Carmen's Kitchen

Authentic Dominican food. Great prices and an incredible taste food. I will visit for sure in my next trips... Perfectly located close to times square....

I forgot to take a pic (next time). Baby…. This food is sooooo good…. You can eat the rice by itself…rice gotta be made with holy water lol! BBQ chicken falls off theeee bone! Let’s discuss the Mac and cheeese baby! This Mac in cheese is so FN great! The food just makes you happy! I feel better… my back doesn’t hurt anymore….😂🤣😂 food is a healing!

Amazing food!! Great selection, always hot and delicious, and reasonably priced. Highly recommend. I go here about once a week now for lunch, and you have to get there early or else they will run out of things.

Prices are amazing but nothing better that the food’s quality. I hope this can really help you. It’s my favorite restaurant in New York. I had rice, chicken and salads. I wanna repeat it! So delicious 🤤

Carmen's is an incredible hidden gem. For a great home cooked Spanish meal at a reasonable price this place is it. And the quantity provided will definitely leave you feeling full and content and happy after you're done eating.

Really happy that Carmen's opened up in the neighborhood. Great Dominican food, fast, and inexpensive. I had the yellow rice, kale salad, black beans, okra and spicy chicken, all were delicious. My only request is to stay open until 7:30/8 on the weeknights.

Amazing quick lunch spot, especially if you’re working around the Times Square area. Food to price ratio is super good for NYC, and it’s got a good variety of different choices compared to other places. My wife and I can literally share one bowl! Line can sometimes be long, but moves pretty quick. Definitely recommend!

Wow! The price when compared to other Latin food spots nearby is above average but you definitely get more food and more options. I got the Pork with rice&beans, yuca, and potato salad. Everything was very well seasoned and cooked to perfection!

I am so glad that Carmen’s kitchen opened up! The humble location has amazing food. They get a super long line for lunch time so plan accordingly or order ahead with meal pal. I usually get their barbeque chicken (so delicious) with sweet potato, mac and cheese and string beans. Very affordable as well, can be compared to the cost getting chipotle. The variety of options is probably the best thing about this place, you the the spanish food plus soul food vibe. You can see the food without walking in because they have a store front that’s completely glass. I completely recommend eating here, the food is great

Great portions, great taste, great value.

Just ate here for her first time. Had the jerked chicken, Mac and cheese, broccoli and some white rice. The food was awesome. I’ll be back for more tomorrow.

Dylan Halliu

Amazing quick lunch spot, especially if you’re working around the Times Square area. Food to price ratio is super good for NYC, and it’s got a good variety of different choices compared to other places. My wife and I can literally share one bowl! Line can sometimes be long, but moves pretty quick. Definitely recommend!

Nicolas Torres

Wow! The price when compared to other Latin food spots nearby is above average but you definitely get more food and more options. I got the Pork with rice&beans, yuca, and potato salad. Everything was very well seasoned and cooked to perfection!

Cukie The Foodie

I am so glad that Carmen’s kitchen opened up! The humble location has amazing food. They get a super long line for lunch time so plan accordingly or order ahead with meal pal. I usually get their barbeque chicken (so delicious) with sweet potato, mac and cheese and string beans. Very affordable as well, can be compared to the cost getting chipotle. The variety of options is probably the best thing about this place, you the the spanish food plus soul food vibe. You can see the food without walking in because they have a store front that’s completely glass. I completely recommend eating here, the food is great

Cindy W

Great portions, great taste, great value.

K M

Just ate here for her first time. Had the jerked chicken, Mac and cheese, broccoli and some white rice. The food was awesome. I’ll be back for more tomorrow.

i work right by here and every time i get it it hits so good. the workers are all sweethearts and are generous with the servings so i'm full every time. healthy options available but also the mac and cheese is so good

Big fan of the flavors in the Jerk Chicken Combo at Carmen's Kitchen. The hearty jerk chicken, comforting potato salad, and flavorful collard greens hit every mark. Thanks to MealPal, lunch today was a true win!

