El Sabor de la Isla

$ 7.56 for a «medium» meal that fills up two adults… Pretty awesome! The food was good, the flavor was great, and the family that ran the place was so sweet! This is a great option for inexpensive, delicious to-​go food.

Very good food but man, this place is seriously dirty. Ran out of salad and sides and didn’t replace it with anything else but still charged full price. Should you go here? Yes. But plug your nose, don’t look around, and get out of there with your food ASAP!

Cafeteria style restaurant. If you want to dine in, they will served you with a plate, which we liked the experience, something different. But they ran out of Platanos and guinentos. The lady and viejo we’re rude when we asked are they making more? They said yes with a dry hard face. My fiancé is a head cook in a popular Mexican restaurant so he can tell when rice is well done or not. We also ordered pernil and he ordered chicken, not seasoned well but edible. That’s the only thing I ate the meat and small served salad with one piece of tomato. When we sat down we noticed the rice and habichuelas guisa looks like they were a day old and over heated. Even my three year old didn’t like the arroz con gandules after three spoon bites, I was like yeap the rice is old. No one look out for us to let us know the sweet Platano were ready. So I got up to ask El viejo for two to go plates, he gives two small ones. I politely asked him for two larger ones and he gave me the straight face. After he gave me the right ones I decided to just leave and forget the Platanos. We spent $ 30 for nothing. I was so embarrassed that I took my fiancé there, i mean he Is from Honduras and I was raised in Puerto Rico until I was 11 years old. We wish we ate to El Mangu by Henrietta.

It’s a damn good thing that this place is a bit of a trek from both my house and my office; otherwise I’d be there every week, and I’d be 50lbs heavier within a few months.
I made that trek a week or so ago, based on online reviews and a personal recommendation, and I’m so glad I did. Make no mistake, this place is a true hole in the wall. It’s not air-​conditioned, and there’s hardly anywhere to sit and eat. You’re going to go in, stand in line, get your food cafeteria style, and take it to go.
But it will be well worth it.
I’m a sucker for pernil, so that’s what I got — with yellow rice and pigeon peas. Extra, soupy beans on top of the rice. Salad with ranch dressing — it’s just iceberg with some tomatoes, nothing special, but it was frankly pretty refreshing as a foil to the rest of the meal, and at least made me feel like I was sorta kinda having a vegetable.
The rice and peas here were vastly superior to other, similar places. So often it’s an afterthought, and the rice is dried out, but here it was moist and flavorful and so delicious. If they hadn’t had meat, I would’ve loved a big bowl of the rice and peas (and extra beans) with some hot sauce. But — the meat.
OMG, the meat. First, the woman behind the counter just kept piling it on. Huge chunks of what was obviously very moist, tender pork. A few crispy bits. More moist pork. MOAR PORK. I kept waiting for her to stop, but she gave me a mountain of meat.
I asked for hot sauce at the counter and received a tiny plastic ramekin of great (homemade?) hot sauce. It was serviceable, not remarkable (the hot sauce at D’Mangu is definitely remarkable).
Hurried back to my office, the scent torturing me the whole time, and dug in. My only qualm? The plastic fork they gave me wasn’t nearly sturdy enough to shovel this food into my mouth as fast as I wanted to.
I’d ordered the «medium» size for $ 7 and change. The container was the size of a Wegmans $ 6 meal container, but piled HIGH with food. I ate ¾ of it, telling myself the whole time I should stop and leave myself leftovers, or maybe even take some home to the boyfriend. I finally exercised some self-​control and pushed it away… only to go back and polish it off some 2 or 3 hours later. It was that good. Sorry, boyfriend. For a normal, non-​gluttonous person, this would easily make two meals.
Next time, I want to try something else — they had a chicken dish that looked great, too, as well as some sort of meat pie/​empanada thing, but I’d be hard pressed not to order the pork. You know how that is, when you order something amazing at a restaurant and can’t bring yourself to branch out.
In short, go here. Get the medium, split it with someone — or don’t, and anticipate a major food coma, but no regrets.

