Lupulo

Not recommended for Brunch.
The décor is great, rustic and an open kitchen where you can see the open fire.
Service: our server never came so the hostess took our order .
Let’s start with the small glass of iced tea filled with large ice cubes. 4 sips for $ 8:50!
My husband ordered the Portuguese French toast. Drowned is very good but very sweet syrup. He enjoyed it.
I ordered the Portuguese breakfast. 2 eggs over easy, toast, home fries and chicken sausage.
My eggs came sunny side up.
The sausage was chewy and filled with grizzle that I spit out.
The star of the dish were the hash browns. They weren’t hash browns, they were spicy potato croquettes.

Clam atmosphere prices are a little high but it’s Nyc I guess it’s expected. The chicken and the octopus were both goods dessert was alright but nothing worth really talking about. Parking was easy considering the snow storm

Lupolo has great food, great service, & excellent an beer selection. The beer selection is rotated monthly, specials are rotated daily.
The Piri Piri chicken is fantastic but I love the Arroz De Lulas Amejoas, it’s squid ink rice, with Manila clams, blood sausage & cilantro. Truly a delicious dish.
I would highly recommend Grilled Octopus with chick & black eyed peas, this is my second favorite dish here.
The cod & jamon croquettes are a great way to start your meal at Lupolo. The chicken liver pâté is great as well. You will not find a better Portuguese restaurant in the area I dare say in all of NYC.

Mackerel spread was awesome. My grilled sardines had a bit too much oil under it. We also had half a grilled chicken, very tasty, young one, with crispy skin. Comes with fries and some super hot sauce.
They have a really good variety of tap beers.

Walked in on a Sunday around 11. We didn’t realize we were in a Portuguese restaurant until we looked at the menu and got really excited! My boyfriend order the eggs and salty cod. It was so good. The portion size of it was not crazy, I’d probably recommend a side if you came real hungry. I ordered the French toast that is cooked in port wine with thick cut bacon. YUM. No drink specials for brunch or we weren’t made aware and the menu doesn’t have a ton of options. Their marketing is clever, they give you a post card and put the postage on it to send to someone. We sent it across the country so maybe we’ll hear soon if they got it! I dig.

Great Portuguese, with a beautiful space. Drink Super Bock and eat Portuguese French Toast, nothing but good taste!

I’ll endeavor to recharacterize, via hypothesis, the rating of this restaurant. Lupulo has some exotic food, to be sure, and some very exotic beer options – I don’t know a lot about the drink list. This is not a restaurant for casual eaters dropping down from Macy’s. I suspect that this costs Lupulo a higher rating. It is in a very accessible location, and the atmosphere is super inviting, so much so that it probably draws people that shouldn’t be eating here.
I have tried about 8 dishes now, and enjoyed-​to-​loved all but one of them (the razor clams were disappointing), but other than a couple of dishes, the menu is for foodies. I am thankful it is, and that is what drew me in. Squid ink rice – as good as I have had in a long time. Snails, served in as big a portion as you will ever get. Mackerel spread. Chicken Liver mousse. These are not for everyone. (The chicken is though, for sure!)
Likewise, asking for a Languanitus IPA here would be like walking into a craft beer bar and asking for a Bud. It’s all very small production stuff, served in 3 different sizes. It’s a great selection, but that experience isn’t for everyone. Nor are the prices…
Food is reasonably priced. Drinks are expensive. The former is a great deal, the latter may not be bad given what you are drink, and it is probably better than drinking wine.
Anyway, I like this place a lot, a feel it probably isn’t getting it’s due on Unilocal.That said, I think the service could be a little better and more friendly, but I have had the same server both times I have been in, so maybe it is just him/​her.