Carmen’s is awesome! The food is amazing! The staff is knowledgeable, friendly and considerate. The restaurant is very clean, organized and welcoming. I can’t wait to go back!

Great food and a great price with large portions. Highly recommend if you're looking for something quick, inexpensive and delicious.

The complete experience was consistently excellent. The personnel was superb. The space benefited from thoughtful lighting. I would order this again. I enthusiastically recommend this place!

Found this little spot while walking around getting to know the area during my lunchbreak one day. The people who work there are smiling and patient—it always takes me a moment to decide if I want the fish or beef stew! Everything is delicious! Love stepping out of a restaurant with food that tastes like I got it from my family’s kitchen. And the portion is big enough that it usually ends up being two meals for me. All the stars for this gem!

Food is delicious this is a tiny store one of those hole in the wall restaurants but worth eating here. Simply delicious.

Hidden gem- absolutely delicious food, always cooked to perfection. Affordable for large portion. I recommend the mac n cheese, plantains, collard greens and jerk chicken with the rice/beans. Yum. Quick and friendly staff.

Dayne Jervis

Big fan of the flavors in the Jerk Chicken Combo at Carmen's Kitchen. The hearty jerk chicken, comforting potato salad, and flavorful collard greens hit every mark. Thanks to MealPal, lunch today was a true win!

Juan Martinez

Carmen’s is awesome! The food is amazing! The staff is knowledgeable, friendly and considerate. The restaurant is very clean, organized and welcoming. I can’t wait to go back!

Michel Nee

The complete experience was consistently excellent. The personnel was superb. The space benefited from thoughtful lighting. I would order this again. I enthusiastically recommend this place!

Sean Cashman

Great food and a great price with large portions. Highly recommend if you're looking for something quick, inexpensive and delicious.

Jorge Alejandro Estrada

Food is delicious this is a tiny store one of those hole in the wall restaurants but worth eating here. Simply delicious.

Jennifer Cisneros

Found this little spot while walking around getting to know the area during my lunchbreak one day. The people who work there are smiling and patient—it always takes me a moment to decide if I want the fish or beef stew! Everything is delicious! Love stepping out of a restaurant with food that tastes like I got it from my family’s kitchen. And the portion is big enough that it usually ends up being two meals for me. All the stars for this gem!

Carsyn

Hidden gem- absolutely delicious food, always cooked to perfection. Affordable for large portion. I recommend the mac n cheese, plantains, collard greens and jerk chicken with the rice/beans. Yum. Quick and friendly staff.

Had the salmon, rice & beans, greens & kale salad. Everything was very good & the portions were large. Definitely worth the money & I'll have to try everything else, it all looked so good.

Food was absolutely wonderful the flavor and textures. I would have given it 5 stars but decided to take Googles advice and come at 5pm for dinner to a closed place when google has it listed as 7pm

Great food. Great price. Some items are a bit too salty for my liking, i.e., the green beans and the hot sauce but overall it's worth the money. The fish and mac n cheese are so good! Looking forward to going back again soon.

Good value and great taste! You get a lot of food for a good price, def worth a try!

Vedant Purohit

Good value and great taste! You get a lot of food for a good price, def worth a try!

As with many new businesses, restaurants especially start off good, establishing a foothold, and gain a steady customer base, as is the case with this small homey eatery. But it steadily lost the qualities that first drew you in: good tasting, hearty dishes singularly priced instead of by-the-lb. (with no tax) And that feelin' of a great food find starts to wan. This Mom & Pop (which has other locations/franchises?) has a few mini tables and chairs, but basically does takeout. Chalk up to being a very small operation, that ot regularly runs out of food and they Do Not replenish! So when it's gone it's gone. Tip: You have to get there early to avoid being served bottom of the pan scrappings. I found the collard greens and chicken to be overly salted (appearing less than the freshest) and portion sizes are now smaller with added tax. Overall, quality has decreased from when it first opened and needed to lure in customers. Now the rice & beans are dry with no beans to be seen. The micro size and small staff might account for its lack of updated online info as menu pricing. Friendliness of servers also not high on the list, but wasn't earlier on either. So 😟 🤷‍♀️

