Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine

friendly and fast service. okay pescatarian choices. okay ambiance and noise level. good for quick grabs.

When in NYC, I like to get my hands on some grub that I normally can’t get when back at home. So, Cuban cuisine was just some of that food that I simply needed to have. Conveniently located very close to Times Square, my fams and I stepped into this cozy spot (that had an «A» grade on the window — those mean a lot to me). You are able to order to-​go here or have table service. Opted for the table service, so my fam and I could warm up and thoroughly enjoy our food! Ordered the steak & onions, beef soup, empanada, yellow rice and side of yucca. The fare was hearty, tasty, healthy and enough for 3 ppl — loved plentiful incorporation of vegetables. Service was fast and friendly, so we were on our after 45 minutes! Yes, there was a restroom for customers!

I’ve gotten takeout from here for lunch for sometime now. The breaded chicken is always a solid option and the sweet plantains are delicious. This is also a good location for an affordable sit down meal in mid town as they have many tables in the back with waiter service.
I recently tried the empanadas which were very good. The chicken and the cheese with guava were both fantastic, while the spinach and cheese and the beef were good.

Hair in my food… NEVER AGAIN! I unfortentyl will never get to try Sophie’s food because I find it vile to eat food with hair in it. I can only imagine the food tastes similar to its presentation. Restaurants should take more care in what they are serving people. I am disgusted and hope nobody else has this problem when getting delivery from Sophies.

What’s there to say about Sophie’s that hasn’t been said already? We all know how busy it gets during lunchtime. We know how tasty their food is. And we know how inexpensive the menu is. So if you haven’t been to a Sophie’s yet, get your butt in there.
I went here for a Friday lunch with a friend. Got there at 1pm and it was packed, but we luckily got a table immediately. I got the seafood dish in Cuban sauce with fried and green plantains, and she got the fried fish with yucca. It was $ 15 a person, including tip. Service was a bit slow, especially when we were waiting for the bill, but I can understand why.

I come here and bought is tail stew with vegetable and brown rice to go, for 14 dollar. The food is huge amount and definitely enough for a man to eat for lunch in such a cold winter
I maybe come back after two weeks. The oxtail is not bad. And the vegetable is fresh.

Best Cuban sandwich we have ever had. Chick pea salad was delicious. Green sauce is out of his world! Quick and friendly service

Very good choice for Cuban food.
It is a great lunchtime option. I work nearby this location in Midtown, and it does not disappoint. The restaurant is separated into two sections. You can order from the counter in the front, or there is a seating area with waiter service in the back. This set up provides good flow throughout the restaurant despite the normal crowds. The service is quick and friendly regardless of whether you are sitting down or taking your food to go.
The food is great. You cannot go wrong starting with some beef empanadas as an appetizer. I have tried the vast majority of sandwiches, but my favorites are the grilled chicken (it has potato sticks in it — awesome) and Cuban. Make sure you get a side of their «special green sauce» if you want to spice things up. The entrées and specials are also worth trying. I have not had the oxtail in a while, but I remember it being tasteful. The portions will fill you up, and the pricing is reasonable.
I recommend trying it if you work or live in the area. I am looking forward to coming back again soon!

The best food by far. Tastes like a dream come true. From the very beginning of the their opening, this restaurant has remained consistent with their quality, variety, and delicious food. There’s no place like it and I wish I could get all the recipes so I could make these delicious entrees at home.
This place is perfect everytime!!!

You must beat the lunch rush or else you will have to wait on a line. The take out line is crazy long during lunch hours. I came here at 11:45 and got a seat right away. When I was done, the place was entirely packed.
I had the fried fish here with rice and beans. The fish was not fishy and tasted good, not overly fried. Surprisingly it was not dry. Definitely a good lunch spot if you are in the area. Food turnover is very good and is fresh. Prices are reasonable and the tables are kind of packed so expect to hear other people’s conversations.

Stopped there on a whim for coffee and I must say, it was the best coffee I every remember having.
That’s all I got so there is not a lot more to say but get coffee here. Their other stuff is probably great too but I had to review based on their coffee! Great, sweet server, too!

Reminds me heavily of Tina’s.
Had lunch, they forgot to bring out the Moro shake initially but it tasted fine.
Roasted pork was pretty good outside of a single piece of skin that was a bit too hard.
Plantains and beans were adequate.
Green sauce here is lighter/​not as spicy as Tina’s, not as good.
Food here is OK, not a bad option for the area though I think there are better cuban places.

My friend and I were planning to get Xi’an Famous Foods for lunch but the line was out the door, so we went across the street to Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine instead.
We had a short wait but then were seated in the back area (for dine-​in customers; there is also a to-​go line up front). It was tantalizing just walking back to the rear and seeing/​smelling the prepared foods in the counter for the to-​go line.
My friend and I shared a pork sandwich with fried plantains that was out of this world. The other entrée beef stew was good too, although it cooled quickly and then wasn’t as tasty. The yuca was also a bit dry and not as good as I’ve had in the past. The empanada was great, and I had never had a guava and cheese-​flavored empanada before.
Service was excellent and our waitress was very attentive and friendly. The interior is simply decorated but the food is amazing. Turnover is quick and this is a definitely a popular dining establishment!
Prices are reasonable (roughly $ 8-​$ 18) and I would recommend coming here for a great Cuban meal!