I keep trying to find a reason to give this four stars. But I can’t. Everything about my experience here was wonderful. My only complaint was the bill. But honestly, you’re going to find yourself paying a hefty price at most upscale, small plates venues. So I’m not going to hold this against Lupulo — the food and service were just too spectacular.
Lupulo doesn’t accept reservations between 6:30−10, so if you’d like to arrive during that window — good luck. Thankfully, the Eventi hotel next door offers plenty of attractions that you may choose to partake in while you wait. We showed up around 6:45 and agreed to a seat at the bar (we were seated immediately). The bar seating ended up being pretty clutch — we befriended the bartender quickly and got to watch one of the staff shave some sort of charcuterie off of a massive pig. Pretty damn cool.
The feel of Lupulo is casual chic. Décor is minimalist/​industrial, and the space is pretty large. Small plates can be fun for a date, but this spot in particular isn’t anywhere close to intimate (so depends on what you’re looking for). It’s bright, loud and bustling pretty much at all times. Warm and jovial!
If the food wasn’t quite enough for me to give Lupulo five stars (it was, but that’s besides the point), the rotating craft beer menu would push it over the edge. Lupulo offers quite a number of fantastic beer options — many of which I hadn’t head of prior to my visit. One special feature Lupulo offer’s is a variety of sizes: you can opt for 5oz., 9 oz., or for the very adventurous, 14oz. pours with corresponding price listings. A 5 oz. pour of beer ain’t much, but if you’re interested in trying a sizable chunk of the draft menu, this is a great option. For reference, my 9 oz. pour was the «Ky Ryed Chiquen», which is amber-​aged in redemption rye bourbon barrels. Anything aged in a bourbon/​rye/​cognac barrel is going to be money in my book — and this certainly did not disappoint. Our waiter/​bartender was more than happy to give us tastes of whatever we wanted — as all spots offering craft beer should do — and he was as knowledgeable about the product as they come.
Now onto the food:
–Oysters — forgot the type (A)
I was with someone who had never tried an oyster before. BLASPHEMY! Spoiler: he loved it and wanted to order 10 more. We just ordered one each to start and they were really tasty. Would highly recommend. The bartender actually gave us a beer to try after the aesthetically-​unique oyster slurp — it was a stout brewed with oysters and clams, which of course went perfectly with the brininess. That pairing alone warrants five stars.
–Salted cod croquettes w/​piri piri mayo (A-​/​A)
Not much to say about these — pretty simple plate. The salted cod filling is pretty fishy (this is a seafood spot, after all) and very flavorful. Certainly up there as one of the best croquette variations I’ve had to date.
–Portuguese mackerel spread w/​toasted (A/​A+).
YUM. Like hummus and pita chips on crack. Again, you’ll get the very fishy taste here. You only get four crackers with this plate, but thankfully you also get complimentary bread with your meal, so your starch search is speedily salvaged (say that five times fast). Not feeling the bread? Eat this with your fork. It’s just as good.
–Red snapper served raw w/​coconut milk, kaffir-​lime broth, fermented serrano, benne seeds (A+). The most complex dish we received all night. Light, spicy and texturally lovely. Just a warning: this is a *tiny* plate, considering the price. That said, if I had to choose, I’d probably award it MVP for the night. Given that the other dishes we ordered were on the heavier side, the airy/​fluffy nature was a beautiful complement to our meal.
Squid cooked on the plancha with clams, blood sausage, chili, squid ink rice, cilantro, and coriander (A/​A+). Chock-​full of so much goodness. My only complaint is that this seemed just a touch over-​seasoned — this is me being really really nitpicky though. The squid was some of the best I’ve had, the clams were perfectly-​cooked (and I usually don’t like clams too much), and the sausage — which I was a bit wary of at first — was not even a teensy bit close to the outcast I had anticipated. Maybe my over-​seasoning comment was due to the immense amount of flavor in this dish. There was just SO much going on, it almost overwhelmed the senses. Quite a lot of this menu is adventurous, but this one may overwhelm your palate initially.
–Sheep’s milk cheesecake w/​apricot sorbet, granola, peanut butter, some other stuff (A+).
I don’t eat desserts, but I took a couple bites. It quickly reminded me why I don’t eat sugar anymore. I pretty much fainted after eating this. Rich and decadent. I’m getting worked up just writing this. The sorbet actually tasted more like a sorbet-​ice cream hybrid. Perfect palate cleanser.
Running out of room — service was phenomenal. Efficient. Friendly. Personable. Could not have been more pleased — this goes for everything!