Carmen's Kitchen 302 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018 Dominican/Caribbean wannabe Soul Food w/dhey collard greens, sweet potato, 1/2 baked macroni 'n cheese. Great tasting food thou.The cook adds just enough to get the flavor, with a hint of granny from the old country. #sauce. Carmen's kitchen food is okay in taste, but too small a portion, very scanty more like a snack. Lunch specials consists of one piece of meat one chicken leg what kind of nonsense is thatoo much rice and not enough meat. Also you must Be aware If not dining in, be very gentle, careful of the paper bowls/ container that holds your food, not very reliable, falling apart by the time I get home. Come grab a bite at this local delight Eat-up. I LOVE FOOD!

PROS 1. Baked Chicken is Flavorful and Tender. 2. Shrimp Stew is Delicious. 3. Mashed Eggplant is Flavorful and cooked well. 4. String beans are cooked well. 5. Baked Mac n Cheese is cooked well. CONS 1. Hours of Operation on Google need to be Updated.. 2. Chicken Stew needs more Flavor. 3. Jerk Chicken needs more Spicy Flavor. It was Very light. Either go hard, semi hard or scrap that option out of the menu. Maybe try making Curry Chicken?

I found this spot by accident, the presentation was nice, lots of options. For myself I ordered the fried sea bass, vegetable yellow rice, garlic kale & Mac and cheese (tried to put sriracha on it) but it was absolutely disgusting. There were barely any noodles, no flavor at all, mushy. I also ordered vegetable yellow rice, spicy chicken, broccoli, and yuca with a side of potatoe salad. All in all the service was friendly and nice however the food lacked flavor in almost everything. 😩

Tissh S.A

I found this spot by accident, the presentation was nice, lots of options. For myself I ordered the fried sea bass, vegetable yellow rice, garlic kale & Mac and cheese (tried to put sriracha on it) but it was absolutely disgusting. There were barely any noodles, no flavor at all, mushy. I also ordered vegetable yellow rice, spicy chicken, broccoli, and yuca with a side of potatoe salad. All in all the service was friendly and nice however the food lacked flavor in almost everything. 😩

The service was good but the Mac and cheese doesn’t taste like anything and the macaroni was way too soft. The greens also did not taste like anything. The fried for and yellow rice was good.

Kayla M

The service was good but the Mac and cheese doesn’t taste like anything and the macaroni was way too soft. The greens also did not taste like anything. The fried for and yellow rice was good.

Got the salmon with three sides and the price was amazing, but every element of the dish had issues. The Mac and cheese was burnt, parts of the rice were super hard, the greens were significantly oversalted. There was some seating but it was HOT. Service was buffet style but very friendly. I really wanted to like this place but I ended disappointed.

Chicken and plaintains was very dry. No flavor and barely any sauce on the beans

I ordered the chicken combo. I chose baked chicken which tasted great. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for the sides. Rice & beans were a bit mushy and had no flavor. Mac & cheese also mushy with no flavor at all. Plaintains were burnt and dry. This was my first and last time coming here.

When I go there I get served like a pigeon. They give you more rice and vegetables, and a little piece of meat. Especially if you're not Spanish and white. African-American I live up the block from the place I used to go there when the owner was there. Somehow work is when I come in there, have an attitude. The restaurant doesn't have a phone number to contact the owner. Food is good don't get me wrong just called to service from her so-called workers

The food is alright and affordable. Get there early before food runs out. I say no to green beans not properly cooked not tender and better if strings were actually removed. I also say no to the sweet potatoes - no taste ironically. Heck of folks flow in throughout the day. I need a hard copy of my receipt. I feel confident owner can afford to put paper in the machine.

I go to carmen often, the food is good and the people who work there are nice, except one very petite girl who is one of the two servers. She’s always so very rude, she’s just awful. You should hire someone with a much better attitude.

