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Categories: Latin American, Brazilian [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's Kitchen50th St-8th Ave (C, E)
50th St-Broadway (1)
49th St-7th Ave (N, R, W)
Saturday, feeling anti-social, too lazy to cook, need to get out of the house. Off I trek on 9th ave to browse the billions of restaurants to find a quickie dinner to enjoy in peace by myself (I know shocking). Pass by rice& beans, fits the bill perfectly. It's small, friendly, with quick service, delicious food, no pretension, no wait. I'm a fan.
I had the ropa vieja, plantains, rice & beans. They give you a lot of food. Of course I cleaned the plate. Everything was good, though its pretty hard to get these basics wrong. Also, had a glass of sangria... omg! Delicious! Bill was $23... little pricey for dinner for one, but still I deserve it. I will be back.
PS only complaint was they had like 8 flies flying above my head... super annoying.
been coming to this little gem in hells kitchen for years, long-time fans will remember the significant facelift the joint got a couple of years ago, but it's still essentially a hole-in-the-wall with a nice facelift. basically the opposite of the gargantuan riodizios that most new yorkers associate with brazilian food, like the notorious Plataform around the block from here.
it's tiny and can be totally crowded (with a wait and all!) at times, but at other times it's completely empty: a crapshoot.
the marinated pepper steak is awesome. especially with yellow rice and black beans. as is the frango milanesa. with (you guessed it!) black beans and yellow rice! solid, brazilian comfort food.
Nice little cozy little spot on 9th avenue. I think some of their prices were a little high so I ordered some more modestly priced items. I ordered this beef stew dish, the dish actually looked like a deep dish bowl but was actually just a plate. So the portions weren't overwhelming. Flavor was good and service was pretty attentive. I wasn't too thrilled with the apps...the cheese bread was kinda bland and the yucca potatoe thing was a bit dry.
I actually wouldn't mind going here again if they have some cheaper prices and specials.
I wish I had stayed in NYC longer so I could go back to this teeny little restaurant!
The good:
-- This is a little hidden gem. You might miss it if you didn't know it was there.
-- It's cozy. Like maybe 8 tabletops? Don't expect to have a private conversation but do enjoy the snug atmosphere.
-- Plaintains=delicious. I ordered the chicken leblon style (what does that mean? I don't care, I cleared my plate.) Think white wine, capers, carrots. It sounds weird, but it was flavorful.
-- Reasonably priced. For 2, including wine, apps and entree, we ate for $60. In NYC, that might be a steal?
The funny:
-- Wine selections are either "white" or "red", don't expect a big wine menu.
-- Cheese puffs? I don't get it. Mine were shrunken and hard to eat. Maybe it was an off night.
I'm a fan of discovering tiny restaurants that serve good food in unexpected places. I'm a fan of Brazilian food. So this place was doubly nice for me. My friend and I were exploring the scene on 9th Ave in Hell's Kitchen and after initially walking by it, returned because we liked the food choices and prices. It is really small inside so if you don't like small places, it's not for you. Surprisingly, this place was relatively empty around 8pm on Mother's Day but then again Brazilian food is not your typical Mother's Day brunch place. Anyway, we were the last table seated for the night and service was warm but not overly friendly (not typical for the Brazilians that I've seen).
Sangria comes in 2 versions (white or red) and is terrific with a tropical flavor (maybe passionfruit??). Your entree comes with a choice of rice (white or yellow) and beans (black or red) and both were properly done. I tried the "stew" which was flavorful but the meat slightly less then tender and my friend ordered a chicken dish which was very tasty. Desserts are excellent too as you must try the passionfruit mousse or the coconut pudding. In fact the passionfruit dessert is so popular that a young couple that came in as we were leaving (and told that the place was closed) begged the hostess to allow them to order food to go especially 2 orders of the dessert which I heard one say that he would eat first! How's that for good??
Great Brazilian food and good service the problem is that the place is so tiny that many times there is a wait and some other times is impossible to get a table
Very good food, as always.