This is a nice after-​work spot for some light bites and great drinks — to me, it deserves a solid 4 stars for service, atmosphere, and execution of the menu. I like that is has a little more hustle and bustle; the bar area in the middle of the floor creates a more social atmosphere. I wouldn’t say this is a quiet, intimate place for special occasions, so don’t come expecting that.
Obviously, don’t come here if you don’t like seafood, either; this meal will be wasted on you. There can be a bit of a wait for a table, but there are enough diversions in the area where you can grab a cocktail or two. The drinks menu at Lupulo is well-​done, with a strong selection of beers and wines, and some interesting cocktails.
The small plates here are really meant for sharing, so again, if that’s not your ish, you won’t like Lupulo. Some thoughts on the plates:
Sardines (sardinhas assadas con pimentos, $ 23) are really tasty BUT they have a million tiny bones which makes them an ordeal to eat. I really, really like the flavor of fresh sardines but I’m someone with pretty much zero patience so I struggle with this dish.
Croquettes (bolinhos de bacalhau, $ 10): people really like these, and they’re good, but I don’t think that they’re super amazing. The sauce is delicious but maybe I’m not as big a fan of bacalao as I thought.
Razor clam and cucumber salad (salada de pepino e navalhas, $ 17): this is delightful and has fun texture and flavor.
Portuguese mackerel spread with thin toasts (patê de carapau, $ 9): this has a wonderful fishiness and briny, salty flavor. I would not recommend it if you don’t like very strong fish flavors, but for me, this was an awesome umami bomb.
Fava beans with chanterelles (this was a summer dish from July): I’m sad this isn’t on the menu now, because I loved this dish so much! The chanterelles add an unexpected spongy texture to the firm beans, and the dressing is fab.
I have trouble remembering what I ordered the first time I came here (the cocktails are… really good!) but I think it was the octopus and I’m 99% sure it was delicious, but don’t take my word for it: come to Lupulo.

I was very impressed with my previous meals at Aldea, so when I heard about Chef Mendes’ casual new venture, Lupulo, I was eager to give it a shot. The restaurant did not take reservations, so my friend and I were worried about getting a seat at our desired 8 pm dinner time. However, we lucked out somehow and were able to score a prime seat with a view of both the bar and open kitchen.
My companion ordered the unusual GOSE 8, a beer from Westbrook located in Mt. Pleasant, SC that was sour but also pretty salty — a very unique, but surprisingly enjoyable combo. I opted for a fall cocktail that included gin, cardamom, honey, lemon juice, and more. It was really one of the most refreshing and delicious cocktails I have ever had. In fact, I ordered two! I wish that the restaurant had the updated menu online so I could provide the exact ingredient list, but it is sadly not posted.
In terms of the food, we decided to share a few items. We started with a plate of special skewers that included duck hearts, mango, and jalapeño. My friend had never tried hearts before and was a bit apprehensive, but I advocated for the dish since I had loved every meal that I have ever had with this organ. I am glad that I held my ground, because this starter was DELICIOUS! The meat was tender and flavorful, and the mango-​jalapeño combo added a sweet spiciness. After a simple bite, even they agreed we had made a wise decision. We then moved on to the creamy shrimp porridge, which resembled grits that had been cooked in a seafood broth. The powerful ocean flavor was balanced against the bold earthiness of a soft hen egg, as well sprinklings of parsley and chili pepper. Two massive, head-​on shrimp were nestled on the top of the porridge cushion just waiting to be devoured. We kept the seafood fest going with the giant grilled octopus tentacle served over a hearty stew of chickpeas, black eyed peas, and pickled turnips combined with a pumpkin seed romesco sauce. The curly appendage was well cooked, but the flavorful, warm salad accompaniment was the true star of the dish. For dessert, we enjoyed the Chocolate Salami, which was essentially a log of creamy, rich cocoa that resembled a small salami due to its studs of white chocolate scattered within it.
The servers and runners seemed a bit confused and were seen delivering plates to the wrong tables, so that could use some polishing, but the helpful, friendly nature of the staff was top-​notch. Top that off with a fun, bustling atmosphere and delicious food, and you had a recipe for an enjoyable meal — one more worth of a 4.5* rating!

I was really looking forward to giving this place a try, but I have some mixed feelings. First of all, when you walk in there is an overwhelming «smoke» (like smoked meats) aroma from the grill, we were told. I don’t know how they would fix that, but it was pretty strong. I adjusted to it, but my friend was pretty bothered by it throughout the meal. And of course once we left, everything still smelled smokey.
That aside we were please with most of the food. They have a good beer selection and a great Vino Vherde. The bartender was pretty helpful withe giving recommendation for both food and beverage. We only felt we were lead astray on one dish… the special shrimp appetizer. At $ 13 a piece, we were expecting something a little more. Though cooked nicely, they were very small in size and underwhelming.
We enjoyed the mackerel spread, and the razor clam special was great! We also tried the special fish entrée and were very please with that. Overall it was OK… but I don’t know if I’d return… maybe because of the overwhelming smokey aroma… is that every night?

