no problem. Food has always been good but the service has always been poor. The decor is very nice but the noise level is very very high when it is full.

[momof3]

I agree with foodrink. I have been there a few times and my favorite thing by far are the caiparinas (sp?). The food is pretty good, fresh and well prepared, but nothing "excellent". I also agree with the service. The service hasn't been good except for one time when we sat at the bar. The bartender was attentive and friendly. I haven't been in agreement with any of the recent NYT reviews lately. But that's why I am on Chowhound :)

[chowdom]

I was there most recently in early September. We sat outside on the deck, which was very nice the food was excellent as always. My favorite table is upstairs, it is a four top that overlooks the main dining room. I think It is a little quieter upstairs. You can check Liz Johnson's blog, (for the pics) she did a piece on them with photos during restaurant week.

[Alberta516]

Roxlet, I have only been to Sonora in Portchester one time a few years ago, but I thought the food and service were excellent and the environment lovely. Love their menu. I'm sure it couldn't have changed that much since I was there. Very romantic.

[kaaaassss]

where is sonora?