I don’t like boring food because, well, it’s Sabor. But I found this spectacular, amazing Latin Caribbean place in an area that most rich suburban folk dare not tread. I was over the proverbial moon. I had to enjoy every bite. Sabor the moment. In my mind I said thanks to Allah, Buddha, Shiva, and to our lord and Sabor Jesus Cristo. Truly one of the best — and best value — places to eat anywhere. If anyone tells you that it’s not, they’re merely trying to Sabor-​tage your enjoyment of the food here.
What to get: Pork Chops over rice for $ 5, extra juicy.
What else: Everything is delicious.
What else: Madonna loves this place. That’s why she did a song titled «El Sabor De La Isla Bone Eater.»
Anything else: Yeah I can’t believe Madonna eats bones. What if they damage her vocal cords.
It might improve her singing: You think? What if it makes it worse?
Is that even possible: Oh… yes you make a good point. The defence rests.
(Much apologies to Madonna fans, just kidding. Go Madge go.)
While you’ll have to dissect the pork chop «Like a Surgeon» since it’s on the bone, I was glad it didn’t taste like fish. i.e. not at all «Like A Sturgeon.» The bird I fed outside looked «Like A Pigeon.» A portly pigeon. Definitely not «fed for the very first time.»
This was one of the last Dominican & Puerto Rican places in town that I tried. I already love Pilon Criollo, El Latino, and my fave: shredded chicken at Cocina Latina (Coc in a Latina). However El Sabor tops *all* of them by a *distance* yo.
If you put pix of this all over the internet like I did, then it’s «El Sabor De La Instagram.»
Service: Well the girls are kinda moody. They close early and have attitude. The young guy on the other hand, who is maybe 15, is an angel. Not a VS Angel (unfortunately) but such a sweetheart. So helpful and friendly and gives me bigger portions than he should. I love when it’s bigger than you expect, don’t you?
If it turns out the kid is not just siblings with his sister but also married to her — or if you read my previous review for Uncle Gussy’s — then it becomes «El Sabor De La Incest.»
The price is *amazing*. Under $ 6 for a small portion of anything, which by the way — will fill you right the f*** up. The small here is pretty damn large. Sort of like p**ises in my family. Which by now you probably have photographic evidence of. Especially my Uncle’s. But that’s for a different review. An earlier review. (Shudders).
In the summer there are a lot of flies here. I call it «El Sabor De La Insects.»
However insects, price, service be damned, this is about the food. Some of the best Latin meat you will ever put in your mouth. The Pernil is good. It’s even great if you’re in the mood. But it’s not the star. Neither is the Res De Guisado which is flavourful hot filling beef stew, absolutely delicious. But not the star.
If you’re coming here as a way of Peruvian how fearless you are, and your next stops are Cuzco and Macchu Picchu, then it’s «El Sabor De La Incas.»
The star of the show here is the Pork Chop. It’s unlike any other pork chop you’ve ever had. Heavily spiced, deeply marinaded, dripping drenched juicy steaming falling-​off-​the-​bone pork-​chop-​heaven with so many spices and tastes going on that Guy Fieri would give up Triple-​D forever if he tried it (and on that note, let’s get him in here to try it). I forgot that I was in a low income area and that I was the only white person for miles (although I am only half white, and only half of the time). You’ll forget that you were offered narcotics on the street corner as you entered. You’ll forget that there are bars on the windows. You’ll forget everything. Including your way home, so I hope you like the nabe because you’re stuck here.
If you’re the only person in this place that has no tats (like I was), then it’s «El Sabor De La Inkless.»
Seriously though — get this pork chop dinner! Nom it! Devour it! Huge wet pork chop over delicious flavourful rice and it’s only 5-​ish dollarenos. Unbelievable. Other dishes are great too but this one rules. I have a few more to try and will report back on them when I do.
If you make a baby in the alley behind this place (I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s pretty dirty, but then maybe you are too), it’s called «El Sabor De La Insemination.»
They don’t sell cakes, but if they did, I bet they’d have a lot of frosting on them and you’d be able to «Savor the Icing.» However what they do have, is probably the best tasting pork chop dinner I’ve ever eaten. And the cheapest. And by the way a shout out to the young kid I mentioned earlier, because when I asked him what the best dish was, he sent me straight to the pork chop. And by Jorge, he was right. If he has a sister, then damn, I hope she’s single, because like Bruno Mars once said, I think I wanna Maria.
Now I’m looking for something dumb to do. Anyone wanna see my Pork Chop? I promise to make it even more drenched in sauce than El Sabor De La Isla do.