I am a huge fan of Aldea and an even bigger fan of Portuguese food. I love small plates. I love seafood. Lupulo is directly in my wheelhouse. I wanted to love Lupulo, but ultimately there were enough misses on my last visit for me to rush back here.
Highlights:
— Red snapper cru
— Favas e morcela
— Frango/​Chicken was solid but not Mr. Chicken or Nando’s
— Batatas a murro
— Shrimp turnover
Lowlights
— Sardines — really disappointing since Sardines are the Tikka Masala or the Pad Thai of Portuguese food
— Croquettes ok.
— Clams just ok

Lupulo is one of my favorite new NYC seafood restaurants of 2015. Portuguese in style, Lupulo serves an assortment of small and large plates with a focus on seafood that definitely works well.
On a recent visit, I had the patê de camarão, a mackerel dip, to start. While the dip was enticing and interesting, there were far too few pieces of toast to spread the salty goodness on top of. We also got heart skewers for the table, generously seasoned with paprika, and served along side peppers also on the skewers; the hearts were perfectly tender and delicious, a rare feat. Rounding out the appetizers were sardinhas assadas com pimentos, grilled whole sardines with a blistered pepper salad, probably my favorite dish of the evening. The sardines were gigantic, with a brilliant iodine-​y flavor and exceptionally easy to debone and fillet, even though I wanted to suck all the tender meat from the bones.
For a main, I enjoyed the borrego com feijão, lamb leg cooked over charcoal with stewed Sea Island red peas and fennel. While the description read nicely and enticingly, I felt a little cheated when only a scant three thin medallions of lamb arrived (as opposed to a «leg» as described on the menu), alongside a wilted piece of fennel and a few dots of red peas (which could more accurately be described as red lentils than red peas to the layperson).
Still, Portuguese food and wine is interesting and excellent, and the glaringly red shrimp staring at you from the bar are more than enough to hold your attention. The restaurant is blazingly loud and the fact that the dining room resembles a barroom does little to help that. Service is polite, knowledgeable, and experienced. I would definitely come back for drinks, and a few bites if money were no object and I was not too hungry.

We ordered the peas to start. They had a ton of flavor, were salty and delicious with the egg on top.
The snails were ok. I think I prefer a French flavor profile here, but that’s just a personal preference.
Pâté De Carapau (fish spread) was amazing. I’ve been getting into smoked fish spreads lately and this one was great.
Cod Coquettes were not too greasy, crispy and had a mayo sauce that was flavorful.
The Red Snapper crudo has lemongrass, coconut and spicy peppers and is basically if Anthony Bourdain and David Beckham cooked you Thanksgiving dinner on the grill when you just came back from the beach and haven’t eaten in 2 days. That’s how good it is. My friend and I ordered one to share, I ate it all so we ordered another one and I think he got a couple of bites. This is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
My friend liked the lamb, it’s not my thing in general.
The chocolate salami was excellent. It wasn’t too sweet and had crispy bits inside and the super tart sorbet went well with it.
The staff here is perfect. They are pleasant, casual, honest and friendly.
This restaurant is one of my new go-to’s and we’re going steady.
Party on, Wayne for sure!

A group of 6 of us were in the neighborhood late Saturday night and stumbled across Lupulo. Luckily, they were able to seat us without a reservation. Half of us are vegetarian, including me, and didn’t realize that the restaurant menu was very meat and fish heavy. So I can’t comment too much on our actual meals (we ordered the Alface Agriao and the potatoes). The best thing about the meal was the dessert. We ordered the Portuguese donuts and they were incredibly delicious!
The service was okay but could have been better. It took a really long time to get our drinks (when the place was not busy) and our waitress forgot about my drink order altogether. She wasn’t attentive (forgot to bring us hot sauce and didn’t check up on us). However, she was nice and we could tell was trying her best at the very end of the night. I don’t believe I would return since I can’t eat 90% of the food on the menu but maybe for those donuts another trip is worth it!

This was my first time trying Portuguese food and Lupulo has made me excited to try more. I came around Friday around 7pm and it was packed. After waiting for 15 min. or so, we opted to be seated at one of the skinny tables with the uncomfortable tall chairs. Not as ideal as the bar or the regular tables, but it we didn’t wait as long as a result.
We came here mainly because my friend wanted to try the Carabineros Shrimp going at $ 13 a piece. Take a bite of the tail, it’s not worth the $ 13 at all. Then take a bite of the body. Okay, maybe it’s worth it a little. Suck on the head, and damn, you’ll see why it’s worth $ 13.
Save some of the soft puffy bread from the bread basket to mop up the leftover juices from the shrimp. They also give you this fruity olive oil to go along with the bread.
For our entrée we ordered the Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa for two people. The dish consists of grilled salted cod, onion, sliced boiled egg, black olives, layered with potatoes, and baked in a cast iron skillet. This is a really hearty casserole and we couldn’t finish it between two people. I really liked the crispy potatoes and the sliced eggs. Slightly salty, but this is a really great comfort food dish. I would love to come back during the winter to eat this dish again.
Our waitress and waiter-​in-​training were really nice. They made sure our bread basket and water was always filled and we had to eventually tell them we didn’t want anymore bread. Everything is on the pricier end, but depending on what you get, I think it’s well worth it.