The food options is what drew me here but I’ll never order from here again. I ordered a fish combo with Mac and cheese, plantains and rice. The plantains were completely burnt, dry and not edible. The Mac and cheese had NO flavor, all you taste is milk. The rice was old and stale and would scoop in clumps whenever you tried to eat it (signs that it’s old). I also found a weird piece of something (indicated in pictures). The only okay thing was the potato salad. Overall, it was disgusting. Maybe it’s better in person but by DoorDash it was completely a waste of money. Go somewhere else!

I’ve been coming here because the food is decent with healthy veggies options, and close to my office. I came today 4/29/24 and ordered beef with broccoli, and string beans. Unfortunately what the called beef steak is salty and overcooked like puree meat, but my turn off was one of the girl’s at the restaurant seating in the customers eating area with her FEET up in the air and RUBBING them. I felt NAUSEATED after noticing. If I had seen her before ordering my food that would have been a No NO. I won’t be returning back, only God if she/they washes their hands before handling foods in the back room and kitchen area- It was so UNHYGIENIC.

Nakkia Smalls

The food options is what drew me here but I’ll never order from here again. I ordered a fish combo with Mac and cheese, plantains and rice. The plantains were completely burnt, dry and not edible. The Mac and cheese had NO flavor, all you taste is milk. The rice was old and stale and would scoop in clumps whenever you tried to eat it (signs that it’s old). I also found a weird piece of something (indicated in pictures). The only okay thing was the potato salad. Overall, it was disgusting. Maybe it’s better in person but by DoorDash it was completely a waste of money. Go somewhere else!

AI (WHEALTH)

I’ve been coming here because the food is decent with healthy veggies options, and close to my office. I came today 4/29/24 and ordered beef with broccoli, and string beans. Unfortunately what the called beef steak is salty and overcooked like puree meat, but my turn off was one of the girl’s at the restaurant seating in the customers eating area with her FEET up in the air and RUBBING them. I felt NAUSEATED after noticing. If I had seen her before ordering my food that would have been a No NO. I won’t be returning back, only God if she/they washes their hands before handling foods in the back room and kitchen area- It was so UNHYGIENIC.

Food taste pretty good but it's a small, uncomfortable hole in the wall with odd seating. Prices increased but portion size went down. They use a small icecream scooper to serve you sides and 1 piece of meat. More for a child portion not an adult. Especially if you are adding another $1.50 approximately for tax. Some of the girls/servers have unfriendly attitudes as well. Hells kitchen needs a real authentic cochifrito or Spanish spot but this is NOT IT unfortunately!

Violet Charmed

Food taste pretty good but it's a small, uncomfortable hole in the wall with odd seating. Prices increased but portion size went down. They use a small icecream scooper to serve you sides and 1 piece of meat. More for a child portion not an adult. Especially if you are adding another $1.50 approximately for tax. Some of the girls/servers have unfriendly attitudes as well. Hells kitchen needs a real authentic cochifrito or Spanish spot but this is NOT IT unfortunately!

Brian Kane

Got the salmon with three sides and the price was amazing, but every element of the dish had issues. The Mac and cheese was burnt, parts of the rice were super hard, the greens were significantly oversalted. There was some seating but it was HOT. Service was buffet style but very friendly. I really wanted to like this place but I ended disappointed.

VERY DISAPPOINTED! Ordered the Pork Lunch Special. They delivered everything except for the PORK. When I called, they told me to call UBER. They took no responsibility to resolve their mistake. I will advise all of my guests to stay away from them.

I order on Mealpal app. Order was totally wrong (every item did not match the menu), portion was tiny for us. Food is mediocre. Long lines do not warrant this place. Better off traveling to a real Dominican restaurant which is not this place.

Omg the food is terrible now. The rice has a burnt flavor to it the meat taste so plain. It's like they have Spanish people cooking American food it's not Spanish but that's on them. I wasted about $20+ dollars on a plain un flavorful meal

Skye G

Omg the food is terrible now. The rice has a burnt flavor to it the meat taste so plain. It's like they have Spanish people cooking American food it's not Spanish but that's on them. I wasted about $20+ dollars on a plain un flavorful meal