I love eating here. I think my favorite is the beef, but I can’t decide because the chicken wings are also super awesome but they don’t always have them. The chicken breast chunks are good too, but my fave is definitely the beef.
I really can’t even tell you how much I love rice and meat.

By far, TRUE Dominican food. Their prices and portions are incredible. Even the location reminds me of the inside of a Dominican restaurant (nothing fancy; just in and out to order), but you will leave full and happy!

Really good, fast and cheap Dominican food. Get here early because they are more of a cafeteria style place so when they run out of something you are out of luck. Also, there is no menu and the daily selection varies. I usually go with a stewed meat over white rice.
This is a no frills place but still a good choice.

I work near here and eat here once a week. The prices are really inexpensive, the food is great but don’t expect a fancy restaurant. It is basically cafeteria style (think chow line in the military) but the family that runs the place does a great job serving authentic Dominican food. Its across from Franklin High School so don’t expect any Pittsford-​ites here.

Amazing food! Not a lot of seating, and it is pretty divey, so I usually get food to go. Definitely get the Mangu with one of the stews!

You know me, I love pork! The meals here are huge and delicious — great rice and beans, tender roast pork with that lovely strip of crispy skin adorning the top of the mound. I usually make my Saturday a 2-​for-​1 and stop by this place and Istanbul Market since they’re so close to each other. There’s always leftovers between the two places. If you’re adventurous and have a wide-​ranging palate, try this double whammy. Maybe stop over at Swan Market to pick up some bacon and sausage, too! ;)

After continual pestering on the part of my trusty girlfriend to make a visit to the place she loved so much during her college years, I finally gave in and made a stop in to El Sabor and was very happy I did.
We came in on a Saturday and ordered up a medium which easily fed the two of us. The rice and beans were fantastic and the mashed plantains reminded me of mashed potatoes more so than bananas and were a solid accompaniment to our main dish. Our duo of pork included a generous portion of roasted pork with a perfectly salty and crispy piece of pork skin and a bunch of stewed pork with some fantastic spices that really made it sing.
The people were very pleasant and I definitely will make a return trip up to El Sabor for some more down home cooking!

A slice of Dominicana in the ROC. Nestled in a corner plaza, El Sabor serves up traditional Dominican fare to a heavy lunchtime stream of customers who line up to the door. To call the place «no frills» would be an understatement. But that is NOT a criticism. What they have skipped in terms of décor, they more than make up for in flavor. The ambiance is total hole-​in-​the-​wall Quesquaya (the nickname for the capital of the D.R., and the area of Northern Manhattan that many Dominican expats call home). And if you close your eyes for a minute and just soak up the aromas floating over the counter from the family’s kitchen just beyond, you might forget you’re in upstate NY and not in Washington Heights, or Santo Domingo itself.
The owners may not be trying to put on airs, but they do want to make sure you love the food. When one of us was going a little slow on his bacalao, one of the ladies in the kitchen sent over beans, after peaking over and noticing that he obviously must have neglected to order to go with his rice. The oxtail was just like mamma used to make, and my pernil (roast pork, pulled delicately right off the roast, piece by piece for me when I ordered it) made me almost give up plans to ever leave the restaurant. When we were done, the ladies in the kitchen also sent us over a big slice of flan to share, and what a perfect way to end a simple and delicious meal that was anything but simple.
In short, don’t go to El Sabor expecting to be blown away by the beauty of the place, but rather by the beauty of the simply delicious flavors of the island.