I think this place is overhyped. We enjoyed their beer and my rose was nice, and most of the appetizers were fabulous — croquettes, mackerel on toast, and green peas were amazing. But some of the entrees were definitely more forgettable. I was initially very excited to see the octopus rice on the menu as I ate it everyday when I was in Portugal, but it was a huge disappointment, and the rice was not fully cooked. We were a group of 6, and no one was raving about their entrée.
Service is good, not the most efficient and our waitress forgot someone’s oysters. It gets very crowded past 6:30pm, and when you’re a group, good luck. I will not be going there just to wait 2 hours for a table.

Restaurante em Nova Iorque que pretende imitar comida portuguesa, mas fica longe da nossa comida.
Mesmo com preços de Nova Iorque é caro. (Ex.cerveja Sagres $ 12)
A não repetir.

Can’t believe the hype. My Portuguese friend raved about their small plates. She had gone for a drink with a friend and had a few things to eat. Another friend also said good things. I went with a bigger group so we ended up ordering many dishes from menu. We hit a lot of misses and a very few hits.
The rosé we had during meal was excellent. And everyone said the beers were great. :)
The good– cod starter and casserole dish, sardines, red snapper crudo, fried egg with peas (my favorite because I could taste every flavor), asparagus starter
The bad– mackerel starter (tasted good but not like mackerel), razor clams dish (tasted delicious and refreshing but I the razor clams were hidden. Didn’t taste them), octopus rice in which the octopus was cooked to perfection, the jus was not complementary. Even though it was octopus based. When I had this in Portugal this it was drier. Not so soupy.
The staff is super friendly and helpful. They still have some kinks to work out. But that’s to be expected in a new place. I’d come back for a drink at the bar and a few small plates. Skip the main dinner dishes for now :)

Lupulo means «hops» in Portuguese and boy do they have quite the amazing craft beer connoisseur menu. Everything is a hit and amazingly curated to match with the food. There are also some Portuguese wine and cocktails to round out the drinks menu.
The space is lovely, with an open high ceiling perfect for a date night. We opted to sit by the floor-​to-​ceiling windows and people watch.
The menu is arranged in small plates, plates for sharing, and some core dishes. We had the Piri Piri Chicken which comes with a super spicy sauce and was tender and well seasoned with fries that were light and not oily at all. We also shared the Bacalhau A Gomes de Sa (for 2) that was a traditional salt cod dish and likened to delicious fancy comfort food.
Definitely a place I want to come back to and try other innovative dishes and to see what else they have on tap. The food and beer are clearly the stars here. It’s a great place for both a full meal or to just have a quick drink and a few bites.

Lupulo, which means «hops» in Portuguese, is George Mendes’s new outpost. It’s a relaxed and inviting space, with a huge U-​shaped bar in the middle of the room, tables scattered around the periphery, and a semi-​open kitchen in the back. There are a good number of excellent craft beer selections on tap, as well as an interesting list of Portuguese wines and some fairly standard cocktails. We opted to sit at the bar.
The menu is comprised of small plates, some salads, seafood dishes, and heartier fare (like a 60-​day dry-​aged rib eye — BOOM!). They also have a charcuterie station and raw bar. We sampled a number of items, mostly small plates, and paired it all with a few different beers. The service was attentive and helpful. We tried the following:
— half dozen mixed oysters
— red snapper crudo
— mackerel spread
— grilled asparagus
— salt cod croquettes (bacalhau)
— fava beans with blood sausage, ramps and chanterelles
— cucumber and razor clam salad
We were a bit pressed for time, otherwise we probably would have hung around and tried some of the heavier hitters on the menu. Overall, it was a great experience and I would return. The atmosphere is lively and fun, without being crazy or «sceney» at all. As a bonus, being relatively close to MSG, Lupulo provides a refreshing alternative for pre-​gaming if you’re not in the mood for an Irish pub. Thumbs up!