Paleio Bar & Grill
“Maybe the best bacalhau com natas I've had even in Portugal!!”
“As I said before, this is a hidden gem in Newark in my opinion.”
“Carlos, our waiter made every effort to make us feel at home and enjoy the cuisine.”
Paleio Bar & Grill
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I was extremely worked when I walked in here and found that the restaurant was empty, but I trusted my fellow yelpers and their reviews and sat down for dinner. The olives they put on the table were delicious and the menu was amazing. I had the Shrimp Paleio and it was fresh and super tasty. On the side of my shrimp was a pile of freshly made potato chips that were amazing. I cleared my plate and if I had some extra bread I would have scooped up the sauce with it – instead I tried to use the chips for scooping! The staff was friendly and the atmosphere great (I loved the fabric on the ceiling). Overall a nice dinner in a not so nice looking area of town.
It was odd to come to a huge establishment on a Friday night prime dinner time and to be the only table seated. There were alot of table flies and the water jug had some weird unidentified object at the bottom twice (we asked for a new jug and it came again with a smaller piece, the third didn't have one). Despite all that, the food was decent. The bread and olives were a nice complimentary appetizer, the chorizo they set on fire tableside and it was hearty. I ordered the short rib with beans and rice. A little on the salty side but great beefy flavor and charred nicely on the outsidE. The baccalao the bf ordered was a bit heavy with oil and other stuff going on but was ok, huge portion though. At the end of the meal they gave us all cappucino on the house with cinnamon whipped cream which was nice. Weird experience, nice staff, ok food.
We stopped by this place for dinner on the way back to NC from NYC. It was our first time having Portuguese food, so we were really excited.
We had a delicious meal. We picked up stuffed mushrooms and flambe sausage for appetizers. The stuffing in the mushroom was a seafood stuffing that was extremely yummy! The sausage was delicious, although it may have been doused with a little too much alcohol that didn't manage to completely burn off.
Our entrees were stellar. We had a crab and scallop stuffed salmon fillet, and pork chops. I've never had anything like that stuffed salmon before in my life…it was quite delicious! The pork chops were huge, juicy, and nothing short of heavenly. We also really liked how the boiled potatoes that came with both entrees were not generic boiled potatotes– each had its own distinct flavour that melded perfectly with its respective entree.
It is a shame there are no Portuguese restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham area. We'll definitely miss the great food we had at Paleio!
We sat along side the opened windows, musicians playing familiar tunes, dimly lit on a nice summer Saturday night. Grown up decor. Good vibes. I like places that give you an experience as well as good food. People wanna feel good.
Our host was nice, everything at a comfortable pace.
The salmon was juicy and the topping just the right amount of herb and spice. The same for the seafood rice. Someone was going to work in that kitchen. It was like home food, really. We can do this again for sure when I'm in this parts of town. 5-stars speaks for itself, this place was great. I'm just adding my compliment.
Went here with 2 Brazilians and 2 Iranians and 1 gringo (myself), a group of diverse tastes and everybody was very pleased with the food. We sat in the restaurant portion, there is a bar/lounge in front which late on a Saturday evening was packed with people dancing. Bacalhau a Algarvia and Bacalhau "com todos" were both big wins, not surprising considering cod is Portugal's national staple. Portuguese chourico (sausage) was a quite tasty appetizer. The olive and garlic mixture served with bread before the meal is great. I have been to Portugal a couple of times and spent a lot of time in Brasil , so pretty familiar with Portuguese cuisine and was quite pleased with this place. I was disappointed that they only carry one Portuguese beer (Sagres) and don't carry any Brazilian beers. The lounge looked like a cool place to hang out, gonna check that side out more next time..
Last night was the first time I had ever spent more than an hour in Newark, and I could not have found a better place to spend time than at Paleio. Though we were worried about being the only party in the restaurant section (the bar was quite busy), we were pleasantly surprised by the high quality of our meal: the service was excellent and our dishes were all delicious.
For starters, we shared the clams with "addictive trash garlic sauce". No idea what trash garlic sauce means, but it was quite addictive and paired perfectly with the toasted, crusty rolls they brought to the table. (They also bring out olives, which are impossible to scoop up but so delicious.) For entrées, we ordered short rib (costela), the Portuguese sea bass, and the mariscada à portuguesa (the waiter readily accommodated our request for green instead of red sauce). The dishes were all delicious, but beyond that, they tasted like comfort food, each dish simple but flawlessly executed and accessibly authentic. So many restaurants try to add interest to a dish by slathering on fancy sauces, but Paleio really allowed the quality of the ingredients to speak for themselves. The short rib in particular had no accompanying sauce, but was our favorite dish of the night as the tenderness and rich taste of the meat took center stage. The portions were also enormous, easily enough food for another meal.
Our server was polite and very helpful, recommending a Portuguese red wine with great depth of flavor, and his advice about what entrées to choose left us all very satisfied with our meal. He also recommended the mango crepe – a crepe draped over mango ice cream with mango sauce and mango chunks drizzled over top – for dessert. It was so decadent and delicious (and huge!), a perfect ending to an unexpectedly excellent dinner.
We were around 1120pm in NJ looking for food and everywhere seemed closed, that's why we came here to eat since this place seemed open until 3am. The kitchen seemed closed at early time. The only type of food available was appetizer. The appetizer pricing was a bit pricey compared to other places. They were in the order of $11-$15…
The restroom seemed a bit rundown to its standard. One side was lit and the stalls were unlit and the doors broken. Definitely need some fixing…
The waitress was very attentive to our needs as she kept checking on us every 10 minutes if were were doing good. And she tried her best to convince us to eat there even though we could have gone somewhere else to eat (MCDs, Wendys, etc). I give her my thumbs up for her effort!
The food was great specially the Clams Bulho de Pato. The clams were clean and fresh. The sauce was tasty and great. This is definitely a must order dish!
The other dishes were not so great. We had the Chourio Bombeiro which was a bit salty even though it had a flashy entry by putting the sausages under blue flame of a fire. And the Lulas Fritas were ok.
A hidden gem amongst the more popular spots in Newark. Me & my husband stumbled upon this place after trying unsuccessfully to get last minute reservations at several other spots nearby. So glad we found it. Excellent food, excellent service and a really nice atmosphere. If you sit near the bar area they have live music. There is also a really nice looking lounge area downstairs (opens after our bedtime…lol). Prices were very reasonable.
Only negative was there is no parking lot but street parking was not an issue.
Save room for the crepe with ice cream for dessert 😉