It’s been a while since I’ve had lunch at Sophie’s but as usual it did not disappoint. I sometimes do takeout but I usually eat in. If you want to dine in just walk towards the back of the restaurant and wait to be seated. The wait staff is always very pleasant. They seat you, give you a menu and come back in a few minutes to take your order. Since all the food is already cooked your food arrives in minutes. Perfect for lunch. Entrees are around $ 11 and I usually have to bring the rest of the food home. Great spot for lunch but it does get packed and noisy at the height of lunchtime.

I came here a couple of times already for lunch. Every time I walk into this place, the delicious aroma of pork overcomes me. It smells so damn good.
This place could get pretty crowded during the lunch rush. I get here at 11:30am just before the rush so I don’t have to wait for a seat.
I tried the roast pork sandwich. The pork was tender, juicy and packed with flavor.
On another day I tried the oxtail with Moro rice and avocado so so good. And lastly I tried the chicken Fran whatchamacallit with Moro rice and sweet plantains. All three dishes were spot on.
Service is good and speedy. The restaurant is clean. You can dine in or take out. They accept all major credit cards and I will definitely return here. I must try every item on their menu.

Came in about half an hour before closing. Despite that, the food still tasted fresh. It didn’t taste like it was stewing all day under heat lamps, like you might expect it to so close to closing time. But then again, the food is so good that I don’t think it would ever have a chance to sit under the heat lamp.
I ordered the Cuban, which is made fresh. The bread was perfectly toasted, and there was a good amount of meat in there. It’s probably one of the best Cubans I’ve had. But what made it even better was the green sauce (aka crack sauce). I’m not exactly sure what was in it, but it was a bit spicy and was the perfect addition to the sammie.
I heard that it gets pretty packed during lunchtime, but for Sophie’s, I might be willing to fight the crowds.

One of my friends and I were trying to meet up for a quick weekday lunch, with the only real parameters being that 1) it had to be fast and 2) it needed to be about equidistant from our two offices. He found Sophie’s based on those two requirements and off we went.
The restaurant is kind of confusingly-​set-​up in that the back area has seating, but it appears that that area is only waiter-​service — I was hoping to be able to order at the counter and bring my food to a table to eat, because it takes too long to order from a menu and wait for your food to be brought to you. So we opted to take our food to-​go and sat in a nearby public terrace area to eat. I went for the Pernil (roast pork) sandwich, which had mayo and caramelized onions in it. The portion size was solid and the sandwich was totally delicious — amazing flavors, and the pork was falling-​apart-​tender. Really messy to eat, but worth it.
Wish it were a little closer to my office, but I could see myself coming back on a quiet day!

This food was mmm… good. I couldn’t stop eating. As a visitor to NYC, I had to go to Unilocal for a recommendation. Since I was staying at The Royalton nearby, I wanted something I could eat in my room. II was looking for flavor, affordability, and variety. I probably should have asked if they would deliver because it was cold as ice in NYC this weekend. But my trip was well worth it!
I had the grilled spicy chicken with yellow rice and sweet plantains. The food was really freaking good. I found it to be very flavorful, not too spicy, and affordable. The portions were also very large, enough for me to nibble after my first unsuccessful attempt to eat the whole thing.

The food is always so so so delicious. The trick is you have to figure out which line to stand in.
1. The eating-​in line
2. The take out sandwich line
3. The take out platter line
All 3 lines sort of converge in a 40 feet hallway. Godspeed.
My favorite is the oxtail with rice and beans. They give plenty of it and you end up feeling so guilty because your take out bag feels like it is 10lbs. I convince myself that it is mostly bones but deep down I know thats a lie. Once I put some of that green spicy sauce on and dig into my first bite, guilt and logic is replaced immediately by a blast of flavor that turns the crappiest work day around.
Bottom line: if you are hungry, skip the snickers bar and feed your soul with Sophie’s. Yea, it’s a fast food place and overpriced ($ 13 with tax for my platter), but logic doesn’t quite apply here.

Stopped in for a quick bite before we brave the cold to see all the fun outdoors holiday stuff… this location is a few blocks away from rockerfella center.
Nice size… seating in the back. Large food counter… seemed to have lots of typical Spanish food choices… rices, soups, and meats like pork and chicken… they also have a menu with other selections.
Friendly counter dude… let us know there was table service in the back. We were just having empanadas tho so we ordered and paid up front.
We sat at the counter with high chairs along the wall. Empanadas were DELISH! Warm, crispy, tasty chicken… so good!
Coming back to dine in and taste the food… which smelled like home cookin!