The Theater District is sort of the bane of my existence. My head is filled with bitter memories of eating and drinking at sub-par, touristy places like Zanzibar, Arriba Arriba, Carmines and the like. RIce n Beans met my expectations of Theater District dining, only in its sheer mediocrity.
The night started off on the wrong foot, and only went downhill. Once seated, I asked the waiter for a caipirinha, and was told that the restaurant doesn't have a liquor license. Damn.
Our starter of fried yucca was about as fresh as Abe Vigoda. It was slightly cold, mealy, dried out and completely unexciting. Something tells me that it had been fried off quite some time ago, and had spent most of its life in a warming drawer.
The rest of the entrees were unremarkable. A chicken dish that was about as exciting as watching C-SPAN and my fejoida, which I usually absolutely love, was just... meh. The only positives of the meal, was that the portion sizes were quite large, and the side of stewed black beans was actually really good. Probably the best executed dish of the night.
To top off the negative experience, the service was slow, confused and disorganized. Considering the dining room only seats around 20 people, there's no excuse for disorganized service.
With all of the exceptional Brazilian restaurants in this city, Rice n Beans doesn't make my cut.
Delicious food, cozy and small space, always busy, but worth the wait. Food always taste fresh and it's very well done.
I love the cheese balls and fried yucca for appetizers and their picanha na chapa is absolutely delicious!
Recently, I learned that they also have brunch on weekends and the menu seems very tasty, I need to try it sometime.
Dude, the cheese balls are DELICIOUS. O M G.
The service was a bit better, but the place is always so crowded, but we got a table quick. Love this joint!
By far the WORST service because the guy was left by himself to wait on all tables, but the rice and… Read more »
A teensie place that sits about as many as a Chevy Suburban... so if you see one parked outside...
I learned quickly that this is the sort of place best visited with only 1 or 2 others precisely because of the space issue. And each time I've come back, I've never ordered anything but the Feijoada since I so seldom have it. And theirs just rocks. So, true, I may be missing out on something else great here. Nevermind, I'll always manage to steal a bite or two from my fellow diners anyway. They know full well they can help themselves to as much of my meal as they want. Lord knows there's enough of it.
My wife is Brazilian. I mention this because she's Brazilian. Of course, she also had a hand in introducing me to all sorts of Central and South American cuisine. At this point I've developed my own barometers of judging the food in a place, and the rice is barely one of them. The beans, however, are interesting indicators.
At Rice n Beans, you are going to get Cheap Eats. Now, Cheap Eats are of their own classification, i.e. you will need to forgo designer decor and extensive wine lists for filling meals at reasonable prices. I took a co-worker here before a show at Roseland, and as a vegan he was really, really happy with the rice and beans. Now, pardon me for saying so, but if anyone knows about rice and beans, it's someone who's absolutely given up on meat. It's all they have left, so they will focus on it with green-hot intensity.
So Ed was happy. I was happy that Ed was happy, because you never know how people will take to collard greens and farofa. I loved the food, and naturally, the bill as well. The hostess/owner made us feel right at home, and it actually felt like someone's home was opened to us. That's pretty rare in NYC. I'm sure I found the place, and sure glad it's still making it.
-C
I love, love, love this place. Anytime someone wants to meet in Hell's Kitchen, I always try to get them to go here.
The chicken Ipanema is amazing. I don't know how they make it, but it's like nothing I've ever had.
The feijoada is hit or miss, but the rice and beans are always delectable (as they should be with that name, I guess!).
Their flan is some of the best I've ever had, too.
Only bad thing is the size of the place. With rents what they are, though, you can't really fault them for it, right?
This place is a little hidden away secret.. There are plenty of restaurants in this area but this is one of my favs. The food is great. The service is warm and intimate. Proportions are huge and make the prices rather reasonable.
Ambience is probably not why you're there but this is the kind of restaurants that makes New York what it is. The entire room fits less than 10 tables. And the tables are tiny to start with. But it is a little charming, kinda kooky restaurant that endears itself without even trying.
Plantains and pao de queijo came out of the forno de microondas. Chicken was too dry, but the okra sauce was excellent. Feijoada was tasty, but came with rice, not farofa. Rice tho' was very good and the shredded kale reminded me of real Brazilian cuisine.
Generous portions at a good price. And I like the low key decor.
It's a nice culinary alternative to the super-churrascarias that are everywhere, and you don't get a big caipirinha crowd here (beer and wine only) and that can be a good thing. But I feel like the food's just not as good as it should be.
24 hours later I was all swollen up from salt. Ug.
I live hours away in Upstate NY so I don't get there often, but I've been going to Rice N Beans since the late 90s. On my first visit the owner was my waitress. Cool.
Love the shrimp in coconut milk. This time we had two different chicken dishes. I always finish with the coconut custard with prune.
The new table tops were a pleasant surprise on this visit, but you know, looking at the outside, I don't know if I ever would have gone in without my friend's referral. Glad I did. I love the intimate (20 seat) size, the friendliness and competency of the wait staff, the food.
Not a 5 for two reasons. This is my second visit over the years when they couldn't take credit cards due to a malfunction. I had lots of cash, but that could be a real problem for some especially after traveling a distance. Second, I love the food but I can't judge whether it's gourmet quality. I do know the price for the quality and serving size is a few bucks lower than at home.
Keep up the good work.
$10 quality roast chicken with delectable sauce in Hell's Kitchen?
I mean, this place was really good. Quiet, a bit slow, great lunch specials, fantastic Brazillian Arroz con Pollo.
Service a little slow, but not terrible-- as the quality of the food matched it (I'll wait for good food in a heartbeat).
The beans were a bit salty-- one of those "as I'm finishing the meal I start to feel like I'm sucking on a salt block" too salty.
But the sauce on the spicy roast chicken... omigod.
Man, was it good.
And tiny.
And cute.
And cheap.
OVERALL: Pleasant. In a word, pleasant. On the corner of W4th and Charles in the West Village.
ATMOSPHERE: Small, narrow. Most studio apartments are about the same size. Last time I was there, they were playing Djavan's live double CD, which was cool.
SELECTION: Great for chicken, and for the restaurant's namesake. It's simple, but delicious and relatively cheap.
CROWD: Go with your steady girl/boyfriend. You'll both be happy with the food, the atmosphere is pleasant enough, and you'll have extra money for more activities (i.e. drinking) later. Or go with a buddy or two. Big groups won't work there.
I'll go there if I'm in the neighborhood. Not a destination restaurant, but a good neighborhood choice.
Mmmmm....
My fiance and I went there for dinner after doing our usual drive down Ninth Avenue.
The food was amazing!! Hot and fresh rice and beans, nice, clean-tasting wine, and some awesomely seasoned chicken!
And the service was literally some of the best I've had in New York! Loves it.
The food is pretty good, actually - nothing that really stands out, but solid food.
The service is adequate as well, it's a little slow if you're on the clock for lunch, but otherwise friendly.
The real problem is that it's not very good value, even the lunch specials. The portions are pretty small and the price is hefty. Expect to pay almost $20/person for lunch and soda. That's a little much to match the cramped-ethnic-food-atmosphere.
i'll pass thanks.
so after moping away from blockheads which had a 45 minute wait and a group of idiots who wouldn't stop "ching chong ching"ing at me in the doorway (b.t.dubs - i'm starting to hate you blockheads...) we headed to the closest place that seemed like it might be blockhead-esque, that place being RICE AND BEANS.
okay i guess we shouldn't have assumed that it was mexican food, but we were hungry and annoyed and discovered only upon opening the menu that this is in fact BRAZILIAN food. we were lured in by the promise of sangria which turned out to be something that tasted like fruit punch in the heaviest freaking pitcher man has ever created.
while the staff here was friendly, they were rather incompetent. we NEVER got water, they forgot my friend's beer - twice, and it took them about 20 minutes to take our order (we even forgot we hadn't ordered yet because we had been sitting there so long we just assumed it had happened at some point...it hadn't.) When we finally did, the waiter made fun of us for our pronunciation of some of the foods, which would have been cute if we weren't starving. I refused to pronounce mine and he basically forced me to otherwise he wouldn't take my damn order. He also kept trying to force appetizers on us, this is probably because their portions are rather sad and we had to head to mcdonald's after our meal. everything was pretty tasteless even after we doused it in hot sauce. not exactly the cheapest either, it'll run you around $20 at least.
i kept trying to see the photos of so-called "celebrities" on the wall to justify my trying the restaurant, but i'm starting to think the waiter (who must have been an aspiring model) just took and signed pictures of himself and stuck them on the wall.
maybe it's just not my cup of tea, but no thanks rice and beans.
mmm mmm mmm....asi que bueno.
Love my rice and beans, plaintain and arroz con pollo. They do several dishes right in this tiny little place. Not quite like mom but really very good.
Really reasonable prices. You'll leave with a happy, and very full tummy.
My ex-wife is Boricua. Her mom used to cater to the governor of Puerto Rico. I mention this because I am an island food snob. If you're like me you realize that this kind of food is nearly impossible to get from a restaurant. They just can't add enough love to the food on a grand scale. I've only ordered one thing from Rice n Beans but I've done it thrice. Arroz con pollo is a terrific way to judge this type of restaurant because if you can try meat, rice and beans you can fully judge the restaurant. This place is OK. There's some nice flavors. Still, the rice is always soggy and to me that is grounds for termination.
This place has excellent brazilian food! Make sure you order the Chicken Leblon---it's fantastic. The place is small so don't go with a big group.
This is simply a great place to get a chicken where the meat is falling off the bone in a great sauce. For a decent price you get great chicken, rice, beans and a handful of plantains. It's one of my favorites...especially for the midtown lunch options...this is a winner.
yum!!!! definitely a good place to go if your on a budget and looking for no frills hearty meat, rice and wine kind of place!!! my friend took me to this place the other night when I told him I was craving brazilian food, and him having lived there for a few years highly recommended this place! i went with high expectations, and was definitely not disappointed! pretty small and zero ambience (imagine chairs with plastic that sticks to your ass when you get up?! and having to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom, haha) but the food was hearty, filling and lots of garlic!! i had the fried chicken dish (deep fried chunks of chicken(still on the bone which was kind of annoying) but put that dish with a big plate of rice and beans, i was in heaven! fills you up foh-sure!!!
total hole in the wall in the best kind of way. tiny seating area (maybe 5-6 tables), so big groups can be difficult, but you can also just do takeout. plantains will always make me happy, and they do them very well. you can get just rice, beans, and plantains if that's your bag, or go for the equally delish chicken lunch special or the cuban sandwich (which you can get with steak, not just ham). very recommended.
had the arroz con pollo, wasn't expecting a whole lot, but it still fell short
the black beans were kinda OK though
overall, food wasn't good and pricier than one would expect given the location and decor, will not be returning
I was pretty enthusiastic upon walking into Rice N Beans, since it looks like a nice little place. The wait staff was very nice and helpful, but the service was very slow and the items didn't come out exactly as we had all ordered them. (i.e. The menu said that my friends' dishes came with plantains, but they didn't bring them out and then explained that the plantains only came with lunch, despite the description including them on the DINNER menu. Also, my friend ordered yellow rice, which they apparently ran out of, and they brought her white rice instead. Finally, we didn't get any water until we asked for it.) I got the feijoada, which looked quite good on the menu and was decent as served, but was nothing amazing. My friends felt the same way about their food - that is, less exciting than the menu made it out to be. All in all, the food itself deserved about a 2.5 stars but the poor service and the borderline false advertising pushed them down to an overall score of 2 stars.
I was surprised with this little Brazilian resturant.It is so small it hardly qualifies as a"restaurant"-as we see it in NYC-, but the food is simply delicious and the service _done by "natives"-was above average for the prices they charge.Try the "feijoada" if you're really hungry, and if you have a chance ask to speak with the owner, she is this sweet brazilian lady who will take the time to explain to you how everything's made.
5 meals under $5
Neighborhood: Washington Heights
Happy Hour Specials
Neighborhood: Little Italy
Neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Midtown East
Category: Brazilian
Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Category: Brazilian
Neighborhood: Midtown East
Category: Brazilian
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