Saffron Restaurant
“I had mussels and chorizo, shrimp stuffed with seafood and sangria.”
“I order the yucca fries every time I go no matter what else I eat as well as the shrimp and steak lollipops.”
“We dined at Saffron Restaurant last night, for the very first time, after purchasing a Groupon deal a few weeks ago.”
Saffron Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I was picking my aunt up from JFK and the traffic on Belt Parkway was horrendous again so we decided that it would be better to grab a bite close by instead of sitting around in the smoke polluted jungle of cars. I was down for literally anything and so I asked my nephew to look up on Yelp. I guess him and I were on the same wavelength cause he picked a Spanish restaurant and it's what I was actually leaning more towards to. So off we went to Saffron. The location of this restaurant is in the middle of everything. Cross Bay Blvd is a hub from what I observed. It's awesome to find a gem of a restaurant such as this. Anyways enough of me blahbering and more reviewing.
We started with the cornmeal crusted calamari and the crab cake sliders. These lil tapas were delish. I feel like I should buy a bunch of these for any sporting game to munch on. The calamari were perfectly cooked and the crab cake sliders did not taste like they were bought from Costco (thank God!). We ordered 4 different dishes and shared it family style since their portions were very generous. We had the valenciana paella, fideua paella, negra paella, and manchego au gratin chicken breast. All of the dishes were perfectly cooked and came out hot. And this was a plus for me since some places serve cold paella! The rice in the valenciana and negra paella were not mushy and the dishes had so much flavor with all the different ingredients swimming around each other in there. The ink squid on the negra paella just added a beautiful black color just like they do in Spain. The fideua was one of the weaker dishes since it was like any Asian style takeout lo-mein but still delicious. But the chicken dish more than made up for it with its bold flavor and cavatelli pasta bed cradling it. Man we had a feast that night indeed between the four of us and we still had enough to take home.
I love discovering new restaurants through Yelp in neighborhoods that I would have passed by so many times going to JFK but just never took the time to explore. Saffron is truly one of these restaurants. At least I now know that there's always a place for me to drop by and enjoy a nice meal if I'm ever craving Spanish food and traffic is a nightmare going home.
After moving from the city to queens, I miss good tapas place. So after a friend recommended me this place, me and my husband decided to give it a try and we were not disappointed.
We already had lunch so we only ordered two tapas. One was the plantains with cheese. the plantains was baked and served over melted, gooey cheese and they put this shredded beef on top. It was delicious! The combination worked very well.The other tapas we ordered was the garlic shrimp and that was delicious as well
And the jalapeño margaritas were delicious. Highly recommended.
The place was clean and service was good.
Overall a very good place. This place is a bit out of the way for me but I'll definitely return if ever in the neighborhood!
TL;DR –
Edison: "The food at Saffron is fucking fantastic. (Plus, gluten-free options.)"
Mom: "The sangria at Saffron is [expletive] way too good."
Dad: [nom, nom, nom]
More: Ambience (classy), location (Howard Beach, not too far from JFK), parking (adequate), service (very friendly and informed about dishes), bathrooms (a-ok, though while they are handicap-equipped, no ramp out front).
From their site: "While we offer a variety of traditional Spanish tapas, we also offer a wide variety of innovative dishes which incorporate Italian, Greek, Cuban, Asian, and American styles into made-from-scratch dishes you will never find anywhere else. In addition to Meat, Seafood, and Vegetarian options available for every visitor, our Chef is also able to deftly assist with any dietary needs or restrictions you may have."
The Saffron online menus might give you an idea of what they offer, but our server informed us that they change the menu seasonally and don't really update the website very often.
We had:
– Amazing Sofrito roasted half chicken with seasoned yellow rice & fucking amazing black beans (and I have had a lot of black bean concoctions, living in central Tejas)
– tasty plantain nachos with ropa vieja and avocado aioli
– plentiful seafood paella
All great!
Even more: I could tell you how Saffron is currently doing some redecorating, but are remaining open for business at the same time, even though it was like Alexandra B says in her review that the place was pretty much empty despite it being dinnertime on a Tuesday evening. I could also tell you about how we rolled right up to a free parking space on the street in front of the joint, only to blow out a tire by slamming into the curb, then got the tire changed just before the skies opened up on us. Which was nice, but not quite fucking fantastic.
Where do i even begin? My boyfriend took me out for our weekly date night & this week we came here. The sangria is so good! Taste like juice, the complimentary bread was prob the best bread ive tasted so far at any other venue. I ordered the steak and mash & it was cooked to my preference. For dessert we wanted a combo of cake & icecream and although it was NOT on the menu the waitress took care of us and got us exactly what we wanted. The interior decor is beautiful as well. Our waitress was very attentive and on point with basically everything. Also, theres a reasonable size parking lot. 5 stars hands down.
This place is very good. The food is out of this world, especially for Cross Bay Blvd. Go visit, and make a reservation because they do get crowded.
Baby Shower – We stopped by Saffron with the Baby Shower crew to try out a few Tapas before booking and lo and behold, they were closed… for a Baby Shower! This was Perfect! Now I get to see a Baby Shower live in action! The place looked Great! I had a good feeling about this place! We'll be back!
I tried out a few other places but they just didn't seem "right".
A week later, we were back for dinner to taste some delicious Tapas. Mimi, who was helping us coordinate the party was unavailable that night but she made sure we were in good hands! Cesar greeted us at the door and took care of us all night, explaining each and every option, checking up to see if everything was ok. Just listening to him speak about Saffron with such passion made you love the place.
Here we go! [Pictures of each Dish posted!]
1. We started off with some Hot Onion Bread.
Hot and Toasty – Perfect!
2. Saffron Cream Tomato Soup
Mmmm. This was no plain 'ol tomato soup! It was rich and full of basil. I would initely choose this over a Caesar Salad – and I Looove Caesar Salad.
3. Berry and Peach Sangria's.
BOTH is them are winners! I would get one of each- just order both… make that 2 pitchers!
4. Cornmeal Crusted Calamari (Served with sides of marinara & sriracha mayo)
This was very different as it was cornmeal crusted. Not as crunchy as deep fried but also not as greasy. It paired REALLY well with the Sriracha Mayo which tasted like Tartar sauce.
5. Queso Fundido w/Chorizo (Black bean, cheese)
Wow! This blew me away. Everything just melded together into one delicious hot dip. The Chorizo really made it over the top. I really liked this one, did I mention it was delicious?!? I also love the name, fundido – it's just so fun to say!
6. Cuban Sliders (Pork, beef, provolone, mustard aioli)
I came here ready to try both the Crabcake sliders and the Cuban but after Cesar's suggestion and noticing EVERY table had an order of this, I went with Cuban sliders. OMG! Hand's down, my favorite dish of the night. I could eat all 4 by myself! Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum… my tummy is happy just thinking about them!
7. Ropa Vieja Tacos (Shredded beef, pepper, onion, egg)
Tacos! How can you go wrong with Tacos! This was very juicy and cooked perfectly. A little on the salty side for me but I believe that's the way Ropa Vieja should be.
8. Paella Valenciana (Combination of seafood and meat over saffron rice)
Oooh – Paella. There's good Paella and then there's Great Paella. Saffron makes Great Paella! There was so much seafood you could barely find the rice! I wish I had 2 stomachs so I could eat this entire dish!
This was too much food for 3 people but we left incredibly satisfied, with Paella for the next day. Cesar gave us a tip- do NOT microwave Paella. Reheat on a pan over low heat, you won't regret it!
I can't wait to come back and try it all! I need to bring more people!
I'll update you all once we hold our Baby Shower there in June! But as for the food – go now!
Great Food, Awesome Atmosphere, Incredible Prices, Unforgettable Staff!
* They have a Parking Lot in the back!
Amazing food. Four of us ordered six tapas (mostly because we had never been before and didn't know how big the tapas would be). We ordered the Cuban sliders, crab cake sliders, yucca fries, Mac and cheese, and lamb kebabs. Loved them all – so so good. It was definitely more food than we needed because the plates had a larger amount of food than anticipated (not complaining); for example, the slider plates had four sliders on them.
This place would have had five stars but our server was very inattentive. Although she was prompt in taking our orders and all that, she never refilled our water glasses or asked if we wanted refills on our alcoholic beverages – even when the glasses had sat empty for half the meal. Seriously though, that was my only complaint. Super satisfied.
I had recently bought a $50 voucher from TravelZoo redeemable for $100 worth of food and drinks at Saffron, so my boyfriend and I decided to make a date out of it last Friday evening. The restaurant itself was smaller than I expected but, as another reviewer stated, the atmosphere feels private and it wasn't crowded at all for 8pm. Our waitress Hope was great, too!
We ordered half a pitcher of their Wildberry Red Sangria (which was fantastic) and started off with their Meat & Cheese Plate and Olive Tapenade & Hummus. So far, so good! When our Bacon Wrapped Scallops came out, I was a little disappointed to see that there were only three small pieces per plate. But the extra Mushroom Risotto that it came in tasted sooooo good with our Negra Seafod Paella, which was a bit underwhelming on its own. There was too much squid ink, which stained our fingers and teeth, and the consistency was too watery for my taste.
We opted out of dessert because we were so stuffed. But overall, I had a good experience here. Unfortunately, I probably wouldn't pay full price for some of the menu items. Howard Beach is out of the way from where I live, too, so I doubt I'll have the chance to come back anytime soon.