Bryan Stoops

Javelina has delicious food and great service. The restaurant is charming and just a short walk from Union Square. Even the salsa they make in-house to go with their chips to munch on while you look at the menu is delicious. I'm trying to eat my way through the menu. I head over there whenever I'm in that section of Manhattan. Highly recommended!!!!!

+2

Nikhil Shah

If you love cheese, this is the place. We came here for a group event and it was fairly large that I don’t remember everything we ordered. With that said, the queso trio is kinda cool coz you can get a premium queso (we got fried jalapeño queso but the bean one looked cool too) and they give you a plain and spicy habanero queso . Those are amazing! Guacamole is great, but portion is a bit tiny. The pried avocado taco was insane but the veggie enchiladas were meh!

+3

Maddy A

Amazing. This is delicious, fair priced, fresh food. You get unlimited chips and salsa and the staff are super attentive and will constantly bring refills. I would suggest getting the white queso. They have great fajita skillets which are perfect for sharing with 2 people (you get rice, beans, toppings, meat, and tortillas), and you can get more shells for $3. The drinks are pricey but good. The staff here are great and the space is nicely designed. Couldn’t ask for more in a dining experience.

Mary Langan

Tasty Tex-Mex food. Can't say much for the ambiance (we were seated 2 feet behind a SUV in some sort of extra auxiliary spot) but that's NY/COVID. The queso was a highlight and between appetizers, margaritas and enchiladas we all walked away very full. Plenty of veggie options. Would visit again if looking for tex-mex.

+5

Got takeout. Was pretty good. Kind of annoyed with the meager portion of sour cream, salsa, and guacamole sent with the fajitas. Also, got the prickly pear margarita to go (not pictured) but it was VERY salty.

Amy Piekarsky

The food was absolutely delicious so this review is about the atmosphere and smaller details. When we arrived we had a reservation so I told the hostess my name. She pointed in a vague direction and told us to sit. I asked “here?” and pointed at an empty table. She then pointed to a table with people sitting at it and said that’s your table! I said “no I don’t know these people so I don’t think it is!” She was very confused and ultimately did help but I’ve never experienced this before. Once seated chips and salsa came super fast which is great! Water needed ice and the restaurant needed some AC. It was also SO loud in there. I couldn’t hear the people I was with unless I leaned over the table. They need to somehow fix the acoustics in there in order to provide a comfortable dining experience. It’s odd because I ate at their UES location and it was a perfect experience there!

Zimmi Coker

If you’re scouting the city for some comforting and classic Tex-Mex, then this is your place! The service is amazing and the frozen margs are delicious and strong! I didn’t go for happy hour but apparently they have one so check it out on their website. The prickly pear frozen marg is one of their best sellers, and they only use fresh ingredients. Javelina gives you homemade chips on the house, and it comes with a spicy salsa. So yummy. Overall, the food was 3.5/5! We ordered the chicken and steak fajitas for two and they were good! My only complaint was that the chicken was a touch overcooked and dry. On the other hand, the steak was succulent and juicy. I will definitely be coming back as I enjoyed my experience. It’s a great place to hit up after work and unwind! Who doesn’t love some classic Mexican food?!!

Athena Ly

Chips and salsa right as we sat down was such a nice welcome! Salsa was very good, chunky but good hold on the chip. The queso sampler is a must!! Super yummy! Steak and sour cream enchiladas are very heavy, but very good. Would recommend sharing them! Friends said the mole enchiladas and taco salad w steak were also pretty solid. Service was very kind, even during the rush! It was pretty loud in there though, so conversation was a bit rough at times. 8/10

+1

Tay Jacobe

Very tasty Tex-Mex style food! The service was super speedy. The queso sampler is a great way to try a lot of quesos; for two people, it was a lot of queso, but it makes for great leftovers. I recommend the Avocado tacos - the avocados are fried very well.

Nandini Mazumdar

Good spot for casual Mexican food - the shrimp tacos are absolutely delicious. The vegetable fajitas were really good too, I especially enjoyed the jalapeño rice. Will definitely be back!

Very loud and crowded, no air conditioning so it was sweltering in the summer. But good food. Fajitas are smoky and smell amazing. Frozen margarita was all melted syrup, nothing frozen - get on ice and not blended.

Dena Feldman

Food left something to be desired but free chip and salsa immediately upon sitting down is a dying delicacy. Great marg!

Tiffany Cheng

Javelina is a Tex Mex joint that's got good corn on the cob, tasty chips and salsa, and great nachos. The place is packed on a weekday night, so if you don't have reservations, you may have a bit of a wait. Our waitress was lovely and she was warm, friendly, and quick to come check on us several times during our meal. Really enjoyed it, though the space is a little loud inside.

Josephine Lee

Fun fact: I HATE it when restaurants are stingy with the AC on scorchingly humid days. As soon as we walked into Javelina on a muggy day that would've made the Amazon jealous, I knew I was in for a nightmare of a dinner. There was no discernible air con, and all the diners looked like they had just finished a HIIT workout. Shiny and sweaty...yuck! The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't remarkable enough to overlook the fact that I was melting. Our Habanero Queso with Chorizo was proper spicy, but that actually made the experience worse, since we were chugging (and requesting) ice cubes every 20 min. In fact, the ice cubes didn't last longer than 5 min before they were gone. The Veggie Enchilada and Steak & Shrimp Fajitas were both fine as well, and if I hadn't been broiling, I might've been able to enjoy them. For what it's worth, service was pretty attentive and friendly. They seemed almost apologetic about the humidity, but not enough to either turn on the AC or explain why it wasn't on. In sum: hot, spicy Tex-Mex in 95-degree humidity. Not my cup of horchata, but maybe others can stand it.

Wow. Just had an awful meal here! From the moment we walked in. Could tell the vibe was off. The waiters legit slam things down on the tables. The food is atrociously bad. Queso had a skin on it. Salsa was brown. And whatever you do: avoid the “steak and sour cream fajitas” which were served to me lukewarm at best and lacking in any discernible flavor whatsoever. All of which would be.. whatever.. if the fajitas for one weren’t, like, $35. This place is a mess.

Tori Crnogorac

I’m so unbelievably disappointed at the service of this place! I come here often - and have come here for cinco de mayo the past 4 years. There were 16 of us that booked lunch about 1 month in advanced for a pre fixe meal of ~$2000. We arrived promptly at 12 when the reservation was and ordered drinks. About 3 margaritas came out and the rest came out around 12:45pm. I understand it was a busy day for them so gave them the benefit of the doubt and did not want to stress the waiters out and complain early on. The food comes out, kinda cold, but again not bad because we know it’s a busy day. Everytime we ordered a drink, it took about 20+ mins to come out and never the right order. Again, we understood it was a busy day but we did put a deposit down and it was a $2000 pre fixe meal. I asked the waiter for one more round of drinks for the table at around 1:45pm and he said this would be our last round for the day because they need the table at 2pm which was fine. He bought out 4 margaritas and we waited for the rest and the manager, Jason, came over and told us to Leave the table. I was happy to give the table back but I asked where the rest of the tables drinks were. Also note that we had gotten about 1 drink per 30-45 mins at the table for a pre-fixe “unlimited” drink tab. I politely said to Jason that we have not received our drinks for the table and he said that “it’s against the law to order a round of drinks for the table.” I’ve never heard about this “law” in my life. Then he simply ignored me and walked away. I then went up to him again and discussed how we are frequent customers and just wanting to stand at the bar to get our last drinks and he ignored me and then told me there’s nothing that can be done because a contract was signed. I fully understand being understaffed and busy at a restaurant, but to treat people paying- especially for a pre-fixe for $115 each and getting about $50 worth of food and drink for 2 hours is pretty horrible. Especially the fact the manager Jason tried to tell me that we were lying and received drinks within 45 mins of sitting down. Which yes, we did, about 3 drinks, for the table of 16 people. Just don’t appreciate the rudeness of Jason and team. Upset as I am a frequent customer of javelina but will be going to el rio grande up on 33rd for better food and service than javelina. Don’t bother at javelina as it’s overpriced and rude